Bryopsis and High Magnesium

[Andy V]

I have an issue with Bryopsis taking over my tank. I had just won a battle with other types of algae, but now the bryopsis is a problem. The stuff is very hard to remove from rock, and I am already feeding very little rinsed food, the photoperiod has been cut to 7 hours...without writing them all down, I have done all of the typical things. I have read on RC that people have had success raising Magnesium to 1500ppm which kills the Bryopsis. Can anyone here chime in on this? Does it work? Risks?

 

[JohnK]

The catch with this is that apparently it only works with the Kent mg product. It seems that it's not actually the mg, but rather some impurity or other ingredient in the kent additive.

I have not tried it, but I have seen many many accounts of the above so I assume it is accurate.

HTH

 

[saltwaterB]

Yes, Andy, get that Magnesium up there. I have used that method several times with great success.

 

[saltwaterB]

and yes, as John said, I used the Kent Tech-M to boost it up. Personally it is the only Mg additive that I have used that will actually boost your magnesium up quickly

 

[Andy V]

Thanks guys. B, I assume you have that at the shop?

 

[delta]

This is something I would really like to see in a side by side test, say Kent's vs Dead Sea works mag-flake.

 

[wilfx]

exactly how high do you have to get the MG? I tried it in my tank with the Kent Marine. The level was around 1600. I also tried it in my wife's tank. I experimented with her tank. I had it up around 1800. I didn't notice any ill effects on the livestock, but it didn't do much for the Bryopsis either. It may have kept it at bay, but it definately didn't decrease .

 

[Glenn E King]

I have a 180 gal mixed reef. For over 6 months I have been battling hair Algae. Reduced feeding, reduced lighting, water changes, manual removal, sea hare, turbo snails, - all the usual actions. I decided to try the Tech M Kent technique. To raise my magnesium to 1600 needed about $60.00 worth of Tech M. The legend is that the treatment only works with Tech M and not other magnesium supplements. It took about a month of elevated magnesium level but the hair algae has mostly died off. It doesn't appear to have had an adverse effect on any of the inhabitants although I've been told that invertebrates and snails suffer from elevated magnesium. I'm now installing a GFO reactor to try to avoid a recurrence.
My final analysis is that the Tech M treatment works but it takes some time and is expensive