Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!

[Mfield16]

Any thoughts on dosing the snow/MB7, waiting the 30-60min and turning the pumps back on, then doing about 30-60min of micro bubble scrubbing?

In theory the tiny bubbles would help facilitate the removal of the organics trapped by the coral snow.

Micro Bubble Scrubbing in the Reef Tank

Micro bubble scrubbing is a technique used to clean debris from your tank, improve pH, and even help coral remove excess mucus. By adding bubbles to your reef tank for a couple hours per day, much like a protein skimmer, you may see a great deal of benefit!

reefstable.com

 

[jkobel]

Has anyone not had luck with this method?

I used it once about 6 months ago and felt like it made a significant difference. I used it again about a month later and almost immediately encountered a severe algae outbreak from which i am just now recovering (i now think that it might be unrelated but the timing scared me off this method for months) and then used it again about 2 weeks ago and didnt see any effects.

I'm now unsure of how to proceed. Has anyone seen their tank become "immune" to this type of treatment?

My water isnt cloudy normally, just not crystal clear which is what I'm looking for.

Thx

 

[Reeflix]

Hello all!

I have been reefing now for about 25 years, and over those many years I have picked up many tips, tricks, and best habits/practices. From a hobbyist and even a coral vendors perspective, I have gained quite a bit of valuable information. Many of you likely even have a coral that came from company, Pro Corals. The most popular of which being the PC Rainbow Acro.,

Over those years I attempted to pass on as much information and knowledge as possible. Now, I am compiling all the knowledge into one area and will be releasing articles and likely some YouTube guides on a weekly basis.

This is a great hobby and what makes it great is the wonderful community of reefers. Almost all are extremely helpful and it is our duty to aid one another and when we can, impart the little knowledge that we pickup along the way to aid others in their journey. We, and myself included, can easily forget what it was like entering the hobby. Its a minefield and much livestock and funds can be wasted. For someone like myself, books and online forums were my only sanctuary as I did not have any local hobbyist to gather knowledge from. There were many issues, losses and way too much money needlessly spent. Hopefully this series of guides will help those just entering the hobby and perhaps even help some reefing veterans to polish up their game.

The articles will be posted on my blog and right here on Reef2Reef. I am slowly building up my online presence through FB, Instagram and YouTube. If you'd like to follow along and receive the most up to date information please feel free to follow. I will try and keep the articles and video brief. We all have busy lives so I will attempt to post only the cliff notes.

www.ReefSite.com
Instagram: @Reefsite
Fb: @ReefSites
Twitter: @RimlessReef
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SonnyM63



Now, enough yammering. Onto the article!


Extreme Water Clarity and Cyano Eradication, Made Easy!

One of the most frequent questions I receive is how do I have such amazing water clarity and an overall clean looking setup. Well, it quite simple and you can easily do the same while also helping rid yourself of cyano or and the very least not allowing it to gain a foothold in your system. While this is not a cure-all, it will help you achieve your goals and help maintain a healthy aquarium.


For a number of years I had purchased branded products of Coral Snow to help achieve water clarity. That is, until I asked around and found that you can simply make you own Coral Snow solution, saving you hundreds of dollars.

What is Coral Snow?

At its simplest, Coral Snow is a Flocculant.

Flocculant’s work by binding small particles together into a larger mass that can be easily removed via filter socks or a proteins skimmer. The Coral Snow can also help to removal yellowing compounds such as phenols while at the same time helping neutralizes some undesirable chemicals in the system.

Personally, I use this powder Calcium Powder and one jar should last you years. Creating the solution couldn't be any simpler.

• Select a clean container, one that is resealable and able to be shaken. I use an old creatine bottle.(Yes, I am on the GAIN TRAIN)
• For 500ML of solution, add 10 level tablespoons of powder to roughly 425-450ML of RO/DI water.
• Shake the bottle up, and let it sit for two hours. After which, it will be ready to use.
• Now, I don’t believe that you can overdose with this product, but a good recommended dose is 5ml per 50gl of aquarium volume.
• Be sure to shake up the bottle prior to each use as the powder can settle.

The best time to add the solution to you aquarium is after conducting maintenance such as blowing off the rocks, cleaning the glass, siphoning the sand or conducting a water change. Ideally, you should be doing all of the aforementioned maintenance items during a water change, but that discussion is for another time.

Now, on to my personal favorite use of the product: preventing and getting rid of Cyano!

Cyano Solution

Cyano, in all its forms, has been the bane of many a reefers existence. Nothing can upset or ruin the appearance of an aquarium display like that nasty, slimy cyano! The algae is present in all systems, and dates back to the dawn of planet but you can keep it from taking over your aquarium and causing you heartache.

