I'm having big fun now...390 display +

[chrismhaase]

Not to side step, but should I push my reactor up to 10.6dkh, it is only at 9.8?

Also, what is your CO2 bubble rate and effluent rate? How many bubbles per second?

 

[mflamb]

Definitely not the foam. Numerous tanks are using the same stuff I have froms Drs. Foster and Smith without a problem. I actually want my Alk a little lower, yours is just right. I don't have a bubble counter on my regulator, when I changed the needle valve, I didn't put the counter on the new one. I have a bubble counter on my reactor, but the count is much lower than the one on the regulator due to the counter orifice size. My effluent is dripping as fast as it will drip without being a steady stream.

 

[chrismhaase]

I noticed that about the bubble counters. The one on the reg is much faster than the one on the reactor. I bought that reg that Emmett suggested and it is nice so far. Really easy to use.

And for a side note I know that stuff was safe I was just wondering if the algae was growing on it.

Have you tried adding some crabs in there yet? Or are you still working on the snail only method?

 

[mflamb]

Since I got the new needle valve, pH in the reactor has been easily controllable, and no more pH problems in the tank.
No Bryopsis growing on the foam, only on rock.
I added 100 crabs, blue legs and red legs. They don't touch the Bryopsis at all.

 

[chrismhaase]

Weird. What about some type of sea slugs?

When manual removal doesn't work...

"Tridachia crispa, the Sea Lettuce Slug, is a hardy specialist predator of Bryopsis and is available from aquaculturing facilities such as Inland Aquatics. However,it is a true specialist and will perish after all the alga has been consumed unless an effort is made to culture or otherwise provide the alga for its comsumption."
http://www.reefs.org/hhfaq/pages/main_pages/faq_algae.htm

Reference: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/86532

 

[chrismhaase]

Maybe this is the answer for you for only $13 http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=497+524+724&pcatid=724

 

[mflamb]

I've read about those. I know Marcye at SITC has success with one.

 

[chrismhaase]

It seems like it is worth a shot to cure your ongoing issue, especially at that price.

 

[mflamb]

I'm going to see what happens with my current plan of action before I make any livestock additions.

 

[chrismhaase]

What is the plan or is it top secret?

 

[mflamb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12753002#post12753002 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mflamb
I've been dealing with a patch of bryopsis for a couple of months and recently it started to spread. My NO3 is undetectable on both of my test kits (Salifert and Red Sea) and my PO4 is 0.02 on my Hanna photometer. I did some reading here on RC and some other sites and got some information from John at FAOIS. Here is my course of action after reviewing all the information that I found.
1.) Change filter socks twice daily. Previously changed once daily.
2.) Clean skimmer neck every other day. Previously once a month. It's usually pretty clean since I skim wet.
3.) Reduced feeding by 1/3.
4.) Started dosing Vodka, 5ml per day. My parameters don't indicate a need, but the Bryopsis is getting nutrients from somewhere.
5.) Removed carbon from reactor and added GFO. I already have one reactor with GFO. Once again, parameters don't indicate the need, but I don't want to miss anything.
6.) Started raising my Mg level. I'm shooting for 1750-1800. It was about 1460 when I started. I'm using Kent Maring Tech M. I studied a couple of threads here on RC and on other sites that documented the success of this method. I mentioned this to Dan, a local reefer, and he told me about using this method with great success. Dan also gave me a gallon of Tech M to get me started.

Any other ideas???

The Plan ! ! !:rollface:

 

[chrismhaase]

DUHHHHH.... I am an idiot, I remember reading this and then I must have gotten side tracked talking about sea slugs and everything else.

Question about the magnesium levels- I see that you are using Kent Tech M, is there a reason for this? Any special additives in this or is it just used as an additive for MG? Ie is there a special potion in there in addition to Mg?

If the only purpose is to add Mg, are you not able to correct this by adding any more Zeo Mag in the Calcium reactor? This would seem like a small task to prevent daily or weekly dosing. Or do you not want to crack it open and add it in there?

 

[mflamb]

There are several threads about increasing Mg, and it seems that everyone that claims success is using Kent Marine Tech M. Others have tried two part and other Mg methods without success.
Today is day 5 of the Mg dosing and the Bryopsis is starting to get yellow and stringy!!! That's the beginning of success!!!
My current Mg level is 1740.

