konrakva
New member
Since I have been using RC to gather a lot of very good information, I would like to share some observations about my battle with bryopsis.
Some months ago I got hold of some live rock and one of them developed a patch of those nice green algae. When it began to spread I became aware of the kind of trouble this algae could mean to me, and I suddenly needed to know everything about it. To find a good id was a bit problematic since there are similarities among several species of bryopsis. But I ended up with pennata.
The magnesium way of solving the problem seemed a bit like a walk in the fog. You could arrive home safely but did not really know how, or you could walk of a cliff. Elevated magnesium could work, and kent tech-m would work, but then not always.
I think the most important thing is to know your enemy. You have to be very sure what kind of algae you got. There are 122 species of bryopsis, and if you dont even know if it is bryopsis or not, well.... Bryopsis pennata have a seasonal growth and die-off in nature. Its not just sea hares and a few specialized creatures that controls it there. It could be a lot of things. Bacteria, virus, lack of nutrients or trace elements. Pennata grows best near sewage pipes and estaurine areas of low salinity, but do also exist in clean seawater of full salinity. Bryopsis plumosa on the other hand is very similar but have other preferences
Since the content list of tech-m just seemed to me like saltwater with magnesium and since I know pennata dont like high salinity, I wanted to try to elevate my salinity from 1.025 to 1.028. Some corals could get problems when salinity hits 1.0285 I read somewhere, and thats why i first had to test my hydrometer with a known salinity of 1.025. Then I increased salinity with natural seawater over the next 14 days. When I passed 1.027 the growth accelerated but then stopped completely when I got 1.028 and I slowed down my further increase.
Then nothing happened for a week until it suddenly began to fade away in patches. The level was 1.0283 and I stopped increasing salinity. The algae changed, it was pale but began to grow irregular long hairy extensions at the tips. Microscopi and a search make me think this is the algaes last effort to move to a better place. Bryopsis is now, one month later, almost completely gone and the remainig strings are pale and not growing.
My tankwater magnesium was 1300 ppm when i stopped, and my natural seawater mag is about 1220 ppm. I did my rutine waterchanges the whole time. My hard corals ( mostly montipora species) did ine, and invertebrates was unaffected. Only a colt seemed unhappy and was removed.
Could it just be that consentrated seawater with all its minerals and trace elements make bryopsis pennata disappear?
If you increase mag levels and dont dilute the salt, salinity will rise by 0.0003 sg for each 100 ppm boost of magnesium. If you start at 1.025 and 1200 ppm mag, you will end up with 1.0262 and 1600 ppm mag. Not enough to explain my limit of 1.0283. But if your salinity meter are wrong ( two of mine was reading 1.027 and 1.028 at 1.025 ) it will push you over the limit. Or maybe the tech-m has a bit more consentrated solution of the elements of normal seawater? Will the algae show up again when I lower my salinity in a month or two?
I guess only time will tell.
Some months ago I got hold of some live rock and one of them developed a patch of those nice green algae. When it began to spread I became aware of the kind of trouble this algae could mean to me, and I suddenly needed to know everything about it. To find a good id was a bit problematic since there are similarities among several species of bryopsis. But I ended up with pennata.
The magnesium way of solving the problem seemed a bit like a walk in the fog. You could arrive home safely but did not really know how, or you could walk of a cliff. Elevated magnesium could work, and kent tech-m would work, but then not always.
I think the most important thing is to know your enemy. You have to be very sure what kind of algae you got. There are 122 species of bryopsis, and if you dont even know if it is bryopsis or not, well.... Bryopsis pennata have a seasonal growth and die-off in nature. Its not just sea hares and a few specialized creatures that controls it there. It could be a lot of things. Bacteria, virus, lack of nutrients or trace elements. Pennata grows best near sewage pipes and estaurine areas of low salinity, but do also exist in clean seawater of full salinity. Bryopsis plumosa on the other hand is very similar but have other preferences
Since the content list of tech-m just seemed to me like saltwater with magnesium and since I know pennata dont like high salinity, I wanted to try to elevate my salinity from 1.025 to 1.028. Some corals could get problems when salinity hits 1.0285 I read somewhere, and thats why i first had to test my hydrometer with a known salinity of 1.025. Then I increased salinity with natural seawater over the next 14 days. When I passed 1.027 the growth accelerated but then stopped completely when I got 1.028 and I slowed down my further increase.
Then nothing happened for a week until it suddenly began to fade away in patches. The level was 1.0283 and I stopped increasing salinity. The algae changed, it was pale but began to grow irregular long hairy extensions at the tips. Microscopi and a search make me think this is the algaes last effort to move to a better place. Bryopsis is now, one month later, almost completely gone and the remainig strings are pale and not growing.
My tankwater magnesium was 1300 ppm when i stopped, and my natural seawater mag is about 1220 ppm. I did my rutine waterchanges the whole time. My hard corals ( mostly montipora species) did ine, and invertebrates was unaffected. Only a colt seemed unhappy and was removed.
Could it just be that consentrated seawater with all its minerals and trace elements make bryopsis pennata disappear?
If you increase mag levels and dont dilute the salt, salinity will rise by 0.0003 sg for each 100 ppm boost of magnesium. If you start at 1.025 and 1200 ppm mag, you will end up with 1.0262 and 1600 ppm mag. Not enough to explain my limit of 1.0283. But if your salinity meter are wrong ( two of mine was reading 1.027 and 1.028 at 1.025 ) it will push you over the limit. Or maybe the tech-m has a bit more consentrated solution of the elements of normal seawater? Will the algae show up again when I lower my salinity in a month or two?
I guess only time will tell.
