What is this stuff? Snake oil?

philfree · Mar 16, 2016

Jlobes said:
from what I have heard, the "impurity" in kent techM that was effective at killing bryopsis, is no longer in the product and techM is no longer an effective solution. are you having this experience or find it to be working?

I heard that too. But it helped with the bryopsis issue in my nem tank. But the outbreak might have had more to do with my dangerously low mag levels and the resulting imbalances related to that, than the presence of the said "impurities" in tech-M. Not sure.

Reeflogic · Mar 16, 2016

Davesgt said:
Only way I could get rid of bryopsis way to dose peroxide for a month. My corals seemed a lot healthier while dosing also and bryospsis on the 2nd week was starting to fade fast.

Do you have any info on how you treated with peroxide? I attempted to syringe dose on top of one of the patches and once it mixes with water my BTA's freaked out, so it makes me nervous, but if it works, I may give it a try!

Davesgt · Mar 16, 2016

yes I do this is just how I dosed it in my system basically because I have a lot of inverts and clams that I was afraid of irritating but had no problems with how I dosed, some say its too low of amount but worked great for me. I used a 3% peroxide that I purchased from Target and dose 1.5Ml per day for 1 week, the 2nd week I upped it to 3Ml per day, 3rd week 5Ml per day, 4th week 5Ml per day then on the Last day of the 4th week I do a 30% water change and look at progress, if its still there you can always go back to 3Ml per day, and work your self over a week into 5Ml a day until gone. This is Based on a true 50G of saltwater so adjust as necessary

Davesgt · Mar 16, 2016

I have done this with a lot of different types of algae and it works wonders, and has helped with friends tanks as well.

Reeflogic · Mar 16, 2016

Thank you, sir!! Going to start up ASAP! I just did some rock dips and manually removed as much as I could get to, on Monday, so now would be a perfect time. It's not like I'm overrun with it, but the 3 or 4 patches are ANNOYING and I know it's just a matter of time before it's EVERYWHERE!!

Davesgt · Mar 16, 2016

Reeflogic said:
Thank you, sir!! Going to start up ASAP! I just did some rock dips and manually removed as much as I could get to, on Monday, so now would be a perfect time. It's not like I'm overrun with it, but the 3 or 4 patches are ANNOYING and I know it's just a matter of time before it's EVERYWHERE!!

Yea I understand I had a patch and was like nope nope nope gotta kill it before it goes crazy lol

Reeflogic · Mar 16, 2016

I did some more reading and found people recommending 1ml per 10g, so I played it safe and dosed 10ml (I have roughly 150g), but I think I may drop it to like 6 or so ml for the next 6 days, similar to your dosage, basically doubling it. I have some brittle stars, lots of nems, clam, and other inverts that I really don't want dead!!

Davesgt · Mar 16, 2016

Reeflogic said:
I did some more reading and found people recommending 1ml per 10g, so I played it safe and dosed 10ml (I have roughly 150g), but I think I may drop it to like 6 or so ml for the next 6 days, similar to your dosage, basically doubling it. I have some brittle stars, lots of nems, clam, and other inverts that I really don't want dead!!

Yea like I said mine is kinda a watered down dosing setup and you are right I have seen the same dosing I'm just a worry wart and tweaked it cause I had like 6 Clams and a few rare Starfish that I just was scared about lol, id assume the other dosing would be a lot faster. Let me know how it works out Bryopsis can be a pain.

Reeflogic · Mar 20, 2016

kv69 said:
I dosed again on day 6. It may be my last dose though... it seems that some of my palys and zoas don't like it. Especially the CAO's and, bowsers... upside- rocks seem cleaner, some pesky algae spots in my DT have begun to wither away. Didn't work on the bubble algae in the lagoon very well..

Any changes over the last few days, since your last dose? Z & P's still irritated? Any final thoughts on its effectiveness, or lack thereof? I've been dosing peroxide the last few days, hoping my problems might soon be solved, but still curious about this product and whether I need to check it off as ineffective haha.

kv69 · Mar 20, 2016

Z &P are back to normal, rocks are definitely cleaner. small patches of algae are gone . I would say its a good product. I waited until today to do the 3rd dose. spread it out more. I can say this... the water gets a little cloudy on day two after the dose so I'm assuming whatever they use, the cloudiness begins the nutrient or bacteria export to be skimmed out. Does not work on bad bubble algae IMO. Teardown this week if I can find about 6 to 8 hours of free time. Tank is definitely cleaner tho.

kv69 · Mar 20, 2016

I also have been looking into this microbubble in the DT trend that has been on the forums for exporting bacteria to skimmed out.. Macro guy has some good info on it.

Reeflogic · Mar 20, 2016

Good to know! Thanks for sharing! Haha, funny you mention that! I started doing this 2 days ago. I'm only running it 4 hours a night, just to see if I can justify doing it. I run a small powerhead from a Reef Octopus nano skimmer aimed across the inlet of my DC return pump. It pulls in all the bubbles and chops them, I have zero issues with spray, which was my main concern of trying it. I will say that my water looks SUPER clear this morning and my skimmer is full of a greener goo than normal, almost phytoplankton color (Like Phyto Feast). I'm not sure if it's the micro-bubbles or the peroxide dosing or a combination, but the skimmer is pulling some gooey funk! I may adjust the timing to 6 hours tonight since I do not see any negative effects from it. My fish all seem fine, eating like pigs, as normal, I watched it the last few nights and my corals slimed pretty good. So far I'm happy with it.

kv69 · Apr 25, 2016

Okay, I'm back with a update for you... believe it or not this stuff does kill bubble algae. Haven't gotten a chance to break down the lagoon... But i have been dosing regularly every 5 days and the bubble algae is almost gone. Sooooo... i'm going to vote not snake oil..

Reeflogic · May 3, 2016

Thanks for the follow-up, @kv69 . Very interesting.

roberthu526 · Nov 1, 2016

kv69 said:
Okay, I'm back with a update for you... believe it or not this stuff does kill bubble algae. Haven't gotten a chance to break down the lagoon... But i have been dosing regularly every 5 days and the bubble algae is almost gone. Sooooo... i'm going to vote not snake oil..

Awesome! I have a tank that is covered in bubble algae and I was going to tear it down. Then I saw a thread talking about this "snake oil" and I thought what do I have to lose, $20 is worth a shot so I ordered a bottle and just got it today. I will start doesing this tonight. I am very excited and happy to see it worked for you! How long did it take you to see results on bubble algae? Thanks.

kv69 · Nov 1, 2016

roberthu526 said:
Awesome! I have a tank that is covered in bubble algae and I was going to tear it down. Then I saw a thread talking about this "snake oil" and I thought what do I have to lose, $20 is worth a shot so I ordered a bottle and just got it today. I will start doesing this tonight. I am very excited and happy to see it worked for you! How long did it take you to see results on bubble algae? Thanks.

Around week 5 to 6 they really started clearing up. I was dosing about 75% of the recommended amount. make sure and try to remove the dead stuff if possible. It can create a nightmare of its own.... excessive nitrates from the die off.. at least thats what happened to me.

roberthu526 · Nov 1, 2016

kv69 said:
Around week 5 to 6 they really started clearing up. I was dosing about 75% of the recommended amount. make sure and try to remove the dead stuff if possible. It can create a nightmare of its own.... excessive nitrates from the die off.. at least thats what happened to me.

Thanks a lot for the answer! I will be watching for the nitrate level for sure. I am thinking about adding a biopellet reactor around thanks giving them add fish into the tank. I really appreciate your insights and warning!