ID please - GHA?

NewbiePta

NewbiePta

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He everyone.

Can you guys help me. As this is my first tank I still need to learn and would apreciate any feedback and treatment sugestions.

I thought that this was just normal GHA but some look different than others.

In this pic it looks like GHA right?


This is the same rock but it looks different.

These two pic look like a third spieces and is the one thats most invasive at this point.



So far I have set up a refugium few days ago and also have Phosban running.

Salinity 1.023
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Amonia 0
PH 8.2-8.4
Alk 8.7dkH
Phospate 0 or not detectable with Salifert
Temp 25 -26
Calsium 440
Magnesium 1450 -1475

Any sugestions? Solutions?
 
Briopsis in the last pic. Almost fern like leaves.

GHA is just straight strands
 
I had bryopsis in the last picture for the past 3 months. This stuff is called satan's algae for a reason because nothing gets rid of it and it grows back fast when you pull it out (which I don't recommend as it releases spores when you do this). I sat night after night searching the net for ways to get rid of it. The most talked about "cure" is using Kent-M Magnesium to raise your magnesium to 1600ppm and apparently it will die off. However, this product is not readily available over here and it costs too much. I used Magnesium chloride from protea chemicals and magnesium sulphate (epsom salts) and waited....and nothing happened. Apparently the Kent-M Magnesium has an impurity which actually kills the bryopsis so not the "magnsium" actually. this was not proven factually anywhere.

My buddy @Ayoob (cant thank this guy enough) found an article online that said a foxface might eat it (oh yes my lawnmower blenny hardly touched this stuff). So after taking all the rocks out and scrubbing the rocks clean, and loosing some corals (while cleaning rocks)...I decided that my last resort is to get this foxface. Anyway, so I got the foxface...and 1 month later all bryopsis is GONE!!!

Some advice:
  • Your phosphates and nitrates will be 0 as the bryposis is consuming it while growing
  • limit your light cycle to a few hours a day, this will slow their growth (maybe 3 hours). Corals will be fine
  • buy a fox face and don't feed him. He will be forced to eat the bryopsis.
  • Raise magnesium to 1600ppm with epsom salts. Do this slowly. I can't factually say that this helped but I also can't say it didn't help. High magnesium has no real effect on corals.
  • Lastly, whenever you buy corals from anyone, analyse their tank carefully before you put things from their tanks into yours.
If I remember some more things, ill post it here.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the reply.....bryopsis has been a pain for many reefers......Just one question about high magnesium levels......I heard that high magnesium levels are not good for snails. Apparently ones snails will die if magnesium is too high???? Does anyone know if this is true?
 
I actually put in 5 big turbos while running the high magnesium. I was hoping they would also start to eat the bryopsis. They however did become very 'sluggish' (lol) and so I lost only 1 turbo.

In my opinion, there is a risk to them if raising magnesium that high...also my magnesium was at 2000ppm
 
wow, how fast did you raised that magnesium levels?!?!?!
This morning you said Magnesium 1450 -1475

Do things slowly please. Your tankmates would thank you.
 
This was not delibarate, I used a reef calculater what it would take to raise it with 100ppm and added slightly less. I must have messed up somewhere I was aiming for 1510 - 1550 and ended up with 1610.

Ill do a test again in the morning and see if I measured correctly
 
I measured again this morning and the magnesium is actually at 1500 that I was aiming for. Thanks for the advice @Bigbone I have also found the same answers you did. Quick question, do you just have the normal yellow Foxface?
 
Yip I had the normal foxface. Not a magnificient foxface.

good luck and don't hesitate to ask...this stuff makes you want to give up.
 
I have no idea. I wouldn't spend so much money on a magnificient foxface if I can get a normal foxface for less then R500 and does the same thing.

My advice, go for a normal foxface.
 
See if you can get a long spine sea urchin, got a few in my tank and they destroyed the Bryopsis in a month. you might need to pull the longer strands off as they prefer them shorter.
 
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