tech M magnesium

[Lynnmw1208]

So I have bryopsis and after reading that huge thread about how tech M gets rid of it I want to do that. My question is, how much in mL is 100ppm a day? I want to keep adding this amount every day in order to get my mag up. Right now it's fairly low at 1120.... Would it be easier to get a salt with higher magnesium content and start from there? This is a 125 gallon tank. I have been adding 8 mL a day and the magnesium seems to not be going anywhere...

calcium is at 420
alk is at 9

 

[willybub]

http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

or

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

both will do the same

 

[JG1]

LOL 8ml a day isn't going to get you anywhere.

1ml will raise one gallon 18ppm.

694mL will raise your tank 100ppm

 

[Sport507]

If it's the Kent M-Tech liquid 1ml will raise each gal. 18.4 ppm. There are 29.5 ml in one ounce. So if you figure 100gal water column 17-18 ounces with raise it approx 80-100 ppm.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It takes a huge amount of additive to boost magnesium appreciably, although it isn't really known how much is needed to kill bryopsis. Also, it probably is not the peak magnesium level attained, but the boost, since it almost certainly isn't magnesium itself that is having the effect, but rather an impurity in Tech M.

So if your tank starts at 1200 ppm magnesium you likely do not need to go as high as if your tank starts at 1400 ppm magnesium, but that also is not proven.

 

[Lynnmw1208]

arg this seems like it's going to take forever to do! I have a pretty small bottle of tech M but it was the biggest at the LFS. I suppose getting a salt with a higher amount may help me reach my goal. I think my mag is actually kind of low for LPS corals as well. Been driving me nuts!! I think I'm going to try the coral pro salt from red sea. instant ocean is just not cutting it.

 

[psteeleb]

It takes a huge amount of additive to boost magnesium appreciably, although it isn't really known how much is needed to kill bryopsis. Also, it probably is not the peak magnesium level attained, but the boost, since it almost certainly isn't magnesium itself that is having the effect, but rather an impurity in Tech M.

So if your tank starts at 1200 ppm magnesium you likely do not need to go as high as if your tank starts at 1400 ppm magnesium, but that also is not proven.

Randy

My results support that hypothesis - I just posted this in the long thread on it


When I first set off to battle bryopsis I had the impression just raising the Mg levels would be sufficient. After raising the Mg to around 1750 using the standard 2-part mix and waiting a couple of weeks I decided to give up in this approach.

I did some further reading and found that it wasn't just about bringing the Mg levels up but about using Tech-M to bring the levels up to about 1600, so, I decided to give it another try. Through water changes I got my Mg back down around 1500 and using Tech-M brought the Mg level up to 1600 and waited a couple days but there was no change in the bryopsis. Tried 1650, still nothing, I even brought Mg up to 1700 and even after another two weeks, still nothing appeared to be happening. At best it may have slowed down the growth but the algae looked as healthy as ever.

Not giving up yet I posted a thread on the subject looking for additional information with the idea that it may not just be the elevated level of Mg but rather the concentration of whatever is in Tech-M that seemed to be doing the trick. Generally what I found out is that most people started around 1400+/- and raised it to 1600 or about a 12% to 15% increase using the Tech-M product. Using this new data point I further raised the level to 1750 using Tech-M, or a 13% increase from the 1500, and within a couple days I started seeing results, Bingo, it very well may be a concentration of the Tech-M product versus elevated levels. I ended up bringing the Mg level up to 1800 and zapped the stuff.

Side notes "“ Mg over 1650 will significantly impact your snail population; I lost over 80% of my astrea snails and at least 20% of all others.

Suggested approach:

Drop Mg to as low as you can withstand without stressing corals and use Tech-M (or other proven product that have a different make up then standard 2-part) and raise your Mg level by 15%

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks for the info. Interesting to hear.

 

[pmrossetti]

arg this seems like it's going to take forever to do! I have a pretty small bottle of tech M but it was the biggest at the LFS. I suppose getting a salt with a higher amount may help me reach my goal. I think my mag is actually kind of low for LPS corals as well. Been driving me nuts!! I think I'm going to try the coral pro salt from red sea. instant ocean is just not cutting it.

You need Oceanic.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Actually, I think the point is that one would want to start low, not high. It is not the magnesium level that is important for bryopsis, but just the amount of Tech M added.

 

[pmrossetti]

Actually, I think the point is that one would want to start low, not high. It is not the magnesium level that is important for bryopsis, but just the amount of Tech M added.

Just meant if she's after higher levels Oceanic is about as high as it gets.


Right, what I get from it is that there is some "bad" ingredient in Tech M that affects the bryopsis, not just raising the Mag???

 

[HighlandReefer]

Could be heavy metals present like copper or combinations of heavy metals. It does seem that hobbyists who increase their mag level using Tech M by 300-400 ppm get the best results. Sudden increases of copper are more effective as an algaecide since the copper or other heavy metals can combine quickly with organic matter, which reduces toxicity as an algaecide. If hobbyists increase their mag level slowly, it may not be as effective.

This might explain why there are many complaints of snail loss, since snails are sensitive to heavy metals like copper.

 

[HighlandReefer]

It would be intersting to see what effect adding say 20 ppb of copper to a tank with Bryopsis would do. What effect it would have on coral? Perhaps even 10 ppb of copper may do it, if added all at once?

IIRC, ssome snails are effected by copper levels as low as 60 ppb (of the toxic ions).

 

[Lynnmw1208]

Should I just squeeze the whole bottle in then? lol It's 16oz I believe.

 

[JG1]

Should I just squeeze the whole bottle in then? lol It's 16oz I believe.

When I brought my levels up with Tech-M I used 8oz in the sump in the morning and 8oz a few hours later. I did this for three days straight.

 

[tmz]

I've had luck knocking it out by keeping PO4 levels very low, consistently. It took a while (weeks to months), presumably to exhaust PO4 leaching from the rock . Never went the Tech M route;I'm concerned whatever the unknown impurity is likely harmful to desireable organisms.

 

[returnofsid]

Should I just squeeze the whole bottle in then? lol It's 16oz I believe.

No. You should use the calculators, posted above, to find out how much you need. If you don't have enough, buy more, BEFORE dosing. It's believed that it's the SUDDEN shock of a sudden rise, that actually does the most good. If you're raising a little bit at a time, it's not going to be as effective. You'll need at least a 200 ppm rise, so, from 1300 to 1500, for instance.

In my 200, battling bryopsis, I raised my Mg, using Tech M, from 1300 to 1650, over 2 days. This took over a gallon of the supplement.

Remember, it's NOT the magnesium that kills the Bryopsis. It's thought to be a impurity in Kent Tech M. Because of this, you may also need to do a large water change, after a couple of weeks, in order to be able to dose more of the impurity. The Mg levels won't drop, as fast as the impurity becomes ineffective. So you'll need to do the large water change, in order to bring your MG levels back down, in order to dose more of the Tech M.