 

[poknsnok]

how many gallons of thmg did you use? lol

 

[mflamb]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12767709#post12767709 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poknsnok
how many gallons of thmg did you use? lol

Only about a quart so far. Remember that I added the additional ZeoMag to my reactor also.

 

[chrismhaase]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12767163#post12767163 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mflamb

Today is day 5 of the Mg dosing and the Bryopsis is starting to get yellow and stringy!!! That's the beginning of success!!!
My current Mg level is 1740.

Well that sounds promising. Hopefully you kill the growth before you have to buy another gallon, as I am sure it could get pricey. Who knows maybe Kent has a mystery chemical in there that the 2 part does not have and it is doing the trick. Good luck. Are you taking pictures to document what changes have occurred with your increase in MG dosing? (You know everyone loves pictures!!)

 

[mflamb]

Pictures of algae in my tank??? There's no algae in my tank!!! My tank is perfect!!! What algae???

No, but I may tonight.

 

[chrismhaase]

I wasn't implying you have a problem, but just a mere suggestion if you did, your postings could possibly help someone down the road.

 

[mflamb]

Well Chris, let me tell you about a real problem!!!
I got home Wednesday evening to the smell of death. The tank was a white cloud. The pH was 9.75. The ato was empty and the MJ 1200 was still running and smoking. I unpluged the MJ, and immediately did a water change and changed both filter socks. The skimmer waste collector was full which shuts off the skimmer air flow. I emptied that and put the skimmer cup drain into a 5 gallon bucket. From Wednesday evening until Saturday morning, I did seven 60 gallon water changes, emptied the 5 gallon skimmer waste bucket 5 times and changed the 2 filter socks every 4 hours. It took about 5 hours and 8 scraper blades to clean the glass. I took the ato floats and relay to the shop for testing. The relay contact points had melted together, so the ato pump ran until all 22 gallons of water in the reservoir had pumped through the kalk reactor and into the tank. That's what raised the pH to 9.75. I lost about 75% of the corals, one Chromis, and the Naso. I've only seen about 20 moving snails, so I probably lost at least 500 snails. There were at least 50 floating bristleworms. My GFO and Carbon media turned to rock, so I changed it out today. John at FAOIS gave me a bucket of grunge from the bottom of his rock tank to help me reestablish my sandbed.
The two 65 gallon barrels in the garage plumbed to the tank were invaluable in this situation. I always keep at least 60 gallons of saltwater and 60 gallons of RO/DI water ready, so I was ready to change water immediately and every 8-10 hours after that. The plumbed system made changing 420 gallons of water over 60 hours very easy.
The lesson learned for this episode is that I should have my ato pump plugged into my Aqua Controller and set to turn off if pH ever gets to 8.5. Tomorrow when I reassemble and reconnect my ato, I'll do that. I think what may have caused the relay failure is the wave in the return section of the sump. At a certain water level, there is a steady wave, and the wave moves the ato float up and down, causing the relay to click on and off rapidly. I'm going to change the height of the float switch to try to compensate for that.

Check out the wave in the center section.

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

You know... you know a LOT more about all of this than me. But I still think you have a major flaw in your thinking here. I was reading through this thinking... kool.. maybe this guy has a finished tank that I could possibly come see since I'm in the area sometimes. So sorry about your problems... really sucks.

BUT... I think your Aquacontroller could fail on you still... and cause all this again. I think it's a bad idea to have 2x 60gallon containers hooked up to your tank also. I assume you are using float switches on these too.. and they can automatically dump what they have into your system too? It's all very dangerous. If you do decide to try and automate things like this I would have 3 backups for everything. 3 float switches, at least one other backup on your Aquacontroller. You gotta think... what if this fails what will happen... and can I live with the consequences of that? If not then start unhooking this stuff OR use 2 or 3 backups on each system. The only thing like this I use on my tank is a JBJ ATO controller and it has 2 switches... one for ON and one to shut-off if the water is high. So both would have to fail. And IF they did I would dump 14 gallons of RO/DI into my 90 gallon tank. Still could be devastating but not a total loss IF I'm out of town while this happens.