Whats growing in your overflow?

[UWUALineman]

I was cleaning the edges of the tank this evening and giving the tank a good once over and trying to determine what to do about a few small patches of byropsis popping up, and I noticed on the rim of my overflow, hair algae. A lot of it. I reached down inside the overflow and pulled out a few bigger clumps. I am guessing since these are somewhat like skimmers some nutrients tend to build up on the lip which falls down into the overflow. Anyone else experience this. Normal? My boxes are covered with vinyl so I am not able to look at from the sides and see only who knows what.

 

[szwab]

My overflows are covered with black acrylic to limit the amountof light that gets in there. That way it's algae unfriendly.

 

[zensaiyan]

try setting your lights a bit more forward on your tank. maybe you are just getting a bit too much light in your overflow. i have a bunch of tube worms and such growing in my overflow. i guess that is a perfect area for them to help with filtration. actually, i was just examining what was growing in mine yesterday when i had to fish my candy hogfish out of the overflow. jesus, i hate it when they jump back there. i swear my next tank is going to have 3" teeth on the overflow.

 

[MarineFishGuy]

Similar to Mark, I cut up some black plastic salad trays and placed them over my overflow.
I have some sponges and tube worms but that is about it.

Before that I had a bunch of algae, likely fueled by uneaten food and excess light.

In my canopy, I could not move the lights, so covering the top was the next best choice.

 

[fishfan09]

I recently got a huge piece of gsp from acrosteve and i had about 6 square inches left after mounting were I had planned so I mounted that on my overflow box to help keep light out, but it can stll get in the top I am going to try the salad tray on top...thanks pres.

 

[aerius007]

Re: Whats growing in your overflow?

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15138409#post15138409 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by UWUALineman
I was cleaning the edges of the tank this evening and giving the tank a good once over and trying to determine what to do about a few small patches of byropsis popping up,

From what I hear raising the magnesium in your tank will take of that, 1700ppm I think. I have no experience with it, just what I heard.

 

[jiriki]

It does work but I think it is brand dependent. Most have had the most success if using Kent Tech-M magnesium. Others have tried epsom salt with very limited success.

I have used Kent Tech-M myself with good success at clearing out bryopsis. The lettuce nudibranch also works but I believe that is all it eats (mine never ate any other form of hair algae).

 

[UWUALineman]

I picked up two bottles of tech m tonight. So lets hope that cures my small problem now, before it turns into a big problem. Now I just need the test kits.

I moved the lights forward as far as I can but I may need to go the route of covering them to restrict light accessing the overflows.

 

[jiriki]

A side effect of high mg is your coralline algae will grow quite a bit too.

 

[dan223]

I dont know what started this Kent Tech-M myth but they have to be loving it selling all that at a HUGE markup. I used bulk mag hexahydrate ice melter and epsom salt mixed to bulk reef supply 2part specs and it works great at 1750ppm for briopsis.

 

[Reefdiver72]

well I know what I will be doing tomorrow night I got to get my mag up

 

[CleveYank]

If you have a calcium reactor, turbo mag or zeo mag works fantastic and no ionic imbalance worries via dosing mag flake or epsom salts. Add just 1/2 to 1 inch depending upon your needs right on top of your Ca media and you're done. Test for Mg once in a while to make sure it's not too high or too low.

 

[RokleM]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15148349#post15148349 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by CleveYank
If you have a calcium reactor, turbo mag or zeo mag works fantastic and no ionic imbalance worries via dosing mag flake or epsom salts. Add just 1/2 to 1 inch depending upon your needs right on top of your Ca media and you're done. Test for Mg once in a while to make sure it's not too high or too low.

Correct, but it won't RAISE mag like these guys are trying to in order to fight algae. Zeomag and other brands will only maintain, not raise the levels. There's a reason (believe it dumps too much alk if used in too high of quantities or too low pH) and Randy has discussed it in the chemistry forum a few times.

 

[MarineFishGuy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15146827#post15146827 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dan223
I dont know what started this Kent Tech-M myth but they have to be loving it selling all that at a HUGE markup. I used bulk mag hexahydrate ice melter and epsom salt mixed to bulk reef supply 2part specs and it works great at 1750ppm for briopsis.

If you read the thread on RC about this, you will clearly note those people who tried exclusively Epsom Salts did not experience much if any success. Those who used exclusively Mag Flake only had moderate success. Those who used Tech-M had a high degree of success.
Very few people reported results with Randy's 2 part recipe, although I think they had similar success to Mag Flake alone.

