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View Full Version : Effect of Coral Snow on Cyano


viperfish
11-15-2010, 03:26 AM
I know KZ Coral Snow is supposed to neutralize the acids that cause Hair Algae to grow but does anyone know what it does for Cyano. I've been dosing my tank with it and the Cyano seems to just love it by the way its growing. Does anyone have any first hand experience? Just for the record N&P are both undetectable.

christyf5
11-15-2010, 03:34 AM
It did nothing for me. I dosed it daily for about 10-14 days (can't remember when I gave up). It didn't slow its growth but I didn't feel like it sped it up either.

On the bright side my corals looked pretty fabulous :razz:

daniella3d
11-15-2010, 03:47 AM
Chemiclean Red Slime remover did the job for me. Applied as directed, no negative effect on the coral or animals what so ever and I never saw cyano again...that's been 4 or 5 months.

I know KZ Coral Snow is supposed to neutralize the acids that cause Hair Algae to grow but does anyone know what it does for Cyano. I've been dosing my tank with it and the Cyano seems to just love it by the way its growing. Does anyone have any first hand experience? Just for the record N&P are both undetectable.

viperfish
11-15-2010, 04:13 AM
I'm running it right now. My 48 hrs is up tonight so tomorrow I'll do a 20% w/c. I shut my skimmer and carbon reactor as suggested but I did leave my filter sock in, I wonder if that's why it didn't work as well. I restarted my carbon tonight so I can start cleaning it out of the water, I just hate how it drops the PH and uses up so much O2. I know it knocked out quite a bit of the cyano because my filter sock turned completely red in 24hrs, it just didn't get it all. Maybe I just need one more treatment.

ponokareefer
11-15-2010, 04:13 AM
It didn't do a thing for me.

BlueTang<3
11-15-2010, 04:16 AM
Coral snow along with zeo back is supposed to do the trick i have never had it work. I am also using zeo zyme it is not helping either. Altho i hardly have any to begin with.

viperfish
11-15-2010, 04:19 AM
Coral snow along with zeo back is supposed to do the trick i have never had it work. I am also using zeo zyme it is not helping either. Altho i hardly have any to begin with.

I just read that on RC, I think I'll have to grab some Zeo Bak and give it a try.

Scubasteve23
11-15-2010, 04:19 AM
I'm starting to wonder if using the bio pellets with the coral snow is an issue?? I didn't have any cyano until they both were running together...hmm... i also noticed it seems that every time i change my carbon it comes back for a couple days... anyone ever received bad carbon???

Delphinus
11-15-2010, 04:22 AM
FWIW, coral snow with or without zeobak never touched cyano for me either.

Milad
11-15-2010, 05:17 AM
ive been doing coral snow with water changes mainly because it clears the water so well
i have/had cyano and i went all dark for 48 hours, and did zeozyme every day with zoebak. Lights have been back on for 48hours now and no sign of cyano coming back (SO FAR).
and i run bio pellets.

Lance
11-15-2010, 05:38 AM
Didn't work for me.

cwatkins
11-15-2010, 05:40 AM
Isn't working for me but I use it for the clarity.

Just removed my GFO and started Bio Pellets yesterday. Hopefully in a couple weeks it'll all be gone.

Rogue951
11-15-2010, 06:15 AM
Chemiclean worked for me. That little jar will last years.

randallino
11-15-2010, 06:30 AM
I haven't had much luck with C.S.

Just removed my GFO and started Bio Pellets yesterday. Hopefully in a couple weeks it'll all be gone.
cwatkins, Be careful I am at the 3 week mark with Bio pellets and my PO4 is starting to climb up. Started with .05 3 weeks ago now I am at .11 (Hanna). I am running a small amount of GFO to help bring it back down.

christyf5
11-15-2010, 03:19 PM
I haven't had much luck with C.S.


cwatkins, Be careful I am at the 3 week mark with Bio pellets and my PO4 is starting to climb up. Started with .05 3 weeks ago now I am at .11 (Hanna). I am running a small amount of GFO to help bring it back down.

+1 I had the same problem, ended up running GFO concurrently with the pellets because they weren't keeping the phosphates low enough. I ended up giving up on the pellets altogether.

Back to the thread topic, I ended up using chemi-clean as well, worked like a charm. Wasn't overly enthusiastic about the skimmer overflowing for days on end though but it got the job done.

Lance
11-15-2010, 04:22 PM
Chemi-Clean works great. After using it and eradicating the Cyano I find if I use very small doses of it once in a while it keeps it away without the hassle of oveflowing skimmers and large water changes via the full dose.

cwatkins
11-15-2010, 08:19 PM
cwatkins, Be careful I am at the 3 week mark with Bio pellets and my PO4 is starting to climb up. Started with .05 3 weeks ago now I am at .11 (Hanna). I am running a small amount of GFO to help bring it back down.

Thanks for the heads up. I was planning on changing out my carbon this week and when I do I plan to do a layer of carbon then put in a separator, then put another layer of GFO on top.

Do you like the Hanna checker? I'm using an API kit and it's a P.I.T.A.

don.ald
11-15-2010, 09:11 PM
may need to use the zeozyme
http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=zv-zzym250

frd72
11-15-2010, 10:42 PM
Chemiclean worked for me. That little jar will last years.

do you mean last for years, you are still using it even without the presence of the cyano and using it as a preventive measures?:question:

thanks,:biggrin:

nlreefguy
11-16-2010, 02:16 AM
I've had problems with cyano every time I've tried biopellets and I've tried three different formulations at several different times and with and without GFO and still had the same problems. I have also had to concede that biopellets just aren't for me!

KPG007
11-16-2010, 02:35 AM
I use Coral Snow religously and it did nothing with my cyano. It does, however, help, as my skimmer goes into high gear, pulling out lots of junk after I add it.
I used chemiclean to get rid of my cyano and was really happy with it. Follow the directions and in about 7 - 10 days it will be gone and your skimmer can go back on line.

viperfish
11-16-2010, 03:51 AM
I think I've found a solution... might have to wait a while though http://reefbuilders.com/2010/11/15/leds-combat-bacteria-future-aquariums/#more-26474

fishytime
11-16-2010, 04:01 AM
ok......lets start thinking in a different direction here....lets stop trying to "band aid" the problem and try to figure out whats causing the problem:wink:.....cyano is caused by 1 of three things.......an excess of nutrients (so we look at our bio-load and what and how much we are feeding)......old bulbs (as bulbs burn the drop in "K" value, becoming closer to that of natural sunlight).....and lack of flow (which can be corrected by either re-directing or adding more flow)....

CS is not a cure all when it comes to cyano or diatoms, but it does seem to help (for me anyway) some of the other benifits are as stated, water clrity and also it acts as a biding agent for foods that will either be skimmed out or assimilated (KZs words),,,,,I try to steer people away from "chemical" solutions before trying to figure out whats causing it

ponokareefer
11-16-2010, 04:10 AM
ok......lets start thinking in a different direction here....lets stop trying to "band aid" the problem and try to figure out whats causing the problem:wink:.....cyano is caused by 1 of three things.......an excess of nutrients (so we look at our bio-load and what and how much we are feeding)......old bulbs (as bulbs burn the drop in "K" value, becoming closer to that of natural sunlight).....and lack of flow (which can be corrected by either re-directing or adding more flow)....

CS is not a cure all when it comes to cyano or diatoms, but it does seem to help (for me anyway) some of the other benifits are as stated, water clrity and also it acts as a biding agent for foods that will either be skimmed out or assimilated (KZs words),,,,,I try to steer people away from "chemical" solutions before trying to figure out whats causing it

I'd have to agree. I tried the coral snow with no effect, tried the 3 day black out that worked for a couple of weeks, but it still came back. I cut back on feeding, changed bulbs , dosed vinegar and added more flow, but the cyano wouldn't go away. I'm now convinced that it has to be my DSB as I hard a larger bioload before and had no problems, but I now have convict blenny's that stir my sand bed around a lot. Rather than looking to a chemical solution, I'd go through the steps fishytime has stated, or it is just going to keep coming back.

viperfish
11-16-2010, 05:25 AM
ok......lets start thinking in a different direction here....lets stop trying to "band aid" the problem and try to figure out whats causing the problem:wink:.....cyano is caused by 1 of three things.......an excess of nutrients (so we look at our bio-load and what and how much we are feeding)......old bulbs (as bulbs burn the drop in "K" value, becoming closer to that of natural sunlight).....and lack of flow (which can be corrected by either re-directing or adding more flow)....

CS is not a cure all when it comes to cyano or diatoms, but it does seem to help (for me anyway) some of the other benifits are as stated, water clrity and also it acts as a biding agent for foods that will either be skimmed out or assimilated (KZs words),,,,,I try to steer people away from "chemical" solutions before trying to figure out whats causing it

That's the perplexing part, all of the things you have mentioned aren't a factor in my last outbreak. My Nitrates and Phosphates are zero (I run Biopellets and have been for months), my MH bulbs are Phoenix 14k about 2 months old running 8 hours per day, my T5's are New Gen running 12 hrs per day, I have more than enough flow in my 150 Gal with 2 MP40's at full power and two Koralia Evo 1400 pumps, since the outbreak I even installed my Tunze 6055 in the front just for the extra flow. I have also been moving my Evo's around to eliminate any dead spots. Trust me I have read everything I can find, and the common causes you mention have all been considered but these things are in check. I did have a controller fail and as a result overheated my tank and overdosed two part causing an awful swing in PH. I'm thinking the rapid change shocked the tank resulting in the bacteria bloom. If that is what caused it I think my biopellets picked up the nutrients because I have no N or P (I checked with both Salifert and Elos). I understand that what you are saying is correct but it doesn't explain my problem.

