Jump to content
Top Shelf Aquatics

Mr. Microscope's Cube 2.1


Mr. Microscope

Recommended Posts

Hello All,

 

It's that time of the month again for another FTS.

FTS20141126_zps189981b9.jpg

 

I'm starting to see bryopsis coming back. So, I invested in a 64 oz. bottle of Kent Tech-M from Marine Depot. I'm a little skeptical though. The bottle ingredients lists only MgSO4, MgCl, and distilled water. To my understanding, Kent makes two types of Tech M, the other having a lot more ingredients and is useful for fighting bryopsis. However, according to the reviews on Marine Depot and a Marine Depot rep I chatted with, I have the correct stuff for fighting bryopsis.

I'd love to get more opinions on this before I get started. Please chime in if you have experience with this.

 

Here's a couple pics of more treats that larcat and AK brought over for me. For starters, Dragon's Breath!

dragonsbreath20141126_zpsaf6ea1ee.jpg

I only have it in one spot of the tank, but I have more in my fuge and plan to add a little more to the display so that I have a more balanced look. After only a few days, it developed the flame edges that glow in actinics. This is a really pretty macro. I keep finding little pieces of it floating around my reef. It turns out that one of my clowns has been nipping at it. I'm not sure it he's even eating it. I think he just feels destructive. Haha!

 

Lastly, this is what larcat calls the, "Fauxkins." According to him, it started out looking like a Hawkins turaki, but as it's grown it looks more like some other type of acro. It's a really beautiful piece and I'm looking forward to seeing it fill in.

Fauxkins20141126_zps88a1cc37.jpg

Needed to be brought to new page :)

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Mr. Microscope

I did the Tech M treatment a couple months back, raised mag by 100 a day until it got to 1800. Kept it above 1800 for an entire month, and manually removed any patch of bryopsis I could see (most of it was on frag plugs). Within probably 2 weeks the bryopsis was noticeably more frail looking, and began to turn white/die off. After the month, I couldn't see it anywhere so it definitely works! I still have the last bottle I used and it only lists the three ingredients as well.

Awesome! Thank you for sharing your experience!!! Did you notice any effect on your livestock? Did you have acros at the time? I've also heard it can have a negative effect on inverts.
Link to comment
Mr. Microscope

I had bryopsis once. Now I have a rabbitfish and no bryopsis. :)

Hee hee! One day I'll upgrade and have enough gallons for bigger awesome fish.

latest fts shot is stunning man, I love that acan garden, slowly working on my own can't imagine it would end up close to as spectacular as that though.

Thank you hey! It doesn't take long. If you feed them, you can have something similar within 18 months. All of my acans started from 1-4 polyp frags.

Needed to be brought to new page :)

Thanks for the bump kguske! ;)

Tank looks really great. Im going to find me some acans too..

Thanks FishFrog! They're a fun little avenue to explore.

Great name BTW ;) lol

Tanks lookin great man hopefully you can eliminate that bryopsis once and for all!!!!!!

Thank you Chris! I hope so too. It's really the only issue I'm having at the moment. I hope once it's gone that coralline will start to take a better hold on my rocks.
  • Like 2
Link to comment

Awesome! Thank you for sharing your experience!!! Did you notice any effect on your livestock? Did you have acros at the time? I've also heard it can have a negative effect on inverts.

I didn't notice anything negative. I had mainly zoas and lps. I had one acro and one Birdsnest. The acro was already browned before the treatment but growth took off on both pieces while mag was up. Whether this can be attributed to it or something else I don't know, wasnt testing for anything other than mag levels at the time. As for inverts, all I have is snails and one hermit crab and they're still with me so they were fine!

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Hello All,

 

It's that time of the month again for another FTS.

FTS20141126_zps189981b9.jpg

 

I'm starting to see bryopsis coming back. So, I invested in a 64 oz. bottle of Kent Tech-M from Marine Depot. I'm a little skeptical though. The bottle ingredients lists only MgSO4, MgCl, and distilled water. To my understanding, Kent makes two types of Tech M, the other having a lot more ingredients and is useful for fighting bryopsis. However, according to the reviews on Marine Depot and a Marine Depot rep I chatted with, I have the correct stuff for fighting bryopsis.

I'd love to get more opinions on this before I get started. Please chime in if you have experience with this.

 

Here's a couple pics of more treats that larcat and AK brought over for me. For starters, Dragon's Breath!

dragonsbreath20141126_zpsaf6ea1ee.jpg

I only have it in one spot of the tank, but I have more in my fuge and plan to add a little more to the display so that I have a more balanced look. After only a few days, it developed the flame edges that glow in actinics. This is a really pretty macro. I keep finding little pieces of it floating around my reef. It turns out that one of my clowns has been nipping at it. I'm not sure it he's even eating it. I think he just feels destructive. Haha!

 

Lastly, this is what larcat calls the, "Fauxkins." According to him, it started out looking like a Hawkins turaki, but as it's grown it looks more like some other type of acro. It's a really beautiful piece and I'm looking forward to seeing it fill in.

Fauxkins20141126_zps88a1cc37.jpg

Very Nice aquascaping. Love it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Mr. Microscope

I didn't notice anything negative. I had mainly zoas and lps. I had one acro and one Birdsnest. The acro was already browned before the treatment but growth took off on both pieces while mag was up. Whether this can be attributed to it or something else I don't know, wasnt testing for anything other than mag levels at the time. As for inverts, all I have is snails and one hermit crab and they're still with me so they were fine!

Ok. Sounds good. I can deal with some brown out if that happens. Thanks again!

Very Nice aquascaping. Love it.

