Is this bryopsis

[Shu]

Is this bryopsis not sure but i think it is.

[Mr Cob]

Looks like it. Would be nice to see a closer picture. Bryopsis is fern like.

[Shu]

my camera is out of commission so cant. It is furn like so I am pretty sure it is. I am dosing mag right now. Trying to figure out how much I should dose. I need to go pick up a **** test kit.

[Europhyllia]

Dosing the Kent Tech-M has really worked well for me. The salifert test kit won't go as far as you need but you can draw a refill into the syringe and calculate it by that.

[corruption]

Jarren -- never dose without test kits. This is why I've been telling you for months you need your own test kits -- if you're blindly 'treating' the chances of you fixing the problem are next to zero, whereas your chances of introducing new problems are very high. Magnesium, Calcium, and Alkalinity are all directly tied, and too much of a shift in any of them can cause the dreaded precipitous event.... Go get yourself some test kits, the SeaChem sets are nice and affordable, and reliable enough. If you wanna really be serious, get some Elos or Salifert test kits ;)

Definitely looks like Bryopsis without a closer pic though -- manual removal during water changes will help on top of testing your own water and fixing the imbalances properly...

-Corruption

[Shu]

I am getting one today don't worry justin

[corruption]

Get either a complete set, or pick up all the individual sets that go with it -- you don't want to only test for the item you're dosing... Like I said, Mag, Cal, and Alk are all directly related, and pushing one too far can cause the others to drop -- you always need to be matching the preferred ionic balance here. Plus, it never hurts to have the basics around (ammonia, nitrate/trite, pH)..

I picked up the SeaChem Marine Basic from Gabe's Fish a couple weeks ago, its a very complete basic test kit, including Ammonia, Nitrate/Trite, pH, and Alkalinity. Easy to use, and nice and affordable. Not sure if he keeps em in stock though, I believe he had to special order this one for me. For the higher resolution tests (Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity, Strontium, etc), Elos/Salifert/LaMotte or other lab-grade test kits are definitely the way to go.

-Corruption

[Roo&Lis]

Yup. Sure looks like the dreaded bryopsis. I had to tear down my whole tank and bleach my rock to get rid of it.

[Bill S]

What corruption said. This is a cardinal rule. Don't dose without testing. And having Ca, Alk and pH along with Mg is essential.

Personally, after having a bad kit from SeaChem (and acknowledged by SeaChem), I stick only to Salifert. They aren't cheap, but neither are fish...

[corruption]

How long ago was the bad batch of test kits, if you don't mind me asking bstreep? We've been continuing to recommend them over at WWM for quite some time, and haven't heard any problems (not denying, hence my curiosity )... Were the results just unreliable, or what was there specific problem?

I've not had any problems with them yet, but I just use them for baseline testing here and there -- I too buy Salifert for all my important details ;)

-Corruption