Ideally, you want to be taking preventative measures to ensure that cyano does not gain any real estate in your reef. Prevention is always easier than treatment, but if you can always treat it too.

To amplify the Coral Snow, you will need a bacterial solution. Most will do, but I like Microbacter7 by Brightwell Aquatics. What we are doing here is mixing the bacteria with the Coral Snow, allowing it to bond and adhere to the surface of sand and rock. Basically, we’re trying to eliminate land for the cyano to stake its claim. While most of the Coral Snow will be removed via filtration, there will be a bit that coats you aquariums surfaces, in this case with bacteria that will out compete algae.

The Mix

Take your measured solution of Coral Snow and add it to a small container.

• A plastic or glass cup will suffice.
• Next, add 10 drops of Microbacter7 per 5ML of Coral Snow.
• Allow 5 minutes for the solution to sit and then dose into your aquarium.

Note that Coral Snow will cloud your aquarium for at least two hours. Filter socks and Protein Skimmer(s) should be left on.

Application

I use a DIY mixture of Calcium Carbonate to clarify the water. The solution acts as a flocculant, helping to export tiny free floating matter.

Now, you could just stop right there, and use this solution simply for water clarity, but, you would be missing out on some of the greatest benefits that the complete formula has to offer.

Combining the Coral Snow with bacteria has an outsized effect on undesirable things such as Cyano slime.

• To get the full effect, you’re going to want to take a turkey baster and manually remove or blow off all cyano and other desirable organisms off of the rockwork and sand.

• If you’re able to, run some filter socks in the sump to help capture any large free floating waste.

Now, your going to want to add the Coral Snow solution in a cup and then add the bacteria. You can go a little on the bacteria, slightly more than the manufacturers recommendation.

• Allow the solution to sit for five minutes and then administer it to the aquarium.

• For the full effect, I will turn off the main system pump and allow the solution to have time to coat the surfaces of the aquarium. Generally, I will let process play out for an hour before turning on my main pump and filtration.

• After the hour is up, the main pump is turned on, filter socks setup, and skimmer turned on. The skimmer is going to play a key roll here in helping to remove the particles that have bonded to the coral snow.

Enhancing Coral Snow to Feed Corals

After some weeks, and the system is clean and clear you can then move on to some more advanced methods and mixtures.

I like to add bacteria, Zeofood, and Selcon to my mix.

The Coral Snow will help to distribute the nutrition directly to the corals. When dosed correctly, you should see a feeding response from corals, especially SPS who will extend feeding tentacles.

Now, not all corals will immediately go into feeding mode during the day. It will take some time but eventually they will be conditioned to do so. All things considered, the feeding mix has done very to aid with growth of corals in my system.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, you find this Coral Snow solution to be advantageous. I have used it for years with great results. My aquariums are devoid of cyano and nuisance algae. The fish look like their floating in mid air and the true colors of the corals are allowed to shine through.

I dose once a week but there is no issue dosing it daily if you are dealing with a particularly bad breakout of cyano. For best results, siphon out as much cyano as possible before dosing Coral Snow.

Good luck and if you need any additional help please feel free to reach out.

Sonny [email protected]

thank you so much! i always like to know how to help kill cyano and stuff! they are the tools that make up my arsenal!
also now your tank is beautiful! what lighting system do you use?

 

[SunnyX]

Hello all! I hope that you're doing well. I switched out the Calcium Carbonate I use and am now using this brand. I updated the first post to reflect this. Happy reefing!

Calcium Carbonate (Coral Snow) Link


BTW, the tank is doing great and looking better than ever! CRYSTAL CLEAR and no CYANO!

 

[Lavey29]

Has anyone not had luck with this method?

I used it once about 6 months ago and felt like it made a significant difference. I used it again about a month later and almost immediately encountered a severe algae outbreak from which i am just now recovering (i now think that it might be unrelated but the timing scared me off this method for months) and then used it again about 2 weeks ago and didnt see any effects.

I'm now unsure of how to proceed. Has anyone seen their tank become "immune" to this type of treatment?

My water isnt cloudy normally, just not crystal clear which is what I'm looking for.

Thx

I've been doing it weekly for 6 months with no algae issues.

 

[CK00020]

I have been having very good luck with the coral snow, use it at every water change.

 

[tydeck]

I set up my tank (IM15) 6 weeks ago. All Caribsea dry rock. I’ve been using this methods 2x weekly with micobacter7. Clean glass, blow off rocks. 3 gallon WC (only done once every 2 weeks). Add 1/2 shot glass of the milk. Change the floss the next day. No skimmer

I also have been adding a capful of MB7 daily to the tank.

