Marine Snow

imclownfish

Member
I bought some Marine Snow the other day for my feather dusters but my substrate and snails got a coating of it on them. I only put 1ml. am i doing something wrong?
 
I don't have coral, or tub worms yet, but or the past four months. I've been broadcasting .25 cap full of marine snow in my 16 gallon about every two days. I do it to feed the various organisms that can't eat large stuff. I don't have a alge problem. It dosn't affect my fish, or inverts. Everything looks great to me.
You might can try a clear air tube, or turkey baster to spot feed your duster.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
Heres my reccomended dosing for "marine snow"
dose 1 full bottle directly into the garbage can and dont rebuy.
that stuff is little more than pollution in a bottle.
If your going to feed plantonic foods, get live phyto, or a regular zooplankton food like oyster eggs. and unless you have gorgonians there is little need for phyto plankton.
 

btldreef

Moderator
I've had no issues with marine snow and have been using it for over a year. It's a pollutant when not used properly or with crappy filtration. IMO, it's great for target feeding.
What do you mean there's a coating on your substrate and snails? Marine snow will go everywhere in your tank, but a coating left behind? That should not be happening
 

loopy101

Member
I dont use marine snow at all. i know some sites say to feed it so some of the inverts but i have never heard anything positive about using it! to me it seems that its just one more thing to add to kill your water quality!
what size tank and how much water flow do you have in your tank that your getting a coating of it on the substraight?
 

cranberry

Active Member
I would never use the stuff. You can't go wrong with live phyto products IMO and is a better choice.
 

btldreef

Moderator
wait ... certain brands of marine snow/reef snow/etc are live phyto products, that's what i have
 

cranberry

Active Member
What product do you have exactly?
The actual brand "Marine Snow" by Two Little Fishies isn't a live product.
 

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by BTLDreef
http:///forum/post/3164613
I've had no issues with marine snow and have been using it for over a year. It's a pollutant when not used properly or with crappy filtration. IMO, it's great for target feeding.
if its a warm shelf product its garbage. they can call it live because it was live when they bottled it. generally what happens with them is they grow beyond a usefull size and or clump together (in terms of microns) to benifit anything then they die. so it just turns into useless dead crap to dump in your tank. if you dose in the levels they reccomend you may not notice any polluting effects because your bio filter can handle that small amount of waste without a hitch. but its really just an uneeded addition to your bioload.
refrigerated phytos with an expiration date are the ones you want, or phyto's that you grow yourself. or as I mentioned before real zoa plantons like cyclops, rotifers, oyster eggs etc.
I have a real thing for KNOWING what I'm putting in my tank. we have no clue what kind of crap is in the two little fishies product "marine snow" and its definatly all dead after sitting on a store shelf in an enclosed bottle, at room temp, or freezing during shipping etc. there are no controlls on those products.
 

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/3164762
if its a warm shelf product its garbage. they can call it live because it was live when they bottled it. generally what happens with them is they grow beyond a usefull size and or clump together (in terms of microns) to benifit anything then they die. so it just turns into useless dead crap to dump in your tank. if you dose in the levels they reccomend you may not notice any polluting effects because your bio filter can handle that small amount of waste without a hitch. but its really just an uneeded addition to your bioload.
refrigerated phytos with an expiration date are the ones you want, or phyto's that you grow yourself. or as I mentioned before real zoa plantons like cyclops, rotifers, oyster eggs etc.
I have a real thing for KNOWING what I'm putting in my tank. we have no clue what kind of crap is in the two little fishies product "marine snow" and its definatly all dead after sitting on a store shelf in an enclosed bottle, at room temp, or freezing during shipping etc. there are no controlls on those products.
oh, no no no, what I have is live, kept refrigerated, not that bottled on the shelf garbage that is supposed to be refrigerated after opening.
 

flower

Well-Known Member

Originally Posted by reefkprZ
http:///forum/post/3164584
Heres my reccomended dosing for "marine snow"
dose 1 full bottle directly into the garbage can and dont rebuy.
that stuff is little more than pollution in a bottle
.
If your going to feed plantonic foods, get live phyto, or a regular zooplankton food like oyster eggs. and unless you have gorgonians there is little need for phyto plankton.
+1000!!!
Not only that, but feeding the tank so often is just asking for a cyanobacteria outbreak.
I turn off the skimmer for the day...I only feed my coral once a week. What feeds corals feeds algae, and a feather duster doesn't need all that much and nobody spot feeds one. It takes a feather duster all day to feed.
 

imclownfish

Member
its a brown coating on the bottom and its now going every where o the tank like algae. i tried to vaccum it out but would not work. i havent put for 4 days now but its not going away
 

btldreef

Moderator
Originally Posted by imclownfish
http:///forum/post/3165190
its a brown coating on the bottom and its now going every where o the tank like algae. i tried to vaccum it out but would not work. i havent put for 4 days now but its not going away
Is it diatoms?
 

shainline

Member
yup you got diathoms. Brown rust colored stuff?? believe it or not it does go away! bout a dozen or so crabs will help. How big is your tank? my 55 gal did that in the beginning. My LFS guy told me to put a sand sifter in and about 12 crabs, the NEXT day it was already clearing up! then about 2 weeks later allll gone and got to add Nemo!
 
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