Mag. To Battle Bryopsis (Choose your own adventure)

[jumplittlechloe]

You have some small nuisance bryopsis patches on your rock and clam. You decide to go with Tech M. After a week of dosing you test you Mag. and it reads 1600 using Mag. Red Sea test kit. Your encrusting montipora pieces are starting to lighten in color as well as a smooth skin acro. The algae is starting to curl back and die off of the rock and clam but it is still on the surface and not completely gone.

CHOICES:

a. Stop right there. This is obviously a bad move to continue Mag. dosing and you are heading toward losing some nice pieces. You make some new water and do a big water change and let your system stabilize.

b. Keep going with the dosing to 1700--so some pieces lighten, who cares. With time these corals will regain color (or can be replaced) and you will definitely be bryopsis free.

c. Stop dosing and give it one more week before you change your water. Maybe the corals will tolerate the high Mag. and you let it fall back within normal range.

 

[coolsurf]

Dose til you reach 1700 or at least stabilize it at 1600 until it is all gone. Bryopsis will destroy your tank if you cannot control it. Been there/done that a few years ago and have no regrets. Color will come back. Just my opinion.

 

[ralph atl]

coolsurf;669655 wrote: Dose til you reach 1700 or at least stabilize it at 1600 until it is all gone. Bryopsis will destroy your tank if you cannot control it. Been there/done that a few years ago and have no regrets. Color will come back. Just my opinion.

if it is Bryopsis....:up:

 

[acroholic]

d. Continue dosing Tech M until you reach 1800. Maintain it at 1800 for two weeks. After two weeks let the magnesium level fall by itself back to normal levels through consumption by tank inhabitants and regular water changes. Your bryopsis should now be gone.

 

[jumplittlechloe]

It is bryopsis for sure. Long stalk with fern like leafs growing from the stalk.

 

[hhughes]

Turn to page 117 -- You try lighting your sword on fire with pitch and a nearby torch. Unfortunately, you get some on your shirt as well. Good try, though, the kobolds *nearly* die laughing at your horrible flaming death scene.

 

[jumplittlechloe]

“You have chosen…poorly.”
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[oil_fan]

Continue dosing. And you have to maintain high levels for 2 or 3 weeks to properly eradicate this stuff. Now is not the time to back off. After that, normal water changes and slowly bring it back to normal levels.

The last thing you want is for it to bounce back. If it does, then you have to get the Mg levels down to a somewhat normal level before you can do another round of dosing. Best just to continue on your current course and finish this properly.

 

[jumplittlechloe]

I decided to hold at 1600 for the week (which will make 2 weeks at 1600). I am somewhat concerned to go any higher with all montipora corals now showing signs of stress.

 

[jamescook]

I'm not sure I got my levels up to 1800, but it definitely came back after disappearing.

 

[smallblock]

will this work for anything other than bryposis

 

[acroholic]

jumplittlechloe;670341 wrote: I decided to hold at 1600 for the week (which will make 2 weeks at 1600). I am somewhat concerned to go any higher with all montipora corals now showing signs of stress.

Try that and see how it goes, but the possible problem with only staying at 1600 is you may knock it back, but not eliminate it. IME it takes a certain mag level and a certain exposure time to get the roots, which are usually deep inside LR. Montis can bleach, which was my experience as well, but I didn't lose any and they got their color back in a few weeks. Most Montiporas are very tough corals.

But keep in mind that the magnesium level you are at from Tech M is probably not what is killing the Bryopsis. It is an indirect indicator of the trace element concentration level that is actually killing the bryopsis.

If it were the magnesium that kills the bryopsis, then we could use mag sulfate and kill bryopsis for a lot less money than $45 a gallon you pay for Tech M. There are actually about 20 different trace elements in Tech M. They used to list them on their labels, but not any more. The Magnesium component of Tech M is Mag Sulfate, I believe.

Here are the major and traces in Tech M: Deionized water containing the following elements (as ions): magnesium, chlorine, sulfur, calcium, potassium, bromine, strontium, boron, fluorine, lithium, rubidium, iodine, iron, molybdenum, zinc, nickel, copper, manganese, vanadium, cesium, cobalt, tungsten, selenium, and chromium.

 

[jumplittlechloe]

Alright Dave I will keep up the dosing if you made it through with similar findings. I just get somewhat nervous when I see corals bleaching and I know I'm causing it!