Red algae

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by tang daddy

Great story of success, so you used bio pellet and mb7 after you took over the tank and the cyano took almost 1 year to dissapate?

I am no new to the hobby, but just gave up on mb7 when I noticed it got worse... Which is why I am trying to get details.

I truly beleive that BP is the cause of cyano or reworded is what is keeping the cyano alive...

I've read mix reviews that coral snow and mb7 can get rid of cyano.

How much mb7 were you using daily for 100g of water?

Thanks for taking the time to reply, were all here to learn and share so it's great to get live feedback!

Again, I didn't use MB7 to get rid of cyano. I initially used Chemiclean for that. MB7 is a preventative that is used in conjunction with bio pellets (and other carbon dosing).

When I first started, I under dosed MB7 at 1 cap a day (because wasn't sure how this stuff worked), but the instructions say for my size tank 4 cap fulls per day for the 1st 2 weeks. That's what I would recommend now. When I started the bio pellets, I gradually increased to about 2 cap fulls every few days, sometimes less when I was away, etc. Once the nitrates were down (and bio pellet consumption greatly reduced), I reduced the MB7 to about a cap full a week, and sometimes longer too. That's when I noticed the cyano reappearing. I then increased MB7 doses to 2 cap fulls a day for a few days (and manually got rid of the cyano with a toothbrush and turkey baster), and it would disappear again. I have never had to use Chemiclean again since the early days.

I now dose MB7 about 2 cap fulls every 3 days or so (if I am home) for 2 combined tanks (about 230g total), and it seems to be enough to maintain. What's interesting, too, is that I have not added any bio pellets to my reactor for over 9 months now. Before I would go through about 1000+ ml of pellets in a year. Now probably only need about 200 ml. Maybe my SPS is consuming more of those nutrients now.

I think the important thing to understand is not to expect immediate results with anything (except maybe Chemiclean). It is a whole bunch of things you have to do right, and sometimes you need to make some mistakes to learn. That's part of the fun with this hobby. If it was so easy, probably wouldn't even be doing this...