Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!

[SunnyX]

I have tried this a couple of times, albeit with smaller than recommended dose. Is it possible the carbonate+particles are just settling in my sand now? I have a filter roller and I would expect the roller to be rolling a farther distance on days this is dosed due to more gunk passing through, but so far that does not seem to be the case. What are the odds I’m just creating buildup in my sand?

Its possible. Really, depends on the amount of flow you have moving through the system and how much of the snow gts over the overflow and into the filters/skimmer.

The whole point of using the Snow+Bacteria is to help outcompete and eliminate slime. The coral snow does a great job of sticking to the surfaces in the aquarium, helping to deliver the bacteria precisely where we need it most, outcompeting the slime.

Personally, I stir and or/siphon my sand on a weekly basis and have not noticed a buildup of snow on the sandbed.

-Sonny

 

[techhnyne]

Wont this cause you to have elevated calcium levels? does this effect PH? and will it cause alk precipitation?

 

[SunnyX]

Wont this cause you to have elevated calcium levels? does this effect PH? and will it cause alk precipitation?

Hello,

Besides nutrients, it will not affect any other parameters.

-Sonny

 

[techhnyne]

Hello,

Besides nutrients, it will not affect any other parameters.

-Sonny

What does it do to nutrients?

 

[bobssecrtsn]

@SunnyX, I will be starting this dosing method to see if I can erridicate (again) this chrysophate.

 

[Delatedlotus]

Anyone know where you can buy a diatom filter. Thought the original company wen out of business? Sure wish i had hung on to mine LOL

Go to my posts.. The last one and read it! I LOVE MY DIATOM FILTER... I just made one..! Check it out. Happy Reefing.
And Merry Xmas...!

 

[Karliefish]

First off a Merry Christmas to you. - hope it was awesome, I’m still kind of new on R2R, but wasn’t able to find the post you were referring to regarding the DIATOM filter

 

[Steve2020]

I dose this Snow recipe once a week during the day after scrapping the glass. I dose Phyto and Pohl's Coral Vitalizer every other night an hour after lights out. Does anyone see any issues if when I dose the Phyto and Vitalizer to also dose the Snow with them?

 

[bvanfish]

Can you dose this snow if you don’t have a skimmer?

 

[JGT]

I dose this Snow recipe once a week during the day after scrapping the glass. I dose Phyto and Pohl's Coral Vitalizer every other night an hour after lights out. Does anyone see any issues if when I dose the Phyto and Vitalizer to also dose the Snow with them?

As the coral snow is a flocculant, would think it could bind up the phyto so reducing its availability to the organisms.

 

[Steve2020]

Can you dose this snow if you don’t have a skimmer?

100 Micron socks will catch some of the particles created by the Snow but a skimmer does a lot of the work. I am not sure how much would be caught with 200 micron except for catching the normal everyday stuff along with some of the larger particles created by the Snow. I have two 7" sock holders with the back holder blocked off and the front holder has a 50 micron Fleece Filter that goes absolutely crazy using up a lot of fleece when using the Snow so now I unblock the back sock holder and put in a 100 micron filter sock which has approx 95% of the water entering it mostly bypassing the Fleece Filter. The sock catches a lot but the skimmer is still removing it's fair amount and probably removing most of the particles in my opinion.
Hopefully someone that uses the Snow that does not have a skimmer can chime in on their experience giving you a better feel on how good it works without a skimmer.

 

[Steve2020]

As the coral snow is a flocculant, would think it could bind up the phyto so reducing its availability to the organisms.

Yea, I tend to agree. I knew it would bind up but was hoping it would still be small enough for pods, corals and any other organisms that may feed on it. I will just continue what I have been doing.
Thanks for the response.

 

[Reefer Dan]

I’ve been doing this every 2-3 days for about 3 weeks and subjectively feel like I have seen some improvement in red cyano; however, I think the green cyano is getting worse. I realize this isn’t intended to be a “cure”, etc, but curious if anyone else has had a similar experience?

Still plan to continue as it has helped reduce detritus and it does tend to clear the water up significantly by the next day.

 

[brandon429]

at page 25, I'm not seeing very many before and after pics here/proof

for the next 25 pages can we request each job present a clear starting, middle and end after pic?

we aren't getting a lot of closure on jobs here, at all, as far as work threads go. about 5000 extra bottles of cycling bac were sold by this thread, to the benefit of bottle bac sellers, and I dont see any fair fixes that could ever compete with page 25 of any rip clean thread.