Thank you gerber!

looks like we need to set up a trade ;)

a piece of katropora for a piece of that sps in the last pic. :P

No problem! It's a pretty small frag at the moment, but I can definitely give you some of it. Though, considering the size, I'll cut you something else as well.
Link to comment

 

No problem! It's a pretty small frag at the moment, but I can definitely give you some of it. Though, considering the size, I'll cut you something else as well.

 

we'll talk :) by the time i get home, i'll have a few sps i could frag for yah!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Mr. Microscope

 

we'll talk :) by the time i get home, i'll have a few sps i could frag for yah!

Cool cool! Perhaps we can trade at the next N-R meetup. When will you be in town specifically?
Link to comment
Mr. Microscope

 

12/20 - 1/5

 

soooo make sure its set up in between those dates so i can go! :P

 

I vote for a Saturday - 27th or 3rd!!

Good suggestions Kimber! I'm thinking more towards the 3rd as I'm likely to be out of town on the 27th.

Tank looks lovely as always. I'll be following how your bryopsis treatment goes, as I'm having some pop up in my cube <_<

Thank you Jaime! I've been adding 100mL/day for the last three days. 'Gonna take a measurement and see where I am tonight before adding more. No reduction in algae yet, though I wasn't expecting to see any this early. This stuff clouds my water for several hours after I add it. Lame..

I also decided to skip water changes for the moment as to not dilute whatever is in the Tech-M. I've been keeping up with water parameters by dosing (including K and I). I'll just have to keep a closer eye on PO4 and NO3.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Hello All,

 

It's that time of the month again for another FTS.

FTS20141126_zps189981b9.jpg

 

I'm starting to see bryopsis coming back. So, I invested in a 64 oz. bottle of Kent Tech-M from Marine Depot. I'm a little skeptical though. The bottle ingredients lists only MgSO4, MgCl, and distilled water. To my understanding, Kent makes two types of Tech M, the other having a lot more ingredients and is useful for fighting bryopsis. However, according to the reviews on Marine Depot and a Marine Depot rep I chatted with, I have the correct stuff for fighting bryopsis.

I'd love to get more opinions on this before I get started. Please chime in if you have experience with this.

 

Here's a couple pics of more treats that larcat and AK brought over for me. For starters, Dragon's Breath!

dragonsbreath20141126_zpsaf6ea1ee.jpg

I only have it in one spot of the tank, but I have more in my fuge and plan to add a little more to the display so that I have a more balanced look. After only a few days, it developed the flame edges that glow in actinics. This is a really pretty macro. I keep finding little pieces of it floating around my reef. It turns out that one of my clowns has been nipping at it. I'm not sure it he's even eating it. I think he just feels destructive. Haha!

 

Lastly, this is what larcat calls the, "Fauxkins." According to him, it started out looking like a Hawkins turaki, but as it's grown it looks more like some other type of acro. It's a really beautiful piece and I'm looking forward to seeing it fill in.

Fauxkins20141126_zps88a1cc37.jpg

I need a jaw-dropping emoji LOL. It looks better than fabulous :D. That fauxkins is amazing...LOVE the color :wub:.
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Mr. Microscope

I need a jaw-dropping emoji LOL. It looks better than fabulous :D. That fauxkins is amazing...LOVE the color :wub:.

Thank you Gena!

That Dragon's Breath is about half the size it was when I put it in there. lol! Yes, I'm loving the fauxkins! So far, it's kept its color very well.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
Mr. Microscope

I'm so put off by anything dosing :lol: too scared I'll screw it up. Do/did you have any chemical media running that you took out for the Tech M?

Sorry for the late responds.

 

There seems to be more of a learning curve to dosing than I thought, but Mg is relatively straight forward with a testing kit.

 

No, I haven't taken any media out while running the Tech-M. You think I should stop carbon?

 

BTW, my Mg level is about 1850 now. I've definitely noticed some bryopsis turning white and fading. I'll continue to keep it up for a while. I'm hoping by the middle of January, I'll be free from bryopsis and can focus on getting rid of the rest of the algae.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Sorry for the late responds.

 

There seems to be more of a learning curve to dosing than I thought, but Mg is relatively straight forward with a testing kit.

 

No, I haven't taken any media out while running the Tech-M. You think I should stop carbon?

 

BTW, my Mg level is about 1850 now. I've definitely noticed some bryopsis turning white and fading. I'll continue to keep it up for a while. I'm hoping by the middle of January, I'll be free from bryopsis and can focus on getting rid of the rest of the algae.

Well, I tested my tank two days before water change day and all my params were good, so I guess I don't need to dose yet, except to battle the bryopsis. I have no idea if you should stop chemical media or not...I'm guessing carbon is fine because I don't see how that would affect mag? But, I'm not a science whiz by a longshot. I've got my bottle of Tech M but need life to settle down so I have the time to test Mag closely while dosing.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Mr. Microscope

Well, I tested my tank two days before water change day and all my params were good, so I guess I don't need to dose yet, except to battle the bryopsis. I have no idea if you should stop chemical media or not...I'm guessing carbon is fine because I don't see how that would affect mag? But, I'm not a science whiz by a longshot. I've got my bottle of Tech M but need life to settle down so I have the time to test Mag closely while dosing.

Supposedly, it's not the Magnesium in the Tech-M that does the job of fighting bryopsis but some unlisted impurity in this specific product. Simply raising Mg alone does not do it.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Mr. Microscope

ORA Joe the Coral update at the one month mark..

A little growth, some encrustation, but a whole lotta wahwah when it comes to polyp extension!

Today, 2014.12.14

Joe20141214_zps8dbfaa0d.jpg

2014.11.15

Joe20141115_zpsbfa94458.jpg

I have a feeling it's about to really take off.

  • Like 9
Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...