OwenInAZ
New member
I was getting overwhelmed by some bryopsis algae -- manually pulling it out with a siphon hose was getting old, and increased water changes/GFO reactor and skimmer cleaning weren't helping. I had heard that Kent Tech M has a miracle ingredient (raising the Mag levels with BRS MgSO4/MgCl2 didn't work for me), so I figured I'd give it a shot.
I got a small amount of Tech M from a local guy, but did the math and realized I'd need 3.5 liters (just shy of a gallon) to get my level back up. For reference, I started at around 1050 ppm because I had cut dosing some time ago :hmm3:
No one in town stocks that size of Tech M. However, I was down at RC and chatted with Skip and Carlos for a while (thanks guys!) about Brightwell Magnesion. As it turns out, the guy who makes this stuff was originally behind Tech M, so the formulation (while proprietary) is pretty similar. I figured what the heck worth a shot. It comes in a liquid or powder form. I grabbed a 600 g bottle of the powder because I'm not afraid of mixing chemicals
To start, I manually removed a lot of the bryopsis, but that still leaves large amounts on the rocks. I also cleaned out my return pump, the pump on my reactor, and my skimmer cup and pump to maximize water turnover and nutrient removal during treatment. I've been dosing 90 grams a day mixed into 1 liter of DI water (be very careful, it is highly exothermic; it gets HOT!). It has been raising the magnesium levels just under 100 ppm/day in my 90 gallon (roughly 80-90 gallons when considering sump/rock volume). Pictures are worth a thousand words:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4 (today):
In four days, the rock has gone from being a lush green jungle to a rock with some stringy hairs sticking out. The bryopsis turned brown at the tips at first, and then bleached and disappeared. Now I've discovered another type of algae with it, but I'll address one problem at a time!
So the long and the short of it is, the Brightwell Magnesion-P works very well for bryopsis treatment. At 16 bucks for 600 g, it's a lot cheaper than the Kent, too -- half the treatment cost.
I got a small amount of Tech M from a local guy, but did the math and realized I'd need 3.5 liters (just shy of a gallon) to get my level back up. For reference, I started at around 1050 ppm because I had cut dosing some time ago :hmm3:
No one in town stocks that size of Tech M. However, I was down at RC and chatted with Skip and Carlos for a while (thanks guys!) about Brightwell Magnesion. As it turns out, the guy who makes this stuff was originally behind Tech M, so the formulation (while proprietary) is pretty similar. I figured what the heck worth a shot. It comes in a liquid or powder form. I grabbed a 600 g bottle of the powder because I'm not afraid of mixing chemicals
To start, I manually removed a lot of the bryopsis, but that still leaves large amounts on the rocks. I also cleaned out my return pump, the pump on my reactor, and my skimmer cup and pump to maximize water turnover and nutrient removal during treatment. I've been dosing 90 grams a day mixed into 1 liter of DI water (be very careful, it is highly exothermic; it gets HOT!). It has been raising the magnesium levels just under 100 ppm/day in my 90 gallon (roughly 80-90 gallons when considering sump/rock volume). Pictures are worth a thousand words:
Day 1:
Day 2:
Day 3:
Day 4 (today):
In four days, the rock has gone from being a lush green jungle to a rock with some stringy hairs sticking out. The bryopsis turned brown at the tips at first, and then bleached and disappeared. Now I've discovered another type of algae with it, but I'll address one problem at a time!
So the long and the short of it is, the Brightwell Magnesion-P works very well for bryopsis treatment. At 16 bucks for 600 g, it's a lot cheaper than the Kent, too -- half the treatment cost.
Also, there are (were) several clumps throughout the tank, so a systemic cure seemed in order in my case.