I want to make sure a few lucky examples, or fixes unrelated to copious cycling bac dosing, aren't credited with something they're not doing.

A very high bar for selling five thousand extra bottles of cycling bac should exist, vs no before and after pic actions. rip cleans provide shocking fixes, on all pages, all the time/that's a high bar. they're free as well, this here is for cost/that has a high bar of proof needed.

if we start getting legit before and after pics though that can turn the tide here.

 

[Mfield16]

I wish I had taken before/after pics ‍. Came back from a week away during the holidays and my cyano had gotten so bad ypu could barely see the rocks and sand. I manually removed 85% of the cyano and while I had been doing this diy coral snow for a few weeks, I wasn't consistent. After the manual removal I got serious about it and while a little cyano had come back, it's barely on the rocks and no sign of it on the sand at all.

@SunnyX When you were doing MB7 did you ever experiment with differences in daily vs every other day vs weekly addition of MB7? Brightwell says all 3 are options. Right now I am going daily but I do travel a fair amount and a weekly dose (in addition to the 5ml I throw in the coral snow) would be more conducive to that schedule.

When you switched to Zeobak was it a hard switch or did you slowly start using it instead of MB7.

 

[SunnyX]

I wish I had taken before/after pics ‍. Came back from a week away during the holidays and my cyano had gotten so bad ypu could barely see the rocks and sand. I manually removed 85% of the cyano and while I had been doing this diy coral snow for a few weeks, I wasn't consistent. After the manual removal I got serious about it and while a little cyano had come back, it's barely on the rocks and no sign of it on the sand at all.

@SunnyX When you were doing MB7 did you ever experiment with differences in daily vs every other day vs weekly addition of MB7? Brightwell says all 3 are options. Right now I am going daily but I do travel a fair amount and a weekly dose (in addition to the 5ml I throw in the coral snow) would be more conducive to that schedule.

When you switched to Zeobak was it a hard switch or did you slowly start using it instead of MB7.

Hello,

When I switched over, I did not dose any bacteria for two weeks before moving over to Zeobak.

Currently, I dose the bacteria twice per week, Tuesday and Saturday, with good results. I don't believe that dosing more bacteria is going to help here, unless you're in the midst of a cyano outbreak and siphoning it out daily. If so, then yes, dosing the bacteria in conjunction with the snow would be advisable. The key here is you need a fresh surface for the bacteria+snow to adhere to, not allowing the cyano any real estate to proliferate.

Following this method, I can say that for the first time in 25 years I have not had cyano in a system. All of the other systems did well, looked great, but at least twice per year I would deal with cyano outbreaks. The worst thing that I get now is brown diatoms on the sand, and it very manageable, helping me to gauge my nutrient levels as I do not test.

The addition of the Zeovit reactor was a game changer in my opinion. The bacteria storm released daily has created exceptional growth, at a faster clip than I have ever experienced. In nature, bacteria can derive 100% of their nutrition from bacteria, and with a daily near limitless source of it, the corals have done extremally well.

I am getting into the bacteria system talk here, and don't want to take away from the Coral Snow but know that bacteria is the powerhouse behind this dosing.




This here is seven months of growth following the bacteria driven method:

-Sonny

 

[Antoniocastro]

Hello!!
I'm going to start with the dose. I don't have Ciano, I just want to clarify the water. I have a question. I have to make the mixture and let it rest for two hours. After those two hours can I add it? And for the next time I want to dose it, do I have to shake it again and leave it for two hours and then add it?
Or can I just shake it and after shake it add it?
I'm a little confused !!

Thank you

 

[Risk1994]

Maybe a dumb question but doesnt mixing in the MB7 in fresh water kill any bacteria?

Should the MB7 only be mixed in just before use or can you do it long before and store it all together?

 

[Projects with Sam]

I don’t think you should store it together. I am still questioning wether I should mix the mb 7 at all as the ph diffference may prevent the bacteria from w
’waking up’

 

[tydeck]

I just make the solution and shake it every time I use it. I add a 1/2 shot glass 2x weekly.
I usually just add a capful of mb7 to the tank directly right before I add the solution