MB7 experiance

[LISound]

so after reading the bacteria Journey thread, I thought I would give MB7 a shot.
I've used GFO in the past to keep my po4 down but it gets expensive. So I had a very small amount of HA and this peach fuzz algae on my rocks. I can't keep cheato alive for more than a month.
Well, I started with new cheato and a new light in fuge a month and 1/2 ago. It's been growing fairly well and have harvested it 4 times since it went in.

Now, I started mb7 last week and today I noticed increased algea in my display? hummm. last time this happened, I didn't check the fuge and all my cheato died and caused more problems. This time that was the first place I looked and sure enough, the bottom layer was white and dead. I picked only the real dark green cheato and put it back in my fuge.

Can I expect MB7 to get my nutrients that low that I can't keep any macro?

I was going to try dosing vodka instead of GFO.
my other problem with GFO is that it was clumping into a solid rock like mass because I use limewater for top off. Or at least that's what I think was the problem.

anyone using just MB7? how is it working out?

I only feed my 3 fish flake food that is presoaked in ro water to dilute any po4 etc.
Could the flake be adding unwanted nutrients? I know the frozen cubes of mysis are PO4 cubes :)

[coralmojo]

Hard to know exactly without nitrate/phosphate levels...

Clumping GFO is due to phosphates being chelated, not kalk...

Your levels may be low enough that you can't keep macro alive and may have had a spike to grow hair algae...really need more info...

DrMerle

[LISound]

I don't have a po4 meter and nitrate, from what I can tell is 0-Salifert.
Total system vol is about 35g.

the GFO worked well in the past but it would get rock solid in a matter of a few weeks. I had heard of other folks having similar issues with it dripping limewater and thought it was connected.

I recently cleaned my fuge as well...there was a lot of crap in there.
Is MB7 alone enough to create an ULN system?

[nesto719]

tagging along!

[jcal]

I dose Mb7 and vodka for 4 months now. My fuge has diminished rapidly since the start...still running but not as thick. I dose Mb7 once a week, but vodka every day. I don't think I am at ULN cause my R/O water might have high tds. I am dosing up to 10 ml of vodka now on my 75..water is clear and not much film algae on the front, but have a little on the back for some reason. My snails lawn mowering like crazy.

[Jeff]

It is common for macro algae growth to slow down or stop because of carbon dosing or adding beneficial bacterai. I use vitamin c and sugar and can not keep chaeto. This isnt a bad thing, it just means that the macro algae is being out-competed by bacteria. I just ordered MB7 for my tanks based on glowing reviews and plan on a MB7, vitamin c and sugar dosing program.

[LISound]

Starting my 2nd week of mb7 today. still in the high dose phase. I can tell you that I have seen some new growth in some of my sps that I wasn't expecting. Some new tips, etc. I can say for sure that PE is off the chart. I assume b/c the corals are now eating some of the bacteria or whatever the bacteria turn the waste into.
My skimmate production was low when I first started. But yesterday it seemed to really kick in. so that's a good sign.

My tank didn't have a huge nutrient problem but I did let it get away from me this summer, so trying to get it back in line. I'll keep you posted next week.
I'm planning to use the biofuel product instead of Vodka to start. Maybe even throwing some zeo stones in my phosban reactor.
I'm running a BB tank and am considering sand. I've always run BB due to how much crap gets stuck in the sand. but it seems, the sand offers a huge area for the bacteria to grow and process nutrients. I'm thinking that having a SSB might be another key to the success of running a pro biotic system.

will keep you all posted.

[frags75]

Tagging along. I dont have a fuge but agree that the bacteria will out compete the macro. I've been using MB7 for 2 weeks now and have noticed a huge difference in the tank and water quality. No hair algae and just a few bubble algae that I am manually picking out. Was planning on using bio fuel instead of vodka as my carbon source. So I will keep track of progress. My tank is also BB and have thought of adding sand but am holding off for now.

