Reef snow going bad?

[tennis20]

I started feeding my tank .3mL of reef snow every other day. I got my duster before the summer and it looked great. Ever since then it has been shrinking. I started feeding in the begging of august. I do weekly water changes of 1-2 gallons. The reason i have nitrates is because i have ceramic rings and i have been taking them out slowly to prevent a crash. And it lost it's crown today. Could my Reef snow be bad or spoiled? Thanks for any input.

 

Params

 

Trates-<20

trites- 0

ammonia- 0

pH- 8.1

[owenj]

I started feeding my tank .3mL of reef snow every other day. I got my duster before the summer and it looked great. Ever since then it has been shrinking. I started feeding in the begging of august. I do weekly water changes of 1-2 gallons. The reason i have nitrates is because i have ceramic rings and i have been taking them out slowly to prevent a crash. Could my Reef snow be bad or spoiled? Thanks for any input.

 

Params

 

Trates-<20

trites- 0

ammonia- 0

pH- 8.1

Have you kept it refrigerated after opening? Mine has a sticker on the bottom of the bottle with an expiration date, does yours?

[tennis20]

It was not refrigerated in the store so i thought i didnt have to. and no, it just said i am able to recycle the bottle.

[Goby Angyl]

It was not refrigerated in the store so i thought i didnt have to. and no, it just said i am able to recycle the bottle.

 

You always refrigerate after opening...

[tennis20]

I stopped feeding the snow. And I believe my duster is dead

[jedimasterben]

You know that 'Reef Snow' by itself doesn't actually do much, right? It is basically just very fine aragonite sand that lets other particles bond to it, just like a flocculent. The particles are then larger and corals are able to catch them easier. The coral eats the good stuff and then the aragonite is passed out through waste.

[tennis20]

In the future, what phytoplankton food do you suggest? Or how big (meaning micrometers) should the food be?

[jedimasterben]

What all are you feeding?

[tennis20]

I believe the worm is dead now so i will stop feeding Phyto but in the future if i were to get another worm or maybe a clam. What would you suggest? And how do i know if the worm is dead because the crown fell off and i squeezed it's tube and i didnt feel anything.

[jedimasterben]

They can regrow their crown, but it's rather unlikely to happen, and I would very highly recommend against a clam in such a small system. Small clams grow much faster than large clams, and a small clam will outgrow a 6 gallon tank in no time, not to mention the calcium, carbonate, and nitrate uptake.

 

For both, feed foods that are less than ~15 microns in size.

[tennis20]

It looks like the tube is withering away so ill probably take it out today. And I was just wondering what to feed a clam for future reference if I ever get a bigger system.

[jedimasterben]

It looks like the tube is withering away so ill probably take it out today. And I was just wondering what to feed a clam for future reference if I ever get a bigger system.

Food that is less then 15 microns, that's about the biggest size they can filter out.