another problem with my tank!!!

[bdesper311]

So after not paying uch attention to my tank for about a week since it is cycling, I was looking at it today and much to my dismay... byropsis.:bash2: Some of you may know... I think this tank is cursed, if something bad could happen over the past few weeks it has. Anyways after some research i have read that Kent Tech M magnesium can make this go away with some success. My question is, since I only have live rock and sand in my tank right now, if I dose with Kent Tech M magnesium, will I just have to do some large water changes to low back to noraml mag levels after the dang things die?

 

[weaglereefer]

I wouldn't worry about high Mg as long as everything else was in order, your coraline should take off, though.

 

[bdesper311]

have you had any problems or heard of doing this?

 

[weaglereefer]

Yup, heard of it plenty of times. I keep my Mg around 1500, no side effects far as I can tell.

 

[mockery]

Since there is nothing else in the tank couldn't they just leave the light off and cover the tank for a week or 2? I need photosynthesis to live if I remember correctly.

 

[bdesper311]

I want this stuff dead, so I might turn off lights as well as does with mag. Does anyone know if this will do anything to my cycle. Not in any hurry, just curious

 

[panzermensch]

I had to go look up what byropsis was and it says hair algae. I'm assuming that is the long green stuff that grows in clumps and looks like......hair? I had that in the 55 when it was cycling and I threw in 2 emerald crabs and they took care of it. It was gone in less than a week. Of course I'm a newbie, not one to give advice.

 

[bdesper311]

no it is different than hair algae... from what i have researched it can be some pretty bad stuff... hopfully this will work

 

[stoney1118]

driving your mag up will kill off hair algea without any effects as i have done this myself. ive seen mag levels up to 1800, no other problems were apparent. try it and see, im sure it will help. it cant hurt anything at this point! and i know its diff than hair al but you might try it anyway

 

[stevhan]

Turning off your lights would be a great idea since you dont have anything depending on it...well aside from the bryopsis. Although I know that it can live sometime without lighting. Lettuce Nudibranchs eat it I believe but I would try the Mg and shutting off the lights first.

 

[bdesper311]

ill give it a try thanks everyone

 

[slayer]

Dont turn off all your lights, leave your actinics on. This will cause coralline algae to grow much quicker but will do nothing for other types of algae. Coralline will eat up your mag levels so dont worry. (Coralline has a higher content of magnesium per weight then any other algae or coral) Coralline will also cover up your live rock so that other forms of algae cannot take hold. Run your mag high as stated up to 1500 if you can, lots of water changes, run your skimmer wet and if you can invest in a phosphate reactor. Theres also dosing vodka, but if your new to this game, i'd do lots of reading before considering this option. But if you have nothing but live rock and sand in your tank this might be a very viable option.(nothing to kill by accidental dosing)...

 

[bdesper311]

Thanks... very informative