[mew]

Don't add the sand. I've kept BB tanks up 'til now, and I finally tried the sandbottom with my current tank and nothing but regret. I'm trying to figure out how to remove it all neatly again. Counterproductive with an SPS tank. Yea, it might look more "natural" but barebottom looks cleaner to me anyways.

Does anyone have experience with both Prodibio's Biodigest and MB7 and chime in with what they thought about the difference?
Trying to decide if I should make the switch to MB7 from Prodibio.

[LISound]

Don't add the sand. I've kept BB tanks up 'til now, and I finally tried the sandbottom with my current tank and nothing but regret. I'm trying to figure out how to remove it all neatly again. Counterproductive with an SPS tank. Yea, it might look more "natural" but barebottom looks cleaner to me anyways.

Does anyone have experience with both Prodibio's Biodigest and MB7 and chime in with what they thought about the difference?
Trying to decide if I should make the switch to MB7 from Prodibio.



COST--that's about it from what I can see. :)

When does everyone dose MB7 and your carbon source. I've been doing the mb in the morning but was thinking just after lights out might be better due to how bacteria culture in the dark??????

[Mike de Leon]

.taggin

[kcreefer86]

cool thread..i need more :)

[LISound]

some pic's. not sure if this is the bio film or not. I think its just more brown algae.

[serval]

To me, your film and the brown spot near it look like what I have, which has been diagnosed as Lobophora, a very hard algae to get rid of. Here is my picture of it:
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu251/rbittman/20090829_Hector.jpg

My strategy with this alga is like this right now; I still have it, so not sure if this is working yet:
1. add animals that eat brown macroalgae. For me (in a 55 gal) that meant a Sally Lightfoot crab (yikes), an emerald crab, an algae eating blenny and several snail species (Astraea, Margarita, Nerites, Cerith).
2. I try scraping it sometimes, but this usually just results in it returning better than ever.
3. reduce nutrients to undetectable. Currently I am doing this with water changes, GAC, a polyfilter (for PO4) and MB7 for high nutrient tanks. My NO3 is 1 and PO4 is undetectable, but the algae is still there.
4. Start vodka dosing after being on MB7 for some weeks. I'm going to wait for 3 weeks rather than 2. The last thing I need is cyano to add to this problem.

If you have a bigger tank, and you agree that this is the alga you have, people have said a blonde naso tang will eat this stuff up in no time. You need a bigh tank though; that fish grows large. If I get desperate, I may try "borrowing" one for awhile and returning it later. For now, I want to seen how the nutrient reduction and the crabs do.

[aquariumclown]

Don't add the sand. I've kept BB tanks up 'til now, and I finally tried the sandbottom with my current tank and nothing but regret. I'm trying to figure out how to remove it all neatly again. Counterproductive with an SPS tank. Yea, it might look more "natural" but barebottom looks cleaner to me anyways.

Does anyone have experience with both Prodibio's Biodigest and MB7 and chime in with what they thought about the difference?
Trying to decide if I should make the switch to MB7 from Prodibio.

If I'm not mistaken Biodigest is dosed once a month. I used the whole prodibio kit in the beginning to jump start my system, but after that I feel that daily dosing of mb7 is most effective than once a week. I also found that mb7 was very effective for my tank. I also don't like using ampules, I dose mb7 on a profilux doser daily automatically.

[epleeds]

I recently starting doing MB7 on my 75 gallon tank. I am doing 10ml daily for the last 8 days and I have noticed that before the MB7 my front glass would be covered in algae, but since i started dosing, I have not had to scrape from front glass at all. so far, I like it. Not sure if I will add the vodka, but I do like the less algae on the glass.

[aquariumclown]

I recently starting doing MB7 on my 75 gallon tank. I am doing 10ml daily for the last 8 days and I have noticed that before the MB7 my front glass would be covered in algae, but since i started dosing, I have not had to scrape from front glass at all. so far, I like it. Not sure if I will add the vodka, but I do like the less algae on the glass.

