TheGooseWhisperer Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I wasn't sure where to post this. Its not really an emergency and my tank is mostly softies so I guess I'll start here. One of the larger pieces of LR in my 29g has been growing a green beard for the last month and a half or so. I finally stumbled across "bryopsis" and I think that is what it is. At first glance it just looks like single thick, short filaments growing on the rock, but if you catch the right spot you can see that it looks more like a tiny feather with a thick middle shaft. Seems like what i see on a google image search for bryopsis, but i dont know for sure. I've been dropping snails and hermits onto the rock now and then and they pretty much just crawl straight off of it. There is also a bright green film algae growing around the bottom of the tank that in places is growing up over the bryopsis. I've upgraded my whisper HOB to a GFO reactor and that seems to be getting the film stuff under control. I kinda blooms for a couple days after a water change and then dies back down. (I have crushed coral substrate and it looks like a snow storm if it gets disturbed. I leave it alone as much as possible, but I suspect that during WCs this is where the film algae bloom comes from). Tank stuff: 29g, no sump, HOB skimmer, GFO reactor (with some carbon in it too), 175W 20k MH (about 8hrs on-time) and a 24" VHO actinic for lighting. Mostly softies in the tank (zoas, palys, shrooms, ricordia, GSP, kenya trees), but there are a couple frogspawns and a small acan and chalice frag. 6-line wrasse, percula clown, pygmy cherub angel, watchman goby for fish and a fairly standard CUC. Only additives to the tank are a bit of calcium and super buffer to top off the alk a couple times a week. WCs are 35-40% every 2-4 weeks. Any ideas on how to get this stuff on the way to dieing out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Even your water changes out to a weekly 10-15%, and if you can test for it, I'd suggest raising, slowly, ever so slowly, your Mg to 1500+, that kills bryopsis, or, you can look into getting a sea hare, but you'll have to keep an eye on him an as soon as he's done get him out of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGooseWhisperer Posted January 11, 2011 Author Share Posted January 11, 2011 Don't think I am into the sea hare idea. What is your idea of "slowly" (ppm per day or week increases)? Guess I'll need to get a test kit to do this right...I have no idea how much my Mg levels change between water changes. Also, there are liquid and solid forms of Mg...I'm leaning towards liquid because its so much easier to measure accurately. BTW is 10-15% per week a pretty ideal WC schedule? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moto826 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 100ppm a day is what i did Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rgrcrain Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Yeah your suppsed to keep it at 100ppm a day max. And no matter what you use it will take quite a bit depending on the size of your tank. When I raised mine in my 120 gallon tank with the BRS Liquid Mag it took a quart a day to go up 100ppm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgf86123 Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Yeah, 10-15% weekly is the ideal water change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 You can raise Mg 100 per day. Raising it to 1400 to 1500 AND controling nutrients helped me ward off bryopsis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 BE CAREFUL! People use Kent Tech B with great results. I would recommend 50-75ppm raise per day, or as gradual as possible. Magnesium is funny, sometimes you can dose for days without noticing any change in levels, and then BAM! it goes up like 300ppm like that. Acans, paly'/zoas and chalice will be hurt. I have raised my Mag twice, and yes it will work if you use the Kent brand. I have read of many people trying to use BRS with no luck. Also, keep in mind that this is a fairly expensive treatment. It costs me about $60 to treat 50 gallons. reducing your nutrient levels wills help with keeping bryopsis away once the Mag levels return to normal levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGooseWhisperer Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 how long is it likely to take? i normally only feed the fish a few times a week and also do a little cyclopeeze for the corals after lights out. i will certainly cut out feeding corals, but i probably already have my fish near starving as it is:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algae Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 BE CAREFUL! People use Kent Tech B with great results. I would recommend 50-75ppm raise per day, or as gradual as possible. Magnesium is funny, sometimes you can dose for days without noticing any change in levels, and then BAM! it goes up like 300ppm like that. Acans, paly'/zoas and chalice will be hurt. I have raised my Mag twice, and yes it will work if you use the Kent brand. I have read of many people trying to use BRS with no luck. Also, keep in mind that this is a fairly expensive treatment. It costs me about $60 to treat 50 gallons. reducing your nutrient levels wills help with keeping bryopsis away once the Mag levels return to normal levels. +1. Everything said here is very true. And the Mg raising will jack up suddenly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold B Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I wouldn't recommend Kent Mg its so diluted it might take 3, 4 or who knows how many bottles. (yes the big ones) Use a mixture from the BRS website instructions and calculator or the Randy-Holmes one. I've raised my Mg at least a dozen and a half times and never,never,never had a problem when following the BRS instructions and calculator. If it is costing you $60 to raise your 120 your using the wrong product. I filled my 250 up with the most lacking salt I know of Instant Ocean (regular) with a Mg level of like 1000 or something crazy and raised it to 1400 with 1/2g of Mg cloride for $10.99 and 3/4 cup of Mg sulfate. Thats one gallon of solution . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saltfinsax Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Seems to me if your tank isn't to large, it would be easy to just slowly change your water out with a good salt mix. Start with about 10 or 20% every 4 days till you get where you want. This way your have the water balance that it should have without you getting other things out a wack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 Harold, I agree that the Kent is diluted and overpriced, but what do you say about the people who used BRS Mag with no results in killing bryopsis? I have read hundreds of people using Kent with the same results. Some people hypothesize that there is an impurity in Kent's version that kills the bryopsis. I also use BRS Mag for regular dosing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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