Byropsis Algae

[Redfish]

I thought I had the problem licked so I stopped dosing. After two large water changes to help fight the Red Turf Algae problem, I figured that dropped my magnesium level in the tank, some anyway, I know the mag levels don't drop that fast. I dosed the 50 ml Saturday and another 50 ml yesterday, and will dose another 50 ml in the morning, then take a wait and see what happens with the Byropsis, if it keeps growing I will dose some more, if it slows , I will dose less. I know I am most likely not doing this dosing thing right, I would rather error on the safe side when it comes to the SPS corals in the tank as much as I can

[Redfish]

My snail population is taking a hit, I was expecting that though, which is not a big deal, I was planning on removing all of them from the tank anyway. The new Urchin I got for the tank, is not the same type that I had in the tank before that had been doing a really good job on the Red Turf Algae. I asked Gerwin to let me know when one of these other Urchins came into the store so I could get another one. I was thinking this morning though, it may not be the Urchins fault, the high magnesium level in the tank that is effecting the snails, maybe effecting the Urchin also, just a thought. Hes not dead, but he isn't eating the RTA like I think he ought to be. I dosed another 50 ml this morning.

[Gerwin]

so where are you at on this Pete? all gone gone?

[Redfish]

I thought I was and stopped dosing and it came back, lesson learned, don't stop dosing till you know its gone. When I started trying to get rid of this stuff, I would dose the Kents, prune the Buropsis from the tank and it would be back in two days just like it was before I pruned the tank. After dosing for about two weeks I could prune the tank and it was taking longer for the Byropsis to come back. The last time I pruned the tank, it didn't seem to be coming back, I just didn't wait long enough. Sooo we are dosing again, more than likely, I will need another bottle of the Kents. Go ahead and order me one if you don't have it in stock, I will be in one day next week to pick it up.

[Redfish]

I dosed another 50ml this morning but think this will be my last dose for awhile, the clean up crew is really starting to take a hit The Byropsis is down to a strand here and there, no frille part to the strands. I have no idea how to tell if its taken a fatal hit or not, we will just take a wait and see approach and see if it comes back or not. Corals still aren't being effected but I don't want to push it to far, want to make sure I stay on this side of hurting them.

[Redfish]

Ok,,, I was kinda freaking yesterday. I have two snails in the tank, not sure what they are called, one bigger than the other. They drag a skirt behind them and leave a slime trail on the sand when they are out moving around and munch on snails when the snails get turned upside down, they stay buried in the sand most of the time. Anyway,,, one of them was on the back glass yesterday morning, looking like it was turned inside out of its shell. I thought that the magnesium level in the tank had finally gotten to it and that it was fixing to die. Came home yesterday, went to the tank to see what had happened to him and had a bunch of eggs on the glass and the snail was no where to be found, so I guess he's doing alright.

[bct15]

Laying eggs on the glass sounds like cerith snails, but your description sounds like a nassarius snail. Nassarius snails are small carnivores that live in the sand and will eat uneaten food. Cerith snails are larger cone shaped algae-vores that live in the sand and come out at night. My ceriths lay eggs all the time but rarely hatch, I've never seen my nassarius snails lay eggs but they might.

[Redfish]

Got in the tank today with a pair of tweezers and removed pretty much all the Byropsis, all I really had left were the stems without the frillie parts anyway. The Byropsis has all but stopped growing, I also did a water change after removing the Byropsis. Richard gave me a great idea, which to most would seem like the obvious thing to do, the obvious, is not so obvious to me sometimes though Dose up the water for the water change with magnesium before the water change,,, took right at 150 ml to hit the 1600 magnesium level. Anyway the plan is to keep the 1600 level for at least three weeks and hope that this rids the tank of the Byropsis. I may try and stretch this three weeks out depending on how the corals are doing. I would hate to let the magnesium level start to come down and watch the Byropsis start to regrow again, that would be the pits don't know any other way to find out though.

[Redfish]

After the last water change, the magnesium level in the tank was just on the north side of 1600, its hard to hit the exact number when dosing the water for the water change. I waited three days and gave the tank a 20 ml dose of the Kent's and gave the tank another 30 ml this morning, really need to test again, which I will do tonight to see where I am at. The only Byropsis in the tank are a few sprigs here and there that I was not able to get out when I did the pruning in the tank the last go around. The stems left in the tank, are just that, stems, they have know frillie parts to them, all of the frillie parts have bio degraded off of the stems that are left. I would feel better if the stems that are left would bio degrade off of the live rock and out of the tank, we will have to wait and see if that happens over the next two weeks. I still feel pretty confident that if I were to let the magnesium level in the tank drop, the Byropsis in the tank would make a come back don't want that to happen, until my confidence turns the other direction where I feel I have a better than average chance of it being gone from the tank when I start to let the magnesium level in the tank start to come down, I will keep dosing. SPS corals are all still doing fine, some have even started to put on growth