Quote:
Originally Posted by Reef Pilot
You know, controlling nitrates (with bio pellets) and preventing cyano is actually very, very simple. That is, if you use Brightwell's MB7. Very cheap, and helps make your water and tank look very clean. As I reported earlier in this thread, and on others, I have not had a cyano problem since I started using this a couple years ago.
It is almost frustrating for me to keep seeing these threads about cyano (and bio pellet issues) and how academically complicated this issue is, when in reality it is so simple and easy to control, from a practical user perspective. There may be other remedies, but I do know that MB7 is a sure fire one.
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"Cheap"? Right...cheap is relative don't forget.
Per the
Brightwell page for dosing instructions; high nutrient is 5mL/25g for the first two weeks, then you switch to the low nutrient dosing levels which is 5mL/50g. Currently my tank has a volume of 600g, soon to be about 750g. Using the 600g number on a large tank like mine I'd be dosing in EXCESS of 120mL/day at the initial dosing recommendation and then about 60mL/day. A 2L bottle is $40.10 at JL (excluding shipping and taxes). A 2L bottle will last me 16.66 days at the high nutrient dosing amount. The lower dosing would last a little more then a month; 36.36 days. Therefor I could expect to have a fixed monthly cost of $40 + shipping & taxes. That isn't particularly economic. Add in the fix costs of running your tank (utilities, food, salt, etc.) and you can be easily paying out a large monthly cost for your hobby enjoyment.
To conclude when we talk about "cheap" we need to recognize that its a relevant term in comparision to systems, economics (prices at LFSs, accessiblity, etc.), and feasibility. What is realistic for someone isn't realistic for another.
Also remember a lot of these threads are people advising others of their experiences. Advice is often just a regurgitation of things that have worked for others, but isn't necessarily based on hard facts or provable science. Just because something worked for you is not a guarantee that it will work for someone else.
Additionally asylumdown has provided us all some great academic based responses in regards to cyano. I think it really does put much of the discussion into black and white terms when it comes to why some tanks may have cyano and others don't. I suspect that those points are the ones most often missed when we talk amongst ourselves in the reefing community about solving this issue when it appears.
Disclaimer: I have cyano, I've had it since I missed ONE water change during the Southern Alberta floods. I've tried Coral Snow, bacterial dosing (Zeobak)increasing my water changes, amending the flow patterns in my tank, and doing absolutely nothing. And you know what nothing has worked. I bought many products on the recommendations of others because it also worked for them. So there you go, why I felt the need to chime in.
/devil's advocate moment.