Biopellets, Prodibio or Zeovit Nano???

[B1N4RY]

So I have hit the stage where all my water parameters are within normal ranges and stable and I have added a few SPS Corals to my aquarium along with a Clam. But I would like to implement something to address the phosphates and nitrates within the water column without having to run two separate GFO and Carbon Reactors. So have been thinking about a Biopellet Reactor, Prodibio dosing, Zeovit Nano dosing or a combination of the above. Does anyone have any experience with this or could make any type of recommendation. I have heard such great things about the Zeovit system in general but I don't have the space to run the equipment necessary in my aquarium without adding a sump for a full blown Zeovit aquarium. However from my reading the Zeovit Nano is just the additives without the use of the Zeolites. Any food for thought from anyone?

 

[lnevo]

When i'm done tuning my 2 part I plan to start on prodibio. To me it seems like the best method to start with rather than other carbon dosing or pellets.

 

[B1N4RY]

Reply to Lnevo.

When i'm done tuning my 2 part I plan to start on prodibio. To me it seems like the best method to start with rather than other carbon dosing or pellets.

I'm curious to what your thought process is to why this is better than the other two options. Would you mind elaborating a bit?

 

[lnevo]

I have two reactors plumbed together for gfo/gac kinda like the brs dual. I didnt feel that pellets would be good there and didnt want to run another pump or take my gfo and gac offline. Also pellets have their own issues. I was seriously thinking about sugar then vinegar dosing. Sugar was rules out quickly as not enough information long term results. Vinegar was a good idea, but the whole regimen of manual dosing seemed cumbersome and too probe to failure (ie missing a dosage).

To me it seems in order to process nitrates and phosphates you need the right bacteria. Carbon dosing will help provide the fuel and the bacteria will grow. Prodibio provides the bacteria and the fuel. I also looked at NOPOX and another brand, but the price, dosing regimen, and overall method made prodibio seem attractive to me.

I havent had the time to start yet, and working on getting my 2 part dialed in. Trying not to change too much at once. But i bought an 8 pack of the two biodigest and bioclean i think they called? And i'll try it out once I'm ready.

I feel like the addition of the right bacterias will help process the nitrates. everything else seemed to be just a form of carbon dosing. This seems like both.

 

[MHG]

well nothing works on phosphates as well as GFO and nothing works as good as high capacity GFO... Biopellets and prodibio did nothing for phosphates in any of my tanks...

I use prodibio now and it works well at controlling nitrates and algae issues... In fact it works too good as I am having a hard time keeping my nitrates in the detectable range so I don't starve my corals...

 

[B1N4RY]

Reply to MHG.

well nothing works on phosphates as well as GFO and nothing works as good as high capacity GFO... Biopellets and prodibio did nothing for phosphates in any of my tanks...

I use prodibio now and it works well at controlling nitrates and algae issues... In fact it works too good as I am having a hard time keeping my nitrates in the detectable range so I don't starve my corals...

Well I just started using Rowaphos to control the phosphates in my tank this past weekend. Well see how that goes for me.

 

[lnevo]

I did one dose (2 vials each) of prodibio biodigest and biooptim. My nitrates which used to be in the 8-16ppm range have been consistently at 4ppm since...and I mean consistent

I'm due to dose again but now I'm nervous because I don't want them too low but also don't want to mess w success. What to do? Maybe I'll do one vial each...

 

[d5332]

This prodibio stuff is like half price on Ebay
Going to have to read up on it, wonder how widespread and common its use is.

I can live with cracking a vial every few days or week or two.

 

[B1N4RY]

I have been thinking about this realistically and I still don't think I have a need for any of the solutions yet after giving it some good thought. I might go another route for additional biological filtration.

 

[lnevo]

I have to say I'm quite happy with the Prodibio, although i haven't tested since last week, but i've been feeding heavily since I was afraid they were going to drop lower than the tank is used to. Gonna test tonight and make a more accurate judgement. I was up in there air for my next dosage also and i went with the recommended 2 vials per. Thats the other reason I'm feeding well. Also using Reef Frenzy and the fish love it. It is such a clean food. Highly recommend it!

Tested tonight, nitrates are still at 4ppm. With the amount I'm feeding, I'm quite impressed it is still where it's at. I'll try another test tomorrow after WC. I think very soon, I will be able to start slowing down on my aggressive WCs. I've been doing 20% per week. Maybe I'll go back to 10% per week. At least see where that takes me.

 

[vio]

well nothing works on phosphates as well as GFO and nothing works as good as high capacity GFO... Biopellets and prodibio did nothing for phosphates in any of my tanks...

I use prodibio now and it works well at controlling nitrates and algae issues... In fact it works too good as I am having a hard time keeping my nitrates in the detectable range so I don't starve my corals...

99% of people, make same mistakes, when run biopellets, they don't NOW to balance, Nitrate go first to "0" then PO4 still there, you need to dose Flourish Nitrogen ( provides nitrate) until PO4 start to drop, when u got both, close to "0" stop dosing Flourish Nitrogen, bacteria need both Nitrate and PO4 to grow, i stop using Biopellets , not easy to control , how much u need, much easy to dosing Vodka, if you have lots of sand (in special DSB), may not working any Carbon. I stop using GFO.