I have dosed vsv and mb7 at the same time, I didn't notice a lot of difference so now I'm only doing mb7. If your getting significantly less algae on the glass you should check your no3 and po4. You might be at ULN and need to go into maintenance dose of mb7, otherwise you will be overdosing and that can be dangerous.

[CHUBAKAH]

Tagging along to see what it is you guys are trying to figure out with MB7.

I've been running it along with the rest of the NeoZeo system for going on 16 months. If used properly with the zeo media, and a carbon source [bio fuel in my case] you can easily maintain an ULNS.

The way it was explained to me back when it came out was that you need some sort of a media for the bacteria to grow and a certain flow rate in order for the bacteria to break down detritus converting it in to a food source for corals. In other words you need a breeding ground for the bacteria in order for it to work effectively.

Pretty interesting to hear now a year later how this product is being used in the hobby, and with pretty good results.

[epleeds]

I have dosed vsv and mb7 at the same time, I didn't notice a lot of difference so now I'm only doing mb7. If your getting significantly less algae on the glass you should check your no3 and po4. You might be at ULN and need to go into maintenance dose of mb7, otherwise you will be overdosing and that can be dangerous.

i will check that when i get home. thanks.

[teambutterfield]

I have dosed vsv and mb7 at the same time, I didn't notice a lot of difference so now I'm only doing mb7. If your getting significantly less algae on the glass you should check your no3 and po4. You might be at ULN and need to go into maintenance dose of mb7, otherwise you will be overdosing and that can be dangerous.

is your skimmer on while dosing the mb7?

[aquariumclown]

is your skimmer on while dosing the mb7?

I've tried having my skimmer on and off and it made no difference so I'm leaving it on.

[LISound]

I've had it on for the past week with no problems. When you add the MB7, it breaks the head on your skimmate production anyway. So it's not a big deal.

I'll be starting with the Bio Fuel this weekend.

I'm still noticing less algae in the display but my fuge is not dying off as fast as I first thought. I trimmed the cheato way down but it's still growing a bit. We'll see what happens when I start to dose the carbon source over the next week.

Colors were getting better but have seemed to slow down a bit. Growth on the other hand is still strong with some SPS really shooting up.

[Stanley-Reefer]

I use MB7, vodka, Prodibio biodigest and bioptim...

I use to have alot of hair algae in my 175. Lots of fish and got carried away at pm polyp extension with oysterfeast etc. I used algae fix for 3 days and the algae got really light and siphoned out easily. I then did 2 weeks exclusively of MB7 before starting the vodka. I alternate prodibio because I got a killer deal on ALOT of it from Marine Depot months back. I'm pleased with the results.

Currently at 4.5cc of vodka and 15gtts twice a day

http://i33.tinypic.com/2zywzfa.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/2s9tzee.jpg

[LISound]

good to hear

" 15gtts twice a day"

what's that mean?

[teambutterfield]

I've tried having my skimmer on and off and it made no difference so I'm leaving it on.
I have dosed vsv and mb7 at the same time, I didn't notice a lot of difference so now I'm only doing mb7. If your getting significantly less algae on the glass you should check your no3 and po4. You might be at ULN and need to go into maintenance dose of mb7, otherwise you will be overdosing and that can be dangerous.

How do you use the MP7 on a doser? Thx

[JMLewis]

Sorry but what is MB7?

[saltygeek]

Sorry but what is MB7?

Brightwell Aquatics Microbacter7

I don't turn my skimmer off either.

[LISound]

Dose by hand since it's such a small amount. On my way out to work in the morning.

[SumBub]

Tagging along. I've been dosing MB7 for a week now and the results are good so far. NO3 has been dropped down immensely. Can't wait to finally be rid of all that algae on the glass. :)

[LISound]

Starting the biofuel tomorrow. I will start with the High nutrient dose.
So I will now be adding one drop from the bottle of MB7 daily and 1.2 ml of biofuel for the next 2 weeks.

I also plan to add 100g of porus ceramic rings in a reactor. I wasn't planning on running the zeo stones but had these laying around. It should accomplish the same thing as the stones. a place for bacteria to grow.

[jhawkor]

Alright so what exactly is all needed to start dosing mb7? Do I need zeo stones in a reactor?

[LISound]

Alright so what exactly is all needed to start dosing mb7? Do I need zeo stones in a reactor?

I just started with the MB7. and now after 2 weeks of loading my system with MB7, I will be using bio fuel.

here's a progression shot over a week. I didn't really notice until tonight that the algae is slowly melting away.

[redhanded77]

lately i have been noticing an increase of red cyano and brown film algae on the sand. my nitrates went from 50 to just about 10 in a month or so, and im dosing 5ml of vodka a day and 5 drops of mb7 a day.

how can i adjust my doses to help rid of the cyano and brown algae?

[Dejavu]

To me, your film and the brown spot near it look like what I have, which has been diagnosed as Lobophora, a very hard algae to get rid of. Here is my picture of it:
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu251/rbittman/20090829_Hector.jpg

My strategy with this alga is like this right now; I still have it, so not sure if this is working yet:
1. add animals that eat brown macroalgae. For me (in a 55 gal) that meant a Sally Lightfoot crab (yikes), an emerald crab, an algae eating blenny and several snail species (Astraea, Margarita, Nerites, Cerith).
2. I try scraping it sometimes, but this usually just results in it returning better than ever.
3. reduce nutrients to undetectable. Currently I am doing this with water changes, GAC, a polyfilter (for PO4) and MB7 for high nutrient tanks. My NO3 is 1 and PO4 is undetectable, but the algae is still there.
4. Start vodka dosing after being on MB7 for some weeks. I'm going to wait for 3 weeks rather than 2. The last thing I need is cyano to add to this problem.

If you have a bigger tank, and you agree that this is the alga you have, people have said a blonde naso tang will eat this stuff up in no time. You need a bigh tank though; that fish grows large. If I get desperate, I may try "borrowing" one for awhile and returning it later. For now, I want to seen how the nutrient reduction and the crabs do.


Interesting, I have this algae on all of the dry rock I added into my new system. The rock that i transfered over doesn't have any. I thought i was a side effect of doesing... which I never did in my other system. I doesn't seem to bother anything beside that it looks unattractive.

[serval]

I also noticed it first growing on the bare rock I used rather than the rock that had life on it already (I started the tank in May and used a mix of rock from about 3 different local stores). It spread to all the rock eventually though. In its young stage it looks like the picture above with the Hector's goby (posts above). Later, it will plate out some. Some say it falls off then, but I didn't notice that. It covers everything, including coralline algae, so I don't know if it's completely harmless. It's not as pretty as either bare rock or coralline imho. I have had the Sally Lightfoot crab and Emerald crab in there for a few weeks now and I have to say the algae is lessening. My algae blenny died; although he appeared to scrape this stuff and looked fat at the end of each day, apparently he didn't get adequate nutrition. He never ate any prepared foods that I noticed. Very sad. I think the crabs are the main helpers against Lobophora though. I will post new pictures sometime.

MB7 update: Unclear. It's been 2.5 weeks of the high nutrient tank dosage and I really don't notice a single change. My PO4 is still UN and my NO3 is supposedly still less than 1 using the Elos kit. I call it at least 1 because I think there has to be more NO3 in the tank than that, given that I have diatom growth on sand and glass every day. I dose directly in the tank in the morning with the skimmer off for about 1 hour and the return off for about 30 minutes. Personally, I am wondering if it is snake oil...

[kcreefer86]

what is the reason for dosing mb7 first? to build the bacteria up? then dose vodka after..to encourage the use of the bacteria?

[serval]

Yes, that is part of it. The other reason is to supposedly increase diversity of kinds of bacteria in the tank so that you have a better shot at outcompeting red cyanobacteria, should it occur. Vodka dosing brings nutrient levels down so low that cyano tends to come in; people have noticed that they get this effect less often if they dose with MB7 first.

