Thinking of switching to bio pellets

[duke62]

I have a bag of bio pellets that have been sitting in my fish tank room now for 3 months. I am really thinking of switching but want a few tips. I am going to use my 2 little fishie reactor right now but dont know if i need a plastic screen or do i continue using the filter foam it came with? Also how do i go about starting them pellets? What do I need to look out for in regards to algae issues or spikes in parameters? Im getting tired of GFO and want to try this out just real nervous. Any and all help will be accepted

 

[Widdy]

My experience is pretty dated since it's been at least 2 years since I ran them. But start 1/4th of what is recommended, some may say half. Just add more every 2 weeks. Not sure if the TLF is an ideal reactor, but you can try. I ran it in a Vertex reactor with a bigger inlet. Guess if you can keep the BPs churned, you're good to go. Yes, use a plastic mesh, the foam will clog up quick. Go to Michaels and get some stitching mesh (Yes, James, incognito in the crocheting aisle) and cut it down to size.

BPs isn't a great PO4 remover in my experience. Mine depleted NO3 and left plenty of PO4 behind. This is before I started/learned about dosing NO3.

Let me know if you have success with them. I have several bags (various companies) NPX, WM pellets you can have.

 

[viplok]

This is before I started/learned about dosing NO3.

Let me know if you have success with them. I have several bags (various companies) NPX, WM pellets you can have.

please shine some light on NO3 dosing:chef:

 

[duke62]

Yeah my reactor is 150 and will be good for my tank for around a month before i crank up the pellets to 800mls. From what i read since i am bare bottom it will reduce po4 as well. Im just tired of my gfo burning my tips and I only use half of whats recommended. Instead of 180 mls im only use 90ml of Rowa phos

 

[Widdy]

please shine some light on NO3 dosing:chef:

Here ya go -- http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2210947

 

[Widdy]

Yeah my reactor is 150 and will be good for my tank for around a month before i crank up the pellets to 800mls. From what i read since i am bare bottom it will reduce po4 as well. Im just tired of my gfo burning my tips and I only use half of whats recommended. Instead of 180 mls im only use 90ml of Rowa phos

Bare bottom and high PO4? Where's it coming from? I never ran BB, but from what I've read it's suppose to reduce PO4 by a huge margin.

I wish someone would come out with a reasonably priced LaCL3 reactor.

 

[duke62]

I feed heavy and have 5 tangs and a copperband that poop ALOT haha. My po4 can get to the 1.0 range if I dont watch closely. I change my roa only every 6 to 8 weeks so it dont shoot up fast but every time i do change it with 90ml of rowa I get burnt tips

 

[lnevo]

You could also try those new pellets that incorporate gfo if you end up with 0 nitrates and still have phosphates. What food are you feeding? You should try LRS, it is seriously the cleanest food I've seen. Unless your making your own.

 

[Widdy]

LaCl3 aka Seaklear dropped PO4 the fastest for me, but it was labor intensive. It'll knock out 1ppm of PO4 in 6-8 hours; not the best thing either, probably faster if I didn't rely small 10micron socks.

 

[duke62]

Im not looking to drop my po4 to 0 just keep it in control from .05 to .08. ROWA is knocking it to zero in 2 days time which I do not want and is whats causing my tips to burn. I read that pellets wont strip it to 0 but control it unlike GFO

 

[Widdy]

Just another controlled method, that's all. Try the BPs and see where you're at with PO4.

 

[jackson6745]

Duke stop GFO completely first, let nutrients rise, then try the bio pellets. The balance is crucial. If you use to much biopellet and don't have enough nutrient, SPS go bye-bye

 

[duke62]

Well po4 is on the rise now. Thats why im planning on doing the switch now. My po4 is at .07. My nitrates are at .05 but thats the normal. It dont really get to much higher then that. Im only planning on using 200ml of pellets to begin with with 180 total water volume.

 

[offdahooklikeoj]

I dont know if the reactor you currently have is made for biopellets or not, but I recommend that you get a reactor specifically designed for biopellets (not the brs one). That way right off the bat you will eliminate any flow problems/dead spots in the pellets, I use the nextreef smr1 and like it a lot. Make sure the output goes into the skimmer section. Start off with a small amount as stated earlier and realize that it will take 4-8week for the pellets to build up bacteria, so you may still need to use a bit of gfo for a while.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

Duke stop GFO completely first, let nutrients rise, then try the bio pellets. The balance is crucial. If you use to much biopellet and don't have enough nutrient, SPS go bye-bye

very true. i had ULN before ecobak pellets. I took off carbon and phosban and immediately ran the pellets and started seeing seeing my corals starting to wither away in about a month and few weeks. i also used 1/2 the recc. amount . I had also used a phosban reactor which i modded and i guess it over performed for my tank needs :sigh:

 

[tunicata]

Hm, I didn't know that biopellets and/or gfo that worked very effeciently would kill coral.

I had used rowa a few months back to address my high PO4 (.3 and then .8) and then saw that my sps had burnt tips.

All of the reading I did said that it was because of low or high alk (can't remember which now) that causes sps to die from the top instead of the STN from the bottom.

Anyway, I just started back on biopellets 2wks ago.
I could only find 1 of my biopellet plastic guards so I put that on the bottom, and then used the netting from a fish net at the top to ensure that the biopellets didn't clog and slow flow.

That's worked very well for me. Only thing I would change is actually go to the craft store and get a real plastic mesh thing or order it from Drsfoster. Because 1x per week or 1.5wks I have to take out the fish net mesh and rinse it out because the bacterial flocks clogg it up.

Not sure how quickly that would happen if I used the same kind of mesh that was recommended by TLF.

 

[duke62]

My alk is steady. Some days it's 8.5 and only swings to 8.7 the most. I run a cal reactor and it keeps everything pretty stable

 

[vio]

After i try so many way to control the PO4, i come to one conclusion .
Bio-pellets
Now ,there r Pro. and Cons.

Pro.
I never , got a better success to control the PO4 safe , no spikes .
My clams never grow better, sponges ,my Coco worm grow 1 1/4 in few months
Price cost low (compare GFO) i prefer http://npbiopellets.dvh-import.com/
Cons.
Need to understand , how BP work.
Need 1/2 Gal. up reactor (depend size of the tank)
Need all Bio-Pellets to move nice and slow, just like dancing, NOT to be grind by reactor walls or move to slow (clog)
Never shot of the pumps (for hours)
Keep same flow all the time .
Do Not use sponge (will clog)
May need balance, start 1/2 they suggest
Need good Protein Skimmer.
Very few Reactors works well.
My best reactor, was the one w/flash light reflector in the bottom, help to move ALL Bio-Pellets , easy , