DIY KZ Coral Snow (with >97% purity)

[I never finish anythi]

I use this method with great results. Sunnyx has a better explanation on the matter .

 

[Makara23]

I'm actually trying to get nitrates up, but still want the better water clarity. Since dissolved organics binds to this, will this lower my nitrates even more?

And is it redundant to use coral snow and activated carbon?

 

[Muffin87]

could you use a dosing pump for this? Or does it need to be stirred before dosing thanks

 

[Troylee]

could you use a dosing pump for this? Or does it need to be stirred before dosing thanks

It settles fast.. if you had it in a kalk stirrer I guess you could..

 

[Borat]

I like this Kazakistan coral show - shows the power of elevated quality potassium in your tanks!!!

 

[Nate’sTanks]

So Korallen Zucht's Zeovit product line has been around for a while. It contains many products, but one that finds usefulness outside of the ultra low nutrient setups is Coral Snow. In addition, the claims that KZ makes about it are not completely absurd and actually lie in the science of it. They claim it is a 'calcium-magnesium carbonate mix' (aka MgCO₃ and CaCO₃). When dried, it looks like an off-white confectioners sugar, extremely fine ground powder.

It is essentially a calcite chalk. Yes, the same stuff that teachers used to write on chalkboards with, that is bought for pennies and sold in RO/DI at nearly $120 per liter.

Despite being expensive, it does have its benefits. Organics adhere to its surface, as do particulates, acting as a flocculent, being easily removed via protein skimming or small micron mechanical filtration. This leads to unparalleled water clarity.

Thankfully there is a cheaper way to get that same clarifying effect. You can purchase food grade calcium carbonate powder, minimum 97% purity, for around $9 per pound, less if you order more (but that's not really necessary).

It comes as a very fine powder. You will want to mix it with water before dosing. The amount of KZ product in each mL (after it is very well-shaken to thoroughly mix) is 0.4g. This is a bit less than 1/8 teaspoon, and this is good for roughly 100 liters aquarium volume (25 gallons). You can either just put the dry powder into a small container and mix right there, or you can create a stock solution.

For a 250mL solution, use 5 level tablespoons (roughly 115 grams) of CaCO₃ powder and add roughly 230mL of RO/DI water. This should mix right about 250mL. The powder will NOT dissolve, it will stay suspended in the water. Will look like this when you're done.

Mix thoroughly before dosing, and dose 1mL per 100L volume (25 gallons) whenever you feel like. No harm in doing it daily, twice a day, once a week, etc, as it gets removed from the water column. It won't raise your pH, calcium, or alkalinity, as the powder will not dissolve in a reef aquarium, the pH is too high. You can even double, triple the dose without consequence. Your tank will look like this (or actually a bit cloudier, as this is roughly an hour post-dose) for a few hours, then will clear up with much higher clarity than before.

Happy reefing!

By chance do you have a link for the one you used?

 

[Troylee]

By chance do you have a link for the one you used?

This works great! I use it a couple times a week.

 

[notclear]

This works great! I use it a couple times a week.

 

[FoolishWizard]

I read on another thread (that i cannot find now) that a skimmer plays a major role in this process, Im not running a skimmer & only using filter floss as my mechanical filtration in my AIO... Any issues here?

 

[Troylee]

I read on another thread (that i cannot find now) that a skimmer plays a major role in this process, Im not running a skimmer & only using filter floss as my mechanical filtration in my AIO... Any issues here?

Nope.. it will clog up fast as it attracts fine particles and becomes trapped in filter socks or floss etc..

 

[FoolishWizard]

Nope.. it will clog up fast as it attracts fine particles and becomes trapped in filter socks or floss etc..

Good to know! Thanks.

 

[eqbal9947]

Amazon product

Would that work?

 

[ros3to]

For all my people that live in Rural areas like myself.. go to your local Farmer's Co-Op
you can get a 55lb bag for around $20 atleast thats what the bag goes for in my area.

 

[braaap]

For all my people that live in Rural areas like myself.. go to your local Farmer's Co-Op
you can get a 55lb bag for around $20 atleast thats what the bag goes for in my area.

A 55lb bag would last you 100 years. You use grams of this. Not lbs. lol

 

[Tjat1417]

is it safe to use with fish?

 

[fishface NJ]

is it safe to use with fish?

yes...also corals and inverts

 

[Troylee]

is it safe to use with fish?

It’s safe with anything! You can’t over dose it also.

 

[ThaBeast]

I'm running 120w of UV on a 185 24/7 and ozone for 90 minutes a night. I just tried this to see if I could see a difference, it made a difference on other tanks I've had in the past that didnt run UV or ozone. It did make a visible difference in water clarity when looking through the end (7 ft of water).

 

[mikst]

Any one else can chime in ... Would like to give it a try any before and after pix

I've been doing this in freshwater for quite a while. CaCO3 is a great flocculant. It helps buffer the pH on my freshwater tanks and keeps my inverts happy. I also use it when I first set up tanks. For example right here is a tank set up with unwashed play sand before and after Dosing flocculant. I use no filter floss or polishing anything, 30ppi filter foam only.

Just put of curiosity, why don't we use CaCO3 in reef tanks for calcium and alkalinity? It dissosicstes in water within the standard reef range of pH. I don't understand. It does a great job of buffering up my freshwater tanks to 8.2 and provides plenty of calcium for my snails and shrimp.

 

[I never finish anythi]

I've been doing this in freshwater for quite a while. CaCO3 is a great flocculant. It helps buffer the pH on my freshwater tanks and keeps my inverts happy. I also use it when I first set up tanks. For example right here is a tank set up with unwashed play sand before and after Dosing flocculant. I use no filter floss or polishing anything, 30ppi filter foam only.

Just put of curiosity, why don't we use CaCO3 in reef tanks for calcium and alkalinity? It dissosicstes in water within the standard reef range of pH. I don't understand. It does a great job of buffering up my freshwater tanks to 8.2 and provides plenty of calcium for my snails and shrimp.

Calcium carbonate does not dissolve in water so has no affect on calcium or alkalinity. Works well for making water crystal tho .