randallino
11-16-2010, 05:42 AM
Sorry medhatreefguy I'm not trying to hijack your post...really.:p
I did the Zeo thing with all the drippings, dosing, all the blue bottles you could want, whatever not much help. The Bio pellets are working for me, cyano is starting to disappear although my PO4 has been climbing!?
Do you like the Hanna checker? I'm using an API kit and it's a P.I.T.A.
Yes I do like it cwatkins it works pretty damn good just you need to be clean with it and accurate; use the same vile and make sure its in the same place as when you zero it. The Hanna photometer was what told me that Zeo was not working, the nutrients where to high in my system.
PS you should seen what happen to my tank when I went from LED (solaris) to T5's "cyano city" blankets of it everywhere with brand new bulbs....

Blue World Aquariums
11-16-2010, 05:05 PM
Coral Snow is a great product...but I haven't had success with it as a cyano treatment.

When we first took over the store from it's previous owner, the display tank was in sad shape. Nearly every inch of the sandbed was covered in cyano. It was an old deep sandbed that had never seen adequate flow and was loaded with organic waste. I dosed it about 8 times with Chemi-Clean (which is normally a very effective product). It would put a small dent in it for a day, and then it would be back as strong as ever. What finally put the cyano down was treatments with ZEOzyme and ZEObak.

Chemi-clean I use first to get rid of the immediate symptoms. ZEOzyme and ZEObak help get rid of the excess organics problem. Of course, flow, protein skimming, feeding, nurient levels, also need to be examined.

cuz
11-16-2010, 07:21 PM
Coral Snow is a great product...but I haven't had success with it as a cyano treatment.

When we first took over the store from it's previous owner, the display tank was in sad shape. Nearly every inch of the sandbed was covered in cyano. It was an old deep sandbed that had never seen adequate flow and was loaded with organic waste. I dosed it about 8 times with Chemi-Clean (which is normally a very effective product). It would put a small dent in it for a day, and then it would be back as strong as ever. What finally put the cyano down was treatments with ZEOzyme and ZEObak.

Chemi-clean I use first to get rid of the immediate symptoms. ZEOzyme and ZEObak help get rid of the excess organics problem. Of course, flow, protein skimming, feeding, nurient levels, also need to be examined.



using coral snow and zeoback worked for me, between waterchanges and dosing every night it took 11 days to go from carpet of cyano to completely gone!!

Scubasteve23
11-17-2010, 02:58 AM
my cyano comes and goes every couple weeks...i know its ugly and a pain but i have kind of learned to live with it..haha.. all params are in check and i still get it...i do have sleeper gobies that do pick up sand all the time and they may be part of the cause..hmm

globaldesigns
11-17-2010, 03:02 AM
ok......lets start thinking in a different direction here....lets stop trying to "band aid" the problem and try to figure out whats causing the problem:wink:.....cyano is caused by 1 of three things.......an excess of nutrients (so we look at our bio-load and what and how much we are feeding)......old bulbs (as bulbs burn the drop in "K" value, becoming closer to that of natural sunlight).....and lack of flow (which can be corrected by either re-directing or adding more flow)....

CS is not a cure all when it comes to cyano or diatoms, but it does seem to help (for me anyway) some of the other benifits are as stated, water clrity and also it acts as a biding agent for foods that will either be skimmed out or assimilated (KZs words),,,,,I try to steer people away from "chemical" solutions before trying to figure out whats causing it

+1 on Dougs comments, I was going to post this, but you beat me to it.

daniella3d
11-17-2010, 05:21 AM
It did take a few days to a week for me to really disapear and at the same time I improved the water quality by syphoning the sand and doing partial water change.

Cyano is not so much about phosphates, nitrates or light, but more about dissolved nutriment in the water and sand. That is why an oxydizer like Red Slime Remover might work if your dissolve organic load is high. Hard to mesure that as it's not the same thing as nitrates or phosphates.

I would wait a few days to see if it improve more and redose if it's not all gone. If your organic load is very high you might need a few treatment to make it disapear completely.

I'm running it right now. My 48 hrs is up tonight so tomorrow I'll do a 20% w/c. I shut my skimmer and carbon reactor as suggested but I did leave my filter sock in, I wonder if that's why it didn't work as well. I restarted my carbon tonight so I can start cleaning it out of the water, I just hate how it drops the PH and uses up so much O2. I know it knocked out quite a bit of the cyano because my filter sock turned completely red in 24hrs, it just didn't get it all. Maybe I just need one more treatment.