Ive had zero uglies yet. Smaller bloom of hairy fuzz algae. Which the turbos ate promptly. Water is crystal clear. Corals are doing well for such a young tank.

 

[jkobel]

Hello all! I hope that you're doing well. I switched out the Calcium Carbonate I use and am now using this brand. I updated the first post to reflect this. Happy reefing!

Calcium Carbonate (Coral Snow) Link


BTW, the tank is doing great and looking better than ever! CRYSTAL CLEAR and no CYANO!

Thanks for the update, your tank looks amazing.

Question - have you ever added the calcium carbonate mixture and left it in the DT for an expended period of time? If so, what were the results?

Asking becase 1.5 weeks ago i started a treatment as usual, turned of the return pump and was going to let it sit for an hour before turning it all back on. When I went to turn on the power supply had died on my Cor20 and I scrambled around the area looking for a replacement but it had been about 8 hours, by that time the DT looked fairly clear.

That night I tested the water and Ca was randomly high (463 instead of 430-440) and Alk was very high (12.2 instead of usual 9-10). Mg was also higher than I would have expected since I havent added in about 6 months although I admit i dont test it regularly.

Is there any way these related at all?

Thx

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

That night I tested the water and Ca was randomly high (463 instead of 430-440) and Alk was very high (12.2 instead of usual 9-10). Mg was also higher than I would have expected since I havent added in about 6 months although I admit i dont test it regularly.

Is there any way these related at all?

If any of the added calcium carbonate particles were in the water you tested, even very small ones, then that could explain it. It's a false high reading as the calcium carbonate dissolves in the test.

 

[jkobel]

Thx Randy, thats super helpful! How long should I wait to perform these tests? 24 hours? More?

Asking so I can adjust my timing of maint schedule.

Thx

 

[Useful_Idiot]

Would calcium hydroxide that has been left in an open bag for years now be calcium carbonate? And could I use it as a flocculent?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Would calcium hydroxide that has been left in an open bag for years now be calcium carbonate? And could I use it as a flocculent?

Partly, mostly... but I'd worry about the fraction that was still calcium hydroxide pushing up alk and pH too much.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thx Randy, thats super helpful! How long should I wait to perform these tests? 24 hours? More?

Asking so I can adjust my timing of maint schedule.

Thx

I do not know how long it takes for it to settle or be skimmed out.

 

[jkobel]

Hello all! I hope that you're doing well. I switched out the Calcium Carbonate I use and am now using this brand. I updated the first post to reflect this. Happy reefing!

Calcium Carbonate (Coral Snow) Link


BTW, the tank is doing great and looking better than ever! CRYSTAL CLEAR and no CYANO!

Sunny, whats your testing schedule in relation to your coral snow schedule? Do you see one impact the results of the other?

Thx

 

[jkobel]

I do not know how long it takes for it to settle or be skimmed out.

thx

 

[SunnyX]

Sunny, whats your testing schedule in relation to your coral snow schedule? Do you see one impact the results of the other?

Thx

Well.... I don't test, at least not regularly. I will spot test the alkalinity every three months, but if my corals are growing then I don't bother to test. The only parameters that I track daily are temperature and PH.

-Sonny

 

[reeftivo]

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?

thinking of trying this method between water changes since i have had a little cyano here and there for a few months now. it doesnt get worse but i'd like it visibly gone if at all possible. Was your question ever answered regarding whether RODI affects the bacteria?

 

[Char.toombes]

This almost sounds too good to be true! I’m going to give this a go in my 40G as I’m experiencing a mild green cyano outbreak in a section of my tank. I’ve ready through this thread for the most part and have seen that it does not adversely affect any other nutrients other than maybe a slight dKh increase. When applying and running the tank through this process, would it be wise to remove my chemipure elite? Does it matter? Any hidden issues anyone has experienced using this long term? I do weekly 10% changes already so it’s not more work, hoping to see even more water clarity and be rid of cyano!

 

[Eleni18]

Hello! This looks amazing! Would it be OK to use Aqua Forest Pro Bio S instead of microbakter?

 

[Troylee]

This almost sounds too good to be true! I’m going to give this a go in my 40G as I’m experiencing a mild green cyano outbreak in a section of my tank. I’ve ready through this thread for the most part and have seen that it does not adversely affect any other nutrients other than maybe a slight dKh increase. When applying and running the tank through this process, would it be wise to remove my chemipure elite? Does it matter? Any hidden issues anyone has experienced using this long term? I do weekly 10% changes already so it’s not more work, hoping to see even more water clarity and be rid of cyano!

I’ve done double and even triple the dose every day for a couple weeks to help with Dino’s at one point and not a single thing was affected in my tank.. it’s harmless.. no Params change etc..