While not a scientific study, the reported results clearly demonstrated that the ionic balance is also important not just the Mg itself.

It was also clear that not everyone was talking about the same green filamentous algae.

IMO this myth is Plausible.

 

[CleveYank]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15150563#post15150563 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RokleM
Correct, but it won't RAISE mag like these guys are trying to in order to fight algae. Zeomag and other brands will only maintain, not raise the levels. There's a reason (believe it dumps too much alk if used in too high of quantities or too low pH) and Randy has discussed it in the chemistry forum a few times.

I'm running 50% Koralith Fine Ca media with 50% ARM coarse and a secondary layer of what was 1 1/2 inches of the Turbo Mag media layer on top. I was at 1700 plus on the Mg test kit. I removed it down to 1 inch and I got to 1600 which was still high for where I wanted it, but everything is doing well. (I had elevated Alk levels with short try with dolomite and had to ditch that before I gave the turbo mag media a whirl because I couldn't leep alk from climbing.) I was wondering if the test kit was wrong and bought a second one of a different lot number and it read the same.

My Ca is around the 480 to 500 range and my Alk is 9. My Mg last tested 1600. My pH ran at 7.8 to 8.0. Added Kalk back into the mix and I'm at 8.1 to 8.3 daily fluctuation cycle.

Now keep in mind, my reactor is a PM 622 with an add-on
secondary chamber in which the effluent dumps into my chaeto filled refugium. So maybe the Kalk, 2nd chamber and plants helping to convert excess CO2 is preventing depressed pH. Well, not maybe. I intentionally set it up to stack the deck against having depressed pH.

 

[RokleM]

Understood. My point was not to recommend using turbomag/zeomag as a way to increase magnesium, as it's a way to maintain mag. Attempting to use it to increase magnesium is dangerous as it will throw your levels out of whack.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12945751#post12945751 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randy Holmes-Farley
...
However, this method is unsuitable if the goal is to raise magnesium levels. The problem is that for every magnesium ion released from the dolomite, 2 units of alkalinity are also released:

MgCO3 ---> Mg++ + CO3--

Consequently, if one wants to raise magnesium by 100 ppm, the alkalinity will necessarily rise by 8.2 meq/L (23 dKH). The only way around this problem is to add a mineral acid (not vinegar) to the aquarium to reduce the alkalinity, and that may be more problematic than just adding magnesium in the first place.

 

[CleveYank]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15156060#post15156060 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RokleM
Understood. My point was not to recommend using turbomag/zeomag as a way to increase magnesium, as it's a way to maintain mag. Attempting to use it to increase magnesium is dangerous as it will throw your levels out of whack.

What you are quoting from RHF is for dolomite and is true.

Turbo Mag and Zeo Mag are not derivitives of dolomite at all. It's a form of a purified Mg. Magnesium oxide to be precise.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...t_Code=AC-CR-M-TMG-2.5KG&Category_Code=cmedia
Maybe it was this part that made me think you could use the media to raise and lower the Mg level where you wanted it.
"The achievement of the magnesium column can be adjusted with the amount of granules." I took column as desired Mg level in eurospeak.


And if I wasn't dosing for Mg and my Mg was low. If the Turbo Mag didn't cause my high Mg levels then what did?
I will have to double check, but I think Serpentman (Jeff of C-Sea fame) had the same result.

 

[RokleM]

I believe he's mentioned the same about zoemag as well (not sure about turbomag), but I see where you're going. I'll try to find the other post where he discussed.

You also mentioned you couldn't keep your alk from climbing, which also ties in.

I know the pH for zoemag is decently low, what about that product you're using?

 

[CleveYank]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15159456#post15159456 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RokleM
I believe he's mentioned the same about zoemag as well (not sure about turbomag), but I see where you're going. I'll try to find the other post where he discussed.

You also mentioned you couldn't keep your alk from climbing, which also ties in.

No no no...lol

In my run on complex sentence writing style (hard to read) you missed where I had run Dolomite at 1st try and had Alk battles and that was why I moved to Turbo Mag. Go back to the post. My professors and professional coleagues have had to deal with past tense over use and complex sentences and mispealed words. Sorry in advance infinity to cover that into the future.

And after all the war and peace of this and that. It was the turbo mag that put the death blow on bryopsis in my system.

 

[RokleM]

:lol: I follow now.