 

[broadwave]

Vio is right. Biopellets in my experience will eat the NO3 much faster than PO4. in order to balance you will need to dose NO3 into your tank until they both (NO3 & PO4) reach near zero. Additionally, biopellets are hard to control so that there is not a cyano bloom in your tank. One way of doing this would be to ensure that the output of the biopellet reactor goes directly into the input of your skimmer where the bacteria byproduct can be exported.

I have heard of Reefers using Prodibio with consistent results.

I've never used Prodibio, but for my reef is seems to thrive on old-school methodology of strong protein skimming, activated carbon, GFO and 10% weekly water changes. Just my 2 cents.

 

[vio]

If i will use GFO again, this is the good product.

Phosphate levels exceeding 0.03 ppm will negatively affect coral growth and higher levels will also negatively influence the health of your fish. In addition, high phosphate levels enhance the growth of annoying algae and cyanobacteria. Most of current phosphate reducing products are based on granular ferric hydroxide and leak iron-ions into your tank, which is enhancing algae growth and inhibiting coral growth and have a tendency to start clumping together, thus reducing its effectiveness.

Almost every other iron based GFO is releasing iron-ions to the water up to 10 times more than natural seawater levels. This is tested and confirmed at the university of Wageningen, Holland. The tests were done with a inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer.

Reef Interests PO4X4 Phosphate Remover is a unique chemical engineered polymer based mini pellets that does not have these down sides. In other words, there is hardly any leaking of Iron-ions, the pellets do not clump together and can be readily used in fluidized filters. They have a very high surface area and can absorb approximately 4 times more phosphate then most other phosphate removing products. 250 ml will remove 3 ppm of phosphate and silicate from roughly 8.000 liter of fresh water or 4.000 liter of marine water. Do not overdose! Rapid changes in phosphate can negatively affect your animals. Use small amounts of PO4X4 to gradually lower the phosphate levels in your aquarium.

- See more at: http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/reef-interests-po4x4#sthash.s9HS6ftG.dpuf

 

[vio]

Now the problem is...........technology growing too fast.:wink1:NP Reducing BioPellets XL


We managed to create a new kind of biopellet that doesn?t need to fluidized. Same material, different shape, same function. Due to the curly shape of the pellet you can place these pellet in any kind of filter with high flow rate.

Both NP Reducing BioPellets contain 100% pure biologically degradable polymers and contain no fillers or anti-oxidantes which can be harmful for your animals. Color and shape may vary per batch. Some NP Reducing BioPellets XL can contain some small black spots, this is normal and doesn?t compromise the function of the pellets.

 

[vio]

And this is also good product. I use on paint strainer, next to return pump, i monitor the ORP, when go 320 i need to rinse the bags (2) than go up to 370 (by next day) than again 320, i use 2 bags already for 2 months.But like "broadwave" u need a strong Protein Skimmer (the heart of the tank).

 

[lnevo]

Just to follow up... nitrates have been at 4ppm since I started dosing the prodibio. Been doing 2 vials of each BioOptim and BioDigest every 2 weeks after my WC since I started. No negative effects so far, although I have been seeing some traces of cyano.

Phosphates have been at the usually stable .02ppm. I just bought a Hanna checker and the high capacity GFO thanks to BRS doorbusters. I want to more closely monitor the Phosphates better to know when to change media rather than blindy changing every X weeks.

 

[MHG]

Just to follow up... nitrates have been at 4ppm since I started dosing the prodibio. Been doing 2 vials of each BioOptim and BioDigest every 2 weeks after my WC since I started. No negative effects so far, although I have been seeing some traces of cyano.

Phosphates have been at the usually stable .02ppm. I just bought a Hanna checker and the high capacity GFO thanks to BRS doorbusters. I want to more closely monitor the Phosphates better to know when to change media rather than blindy changing every X weeks.

4PPM that's perfect for growth and color.... Don't change a thing...

 

[thirty6]

Just to follow up... nitrates have been at 4ppm since I started dosing the prodibio. Been doing 2 vials of each BioOptim and BioDigest every 2 weeks after my WC since I started. No negative effects so far, although I have been seeing some traces of cyano.

Phosphates have been at the usually stable .02ppm. I just bought a Hanna checker and the high capacity GFO thanks to BRS doorbusters. I want to more closely monitor the Phosphates better to know when to change media rather than blindy changing every X weeks.

Did it make your water cloudy? I bought a pack and had to dose 3 of each ampoules. I misread the online write. I thought I could get two months from 1 box, size of tank will give me 30days of usage for prod bio but my water was cloudy for few hours

 

[lnevo]

No cloudiness at all. I dose all for vials back to back. I just ordered a pack of 30 reef booster on sale at marine depot plus 15% off. So I'll be trying that soon. Probably during the off week...gotta do some research on it though. Have two 30 packs of The clean kit so I should be good for a while...

The 4ppm is good but this was last night and was supposed to be my WC day. Gonna skip this week since everything is doing well and don't want to be dropping below the 4ppm mark.

I currently do an 18g wc which is 25% per week although its done as a continuous change so I consider it 20% but thats a lot of water. If nothing reacts badly to two week, I may stick with bi-weekly or maybe do 10g per week. Its much easier to do the large change once I've got everything setup so maybe stick with bi weekly..