Calcium Carbonate used this way

Cwentz758 · Sep 23, 2021

In the video below the man talks about using calcium carbonate as sort of a “binder” that bad things get pulled into (certain algae’s, verminted snails, snail reproduction)

Has anyone tried this or use this for the reasons stated in his video?

SantaMonica · Sep 23, 2021

CaCo3 is natural, for sure.

taricha · Sep 24, 2021

Aragonite is indeed a binder of PO4, and I think also organics to some extent.
That said, I know of nobody who runs aragonite sand in a media reactor for that purpose. Probably because the sand you buy likely already has some PO4 and maybe organics bound to it.
dumping fine powder of aragonite is done (KZ coral snow), but I don't see how a system would export it very well through skimming. It will also just sink.

moz71 · Sep 24, 2021

There has been posts videos on using this stuff to get rid of vertimid snails. It is suppose to clog up their mucus and feeding tubes. It was instructed to add every day for over a month. A couple of us tried it but I had zero success as I think others did. It started when someone famous in the reef world said he did it ( can’t remember his name but I will try to find the string and post here. It was more under getting rid of the vermitid snails. It was a complete waste of time but did seem to make water clearer after it settles.

Cwentz758 · Sep 24, 2021

moz71 said:
There has been posts videos on using this stuff to get rid of vertimid snails. It is suppose to clog up their mucus and feeding tubes. It was instructed to add every day for over a month. A couple of us tried it but I had zero success as I think others did. It started when someone famous in the reef world said he did it ( can’t remember his name but I will try to find the string and post here. It was more under getting rid of the vermitid snails. It was a complete waste of time but did seem to make water clearer after it settles.

Interesting.

I am using bumblebee snails for the vertimid snails currently. It’s slow work maybe they’re working a little.
As for water clarity and algae help this carbonate would seem useful

EntitledComplainer · Sep 24, 2021

moz71 said:
There has been posts videos on using this stuff to get rid of vertimid snails. It is suppose to clog up their mucus and feeding tubes. It was instructed to add every day for over a month. A couple of us tried it but I had zero success as I think others did. It started when someone famous in the reef world said he did it ( can’t remember his name but I will try to find the string and post here. It was more under getting rid of the vermitid snails. It was a complete waste of time but did seem to make water clearer after it settles.

It has done nothing for my vermitid snails, but absolutely makes my water clearer. I also used it to smother the dinos I had. It did not get rid of the dino's, just kind of stalled them for a day because they couldn't clump back together until the water cleared.

EntitledComplainer · Sep 24, 2021

taricha said:
Aragonite is indeed a binder of PO4, and I think also organics to some extent.
That said, I know of nobody who runs aragonite sand in a media reactor for that purpose. Probably because the sand you buy likely already has some PO4 and maybe organics bound to it.
dumping fine powder of aragonite is done (KZ coral snow), but I don't see how a system would export it very well through skimming. It will also just sink.

In my experience the skimmer pulled a little bit of it, but my rollermat got most of it. The rest settles in the sump and is pretty easy to get out.