[LISound]

I also noticed it first growing on the bare rock I used rather than the rock that had life on it already (I started the tank in May and used a mix of rock from about 3 different local stores). It spread to all the rock eventually though. In its young stage it looks like the picture above with the Hector's goby (posts above). Later, it will plate out some. Some say it falls off then, but I didn't notice that. It covers everything, including coralline algae, so I don't know if it's completely harmless. It's not as pretty as either bare rock or coralline imho. I have had the Sally Lightfoot crab and Emerald crab in there for a few weeks now and I have to say the algae is lessening. My algae blenny died; although he appeared to scrape this stuff and looked fat at the end of each day, apparently he didn't get adequate nutrition. He never ate any prepared foods that I noticed. Very sad. I think the crabs are the main helpers against Lobophora though. I will post new pictures sometime.

MB7 update: Unclear. It's been 2.5 weeks of the high nutrient tank dosage and I really don't notice a single change. My PO4 is still UN and my NO3 is supposedly still less than 1 using the Elos kit. I call it at least 1 because I think there has to be more NO3 in the tank than that, given that I have diatom growth on sand and glass every day. I dose directly in the tank in the morning with the skimmer off for about 1 hour and the return off for about 30 minutes. Personally, I am wondering if it is snake oil...


try dosing less. It sounds like you are getting close to ULN. At this point changes in the system happen slowly. It might take another 3-4 weeks to see a real change. Just take pictures. I couldn't tell as I stare at my tank for hours each day. looking at pictures I can see a subtle difference. Hang in there. It's not snake oil if followed correctly. Try using the bio fuel instead of vodka. I'm not pushing any of the Brightwell stuff but it's working for me.

Just takes time. You know how the saying goes in this hobby.

[LISound]

Thought I would update as I started the biofuel this weekend.

On Friday I dosed 2.5ml of MB7 and 5ml of the biofuel. On Saturday, I cut the mb7 back to one drop and 5ml of biofuel.
Yesterday, I noticed more algae and my cheato that was dying back grew some more... So I assume I messed something up. I did notice some new green cyano looking stuff on some of the rocks but by days end, it was white and sloughing off.

Also, my skimmer has not been producing a lot of skimmate. Sometimes it won't produce anything for hours, then all of a sudden it kicks in? Last night I really noticed it was foaming up good.

So for now, I'm going to add 30 drops of mb7, which is about 2.3ml and 10 drops of biofuel, which is about .70ml

the PDF states I should dose equal amounts of both, but based on my observation of the green cyano, I should back off the carbon source.

[StrategicReef]

where do you buy MB7?
sounds like a secret spy organization

[aquariumclown]

where do you buy MB7?
sounds like a secret spy organization

http://www.marinedepot.com/Brightwell_Aquatics_MicroBacter7_Bacteria_Water_Treatments_Conditioners-Brightwell_Aquatics-BW01220-FIADWTBS-vi.html

[aquaph8]

what is the reason for dosing mb7 first? to build the bacteria up? then dose vodka after..to encourage the use of the bacteria?

The mb7 is a good bacteria and is meant to out compete the bad bacteria before you start dosing the carbon. Out competeing the bad bacteria should help keep cyano at bay. Then the good bacteria feeds on the carbon.

[gatorchem]

I've been dosing MB7 for about 5 months now with great results.

[LISound]

I've been dosing MB7 for about 5 months now with great results.

are yo dosing a carbon source with it or just the mb7 alone?

[gatorchem]

are yo dosing a carbon source with it or just the mb7 alone?


I started with MB7 only up to month 1. Then dosed MB7 + vodka (up to 0.5 mL) for a few months. I had to back off the use of the vodka becasue the SPS starting to lighten up. Now (last 2 months) MB7 only and this has worked great for my tank. Colors have colored up and kept it. My MB7 dose now is only 5 drops per day.

[LISound]

I started with MB7 only up to month 1. Then dosed MB7 + vodka (up to 0.5 mL) for a few months. I had to back off the use of the vodka becasue the SPS starting to lighten up. Now (last 2 months) MB7 only and this has worked great for my tank. Colors have colored up and kept it. My MB7 dose now is only 5 drops per day.

good to know.

thanks

[jhawkor]

Once I upgrade my skimmer to an MSX 200 I will definitely run MB7 paired up with Bio-Fuel

[aquaph8]

when I started the mb7 and vodka, I kicked out all my chaeto to make room for a bigger skimmer. I felt the bigger skimmer was better use of the space and figured the chaeto would die off anyway. Better to remove the chaeto before it died and released stuff back into the water. Besides the vodka and mb7 are meant to do the same thing as the chaeto anyways. So far I have been way happier with this regement than with running a fuge.

[StrategicReef]

so don't even bother with the chaeto, take them out now?

[aquaph8]

Im no expert, but thats what I did. All the guys I know that are successful with mb7 vodka run shallow sand and no fuge. If anyone is doing both, please chime in.

[StrategicReef]

I would love to stop running any fuge. because the sump light are usually yellow and there are all kinds of algae growing in the sump, so that sounds good to me.

[Phillybean]

I am running Vodka, MB7 and a fuge with Cheato and Xenia.

Been MB7 for 3 weeks. 13 drops / day with 2 ML Vodka.

I am also running a Phosphate Reactor.

I over feed, dose 4 Drops of Zeo AA and 4 Drops of Coral Vit daily and 2 drops of Kents Lugol every 2nd day.

I have some GHA which is slowly disappearing, and better color and growth than I ever have.

I imagine I will be pulling my Cheato soon, I will always keep a fuge though, if for nothing else than an extra food source/pod haven.

My Fuge is full of Feather Dusters, Various Pods, Tube Worms, Bubble Algea, Cyano and GHA. With the exception of GHA, none are in the display tank.

[StrategicReef]

so you still have to feed alot to keep the SPS colorful right?
It just that the bacteria culture will remove the nutrient faster than algae will as long as we provide it the carbon source?

[Phillybean]

Thats what I think.

I feed a lot to keep my fish happy. Even now my Yellow Tang usually has a pinched looking stomach and my CBB looks at my like I starve him. My Naso on the other hand is about 1" thick.

I don't fully understand how every works, just that what I am doing now seems to be working. I am sure I still have some Phosphates and I usually test 5 or so on Nitrates. That said, everything looks happy, is colorful and growing. Why that is, I don't know. In theory, I should have no GHA, Dead Cheato and pale, uncolorful corals. Maybe I'm doing something wrong :crazy1:

[Phillybean]

Here is a shot of my Fuge and some coral

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i158/phillybean/xeniafuge.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i158/phillybean/topdown2.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i158/phillybean/topdown1.jpg

[aquaph8]

whatever you are doing looks like its working, your coral look great.

[Phillybean]

Thanks. It has taken awhile, I've battled a lot of stuff but have been lucky as well. Never had Red Bugs, Flatworms etc. All my reefing issues have been due to cheapness/poorness and laziness.

RTN due to High Salinity due to a Hydrometer.
High Nitrates due to lack of water changes, poor skimming
Poor Growth due to low Calcium, Alk and Mag
Browning due to not dosing AA (I ran out, wasn't sure if they worked or not and quit dosing Vodka/AA's for 3 months. My corals went brown. With-in 2 weeks of AA and Vodka they got color back. Now with MB7, a coral that I got for free, which has been brown for a year is turning purple with large yellow/green polyps)

[RealReef7]

Do you guys turn off the skimmer when you dose?

[aquaph8]

I dont. I heard the new bottles of mb7 say to leave your skimmer on. I havent seen a new bottle myself though. I think its due to lack of oxygen cause the heavy load of bacteria use it all up.

[isseym328]

I've been dosing a capful of mb7 every day for the last couple weeks now. I have a 60g with 4 fishes ( I feed heavily 1 to 2 times a day) and sps dominated tank. You guys think that might be too much?

[siggiesd]

Just want to share my experience with MB7.
I started new tank on July 09. I was using MB7 together with Biofuel and Zeolite. For the first 1 and 1/2 month, my tank was full of Lobophora. Suddenly all of them disappear. My Chaeto in the sump turned brownish. Now, I only have buble algae and I do not know how to get rid of it. Red slime algae did not show up in my tank at all. Currently, I dose MB7 twice a week and biofuel daily. I really like the products.

[aquaph8]

im starting to think that bubble algae should be taken care of before starting to dose a carbon source. More and more people are reporting out breaks and the carbon seems to be fueling it.

[LISound]

im starting to think that bubble algae should be taken care of before starting to dose a carbon source. More and more people are reporting out breaks and the carbon seems to be fueling it.

I agree. I've never had it in my tank before and all of a sudden it just showed up. not sure why or where it came from. It's not bad but I do see some bubbles on some of the rock. I haven't added anything new in months and just started the brightwell program 2.5 weeks ago.

I'm having a tough time dialing in the bio fuel. I was using according to the directions on the bottle. adding 2.5 ml for the heavy nutrient tank on about 30gallons. I got cyano right away.
Trying to figure out the right combo this week. today I doesed 25 drops of mb7 and 5 drops of bio. we'll see what happens.

my po4 is really low from what i can tell with a salifert test kit and my nitrate is below 5.

[aquaph8]

I agree. I've never had it in my tank before and all of a sudden it just showed up. not sure why or where it came from. It's not bad but I do see some bubbles on some of the rock. I haven't added anything new in months and just started the brightwell program 2.5 weeks ago.

I'm having a tough time dialing in the bio fuel. I was using according to the directions on the bottle. adding 2.5 ml for the heavy nutrient tank on about 30gallons. I got cyano right away.
Trying to figure out the right combo this week. today I doesed 25 drops of mb7 and 5 drops of bio. we'll see what happens.

my po4 is really low from what i can tell with a salifert test kit and my nitrate is below 5.

the best advice I can give you is to keep using the mb7 and stop the bio until the cyano and bubble algae are gone. Eventually the mb7(good bacteria) will out compete the cyano (bad bacteria). The biofuel (carbon source) is feeding the cyano and probably making it worse. Once you get the cyano under control start over with your carbon source. Take it slow and dont hesitate to go slower than the bottle says. Good luck and be sure to share your progress with everyone

[LISound]

my fuge is still growing cheato. I did have a decent amount of algae in the display, which is turning white and dieing, so I don't know if that's what feeding the cheato. I'm also starting to have add more 2 part daily. it went from about 2ml daily to 3ml 2x a day. So I know the corals are growing and can see new growth.

[LISound]

just wanted to update. I'll post some pic's later today. Started my 4th week on Friday.
I've cut my dosing way down. I dose mb7 1 drop every other day and 5 drops of bio fuel.

I do have to admit, that trying to figure out what your tank needs ie. dosing. is really hard.
Every tank is different, and it's much harder to get it right on a nano of 30g or less.
I'm not seeing much cyano but do still have spots of algae. I have yet to see my corraline algae take off. both Po4 and No3 are undetectable.

[serval]

Just want to share my experience with MB7.
I started new tank on July 09. I was using MB7 together with Biofuel and Zeolite. For the first 1 and 1/2 month, my tank was full of Lobophora. Suddenly all of them disappear. My Chaeto in the sump turned brownish. Now, I only have buble algae and I do not know how to get rid of it. Red slime algae did not show up in my tank at all.

Did you have the bubble algae before you started the MB7 and Biofuel, or did it come in later? I have Lobophora and am on my first week of vodka after 3 weeks of preliminary MB7 dosing. I am glad to hear your Lobophora disappeared.

[C3gear]

tagging along

[aquaph8]

not familiar with lobophora. Got any pics.

[serval]

Lobophora is pretty slimy to the touch and looks like brown coralline to the uninitiated. It grows in ever widening circles that eventually coalesce. When mature, it can plate out. Mine hasn't plated; here is a closeup of it:
http://i653.photobucket.com/albums/uu251/rbittman/20090907_rockwithbrownalgae.jpg

It doesn't strike you at first as something "bad" but soon, it spreads over everything and your entire tank is brown. It is a royal pain to get rid of.

[aquaph8]

that is definetly a new one for me. Thanks for educating me and for the pic.

[frags75]

Been running MB7 for a month now and really like the results. However after starting BW Biofuel for 2 weeks I have noticed the green hair and bubble algae start to make a comeback. Should I stop the fuel and continue the MB7? That is what I have been reading. Also my tank is BB with no fuge and I dont see any difference or problems running it this way. All corals have made a huge improvement since I started this method. Any thoughts?

[bgr]

doese mb7 need to be refrigerated

[LISound]

doese mb7 need to be refrigerated

no.

[bgr]

thanks lisound
i didnt think so but wanted to check just in case

[bgr]

I love the serval cats
i was going to buy a savanna cat but decided to do the reef thing instead
couldent afford both.

[bgr]

iv been runnin mb7 fo 4 days now and my skimmer hasn't pulled any sludge yet

[kcreefer86]

im considering doing mb7 and vit C? any experience in this?

[shandy_say]

can mb7 be dosed in a system with a fuge (dsb and live rock compartment)?

[aquaph8]

by its self I think you may be ok. If you start running a carbon source like vodka or biofuel thats where you might have problems. Please get a second opinion on this, cause I'm no expert.

[shandy_say]

not planning to add a carbon source like vodka. Just the mb7 on its own. Would it be possible even if my tank had a dsb fuge?

[fullmonti]

just found this thread & was wondering is MB7 & vodka more or less the same as zeobak & start2? I ask because I have been using zeo products & still having algae, cyano, & brwon film on glass&sand type issues too. Would love to find some relieve from them.

[Henry Bowman]

can mb7 be dosed in a system with a fuge (dsb and live rock compartment)?

Yes, I do.

[LISound]

MB7 alone, won't really harm your system. if you do overdose, you will get a brown biofilm on glass and plastic. I get it on my rocks too. just back off the MB7.

FYI, I've been trying to dial the amounts of each product on my 30 gal system. I can tell you it's not easy on a small system to get the ratios right. I'm into my 8th week and still can't get it right.

[SirToppemHat]

I believe Melev runs a dsb & fuge with vodka.

[Kenfuzed]

I'm running a DSB fuge while dosing MB7 and vodka. Only a month in so no conclusive results, however everything has been running very well so far.

[shandy_say]

I read somewhere that you can't or shouldn't dose vodka (carbon source) when you have a dsb fuge. Not really sure why. But anyway, the bacteria of the mb7 needs the carbon as its food in order to reproduce right? So in any case if the bacteria of the mb7 doesn't have the carbon, wouldn't it just die out? Sorry for the dumb questions but Im still getting confused with this method. Any advise would be appreciated. :)

[aquaph8]

I dont believe it will just die out. The carbon source just helps it to reproduce more rapidly. You dont have to use them together, but used together the bacteria can become more abundant. Vodka alone will just feed the bacteria you already have. The mb7 helps to out compete bad bacteria like cyano witch would also feed on the carbon source.
Hope this helps.

[shandy_say]

Thanks aquaph8. Helps a lot. :)

[shandy_say]

I'm running a DSB fuge while dosing MB7 and vodka. Only a month in so no conclusive results, however everything has been running very well so far.

Would you happen to have a thread on your tank?

[steevareno2002]

I've been dosing mb7 since starting up my tank 2 weeks ago. I've had a full diatom bloom but only on the rock and sand! I've not had to clean my glass once. So far I am liking this stuff...:dance: