C-FLO is a special formulation of beneficial microorganisms that feed on organic sediment (muck) at the bottom of ponds and lakes. These organisms are found in the woods feeding on dead leaves, bark, weeds and other dead matter. When you walk through the woods, you step on as many as 300,000,000 of these tiny organisms with every step. C-FLO is comprised of healthful organisms that are natural food for aquatic insects. C-FLO multiplies as it feeds on organic sediment, and insects grow and multiply as they feed on C-FLO. Fish then feed on the insects and grow rapidly, as insects are one of the best foods for fish.

WHAT DOES C-FLO DO: C-FLO feeds on bottom organic muck, ooze, and peat, digesting and converting it to carbon dioxide and water. As C-FLO feeds on bottom muck, your pond or lake will deepen, making a better environment for fish, and less opportunity for weeds to grow. Cattails and lilies have gradually disappeared. This process replaces dredging at a tiny fraction of the cost. Within a year, you will begin to see clean sand and gravel on your shoreline where only muck was present before (if sand or gravel is present at the shoreline under the muck). C-FLO is harmless to fish, wildlife, pets, humans, and the environment when used as directed. As mentioned earlier, the sediment decomposition process is accelerated by the addition of oxygen breathing microorganisms. These organisms have been exempted from the need to be registered for use in lakes by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency because of their beneficial and harmless nature. Species include, but are not limited to: Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megateerium, Bacillus caerus, Pseudomonas (spp), Saccharomyces (spp), Trichoderma Viride and Aspergillus oryzae.

WHERE CAN C-FLO BE USED: C-FLO will only work in ponds and lakes that are continuously oxygenated and rid of hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg smell when the bottom is stirred up). If oxygen runs out or hydrogen sulfide rises for even a few days, the organisms may die and your pond or lake will need a new application. Therefore, for best results C-FLO should be used with CLEAN & CLEAR Concentrated Enzymes and a CLEAN-FLO Multiple Inversion system.

APPLICATION RATE: About three weeks after Multiple Inversion is started, C-FLO is applied at a rate of 1 pound per acre. Recommended application is two times a year. More applications may be required if a CLEAN-FLO Inversion system is not used.

HOW IS C-FLO APPLIED: C-FLO can be applied by broadcasting evenly over the surface of the water during the summer months or when the water temperature is 60 degrees F or higher.

ADVANTAGES

INCREASED GROWTH AND HEALTH OF FISH: C-FLO is comprised of healthful organisms that are natural food for aquatic insects. C-FLO multiplies as it feeds on organic sediment, and insects grow and multiply as they feed on C-FLO. Fish then feed on the insects and grow rapidly as insects are one of the best foods for fish.

INCREASED DEPTH: As C-FLO feeds on bottom muck, your pond or lake will deepen, making a better environment for fish, and less opportunity for weeds to grow. Cattails and lilies will gradually disappear. This process is a more economical means of removing organic sediment than dredging.

CLEAN SHORELINE: Within a year you will begin to see clean sand or gravel on your shoreline where only muck was present before (if sand or gravel is present at the shoreline under the muck.)

REACTIONS THAT ARE PERFORMED BY THE BACTERIA IN C-FLO:
1- Ammonia is oxidized to nitrite and then to nitrate under aerobic conditions. The nitrate then serves as the final electron acceptor for the microorganisms as they feed on organic matter under low oxygen conditions at the sediment surface. This cycle can provide for the substantial removal of nitrogen containing compounds.

Fatty acids for example are converted to carbon dioxide using nitrate instead of oxygen as the oxidizing agent or final acceptor. The nitrate is converted to nitrogen gas, carbon dioxide and water. The carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas can then be exhausted to the atmosphere by a CLEAN-FLO continuous laminar flow inversion system. The removal of nitrate also results in the removal of a nitrogen source for aquatic plants from the lake. This respiration is carried out by two species of aerobic and facultative pseudomonads in C-FLO.

2 – Cellulose is broken down to carbon dioxide and water by Saccharomyces, Aspergillus oryzae, and Trichoderma viride.

3 – Proteins are broken down to peptides and amino acids by the bacillus species and utilized for growth by most of the organisms present in C-FLO. Amino acids can be decomposed anaerobically but the products are putrid and therefore such organisms capable of the fermentation of amino acids have been eliminated from C-FLO.

4 – Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) created from the anaerobic decomposition of fats, proteins and carbohydrates is decreased aerobically by the bacilli and the pseudomonads. Suspended solids are removed to a large degree through the action of the enzymes secreted by the bacilli. This creates a BOD which is satisfied by oxygenation.

Peat and organic sediment removal has been observed by virtually all CLEAN-FLO’s clients. CLEAN-FLO International also has an in-house paper documenting organic sediment removal in several lakes.

These aerobic microorganisms can only survive in waters that are sufficiently oxygenated to the bottom and low in toxic gases. If they could survive without the CLEAN-FLO inversion/oxygenation, then they would be present and decomposing the organic muck and would not need to be seeded. C-FLO Living Organisms can be added about three weeks after installation of the CLEAN-FLO system, once the bottom water is suitable for their survival.

The organisms used in C-FLO cultures are naturally occurring organisms. They are not new strains, or cultures that are foreign to lakes, but those that are found naturally on the lawns and forest floors as well as in lakes that are high in oxygen and low in the gases ammonia, methane and hydrogen sulfide. These lakes are also relatively free of organic sediment.

CONTENTS IN C-FLO: Specialized, preselected, adapted microorganisms, bioorganic catalysts and microbial growth stimulants on an inert carrier.