FINALLY the END to Bryopsis!?!?!?!?

revhtree · Jun 25, 2007

Found this gem on RC. You must read it all!! My conclusion is the Kent tech M type magnesium is the only ting that is working. Also if you give this a try, post here as well so we can get this thread rolling.

I quoted the first few paragraphs. Link to follow.

I've battled for many months against this vile weed. Nothing I tried would eat it. I tried lettuce sea slugs (they eat it but not fast enough to control it), sea hares (aplysia sp.), almost every kind of snail commonly available in the hobby, 3 kinds of dwarf hermit crabs, emerald crabs, a small blue lined rabbitfish. Only the lettuce sea slugs ate it, but they only suck the chloroplast out and the plant still grows fine despite this. Plus they are easily killed by even the weakest of powerheads. I couldn't keep them alive in my main system due to the filtration and current.

Everyone kept saying there must be a nutrient problem or bryopsis wouldn't grow. This sounds good at first, but makes no sense when tests consistently show 0 nitratres/phosphates and you have a refugium with chaetomorpha growing. Cheato should eat up the nitrates/phosphates and keep your tank clean, right? My chaeto was getting choked out by bryopsis. Bryopsis needs extremely little light and nutrients to get by, even less than chaetomorpha needs. If a healthy tank (low nutrients) allegedly can not sustain bryopsis, then how is it logical to believe the same system can sustain chaetomorpha? Lowering nitrates/phosphates was not an option. I started using a phosban reactor, but how do you reduce phosphates beyond zero? This was a wasted investment, but at least it was cheap.

Then I stumbled on to this thread at Reef Frontiers. Mojoreef suggested boosting magnesium to 1500-1600. I don't understand the chemistry behind this, but for some reason the bryopsis absorbs the magnesium and it prevents it from growing. I didn't believe it at first, it was too easy. But it was cheap, so I gave it a shot. I ordered some Kent Tech M. I already had a magnesium test kit, and my mag always measured somewhat low (around 1100). I started boosting it up and within days the bryopsis turned translucent yellowish brown and started falling apart. I accidentally overshot my goal of 1550 magnesium and went to 1680ppm. Here are some day by day snapshots starting when the magnesium reached 1680:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1113109&highlight=bryopsis

surfn · Jun 25, 2007

reeeeeeeeeeeeeepost....lol

:hammer:

http://www.club-zoa.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4321&highlight=magnesium

actually, i tried this and it didnt work for me. i only have hair algae in a few random spots, nothing near outbreak proportions like i used to. dont know if its bryopsis, but after more than a month its still there! lol

fishes2889 · Jun 25, 2007

I went through a little cycle(by little i mean ALOT) of HA and got over it in a couple months. Now i have absolutely no HA in the tank. Just a few peices of red, which is easily pulled off.

And i dont dose with Mag, only kalk and iodine/iodide.

revhtree · Jun 25, 2007

Well from what I am reading it's affecting bryopsis and not reg hair algae. Also it seems that the Kent is the only thing working. There are a number of people that are using the kent that are saying it has worked.

Ike · Jun 25, 2007

revhtree said:
Well from what I am reading it's affecting bryopsis and not reg hair algae. Also it seems that the Kent is the only thing working. There are a number of people that are using the kent that are saying it has worked.

That's not true Rev, people have reported success with other types of Magnesium.

revhtree · Jun 25, 2007

Oh really? Cool must have missed those. What are the other types?

surfn · Jun 25, 2007

magnesium is the same regardless of the brand, its concenration will vary though. if i remember correctly, its not even that concentrated with the kent stuff. the dead sea works mag flake is the most concentrated, you can buy it in HUGE bags used as a drive way de-icer

but say you get the Bio-Magnesium stuff (same company as Bio-Calcium), you'll have to add a bucket before you get a 100ppm increase b/c the Mg is at such a low concentration.

revhtree · Jun 25, 2007

Hmmm maybe there is an added ingredient???

Ike · Jun 26, 2007

revhtree said:
Oh really? Cool must have missed those. What are the other types?

I got rid of it on accident last year with an Epsom Salt overdose :hammer:

surfn · Jun 26, 2007

the red turf algae wasn't affected by the magnesium, but neither was my green hair algae that i *thought* was bryopsis. i had my magnesium well over 1500ppm (salifert only goes up to 1500ppm).

i used the magflake (de-icer for driveways) in combination with epsom salts per Randy's 2-part recipe (really its the 3rd part to the 2-part recipe). and i also added some Kent Turbo Magnesium (dry stuff). i didnt notice any differences in algae growth.

BUT, i did get a purple tang and he is going to town on that red turf stuff i have growing everywhere!! yay! first fish i've ever had that actually has served a *good* PURPOSE in my tank...lol

but i should say the red turf stuff looks kinda cool, and hasn't bothered anything yet, not even an eye sore really since it doesn't grow out, it only grows along the surface of stuff so you dont really notice its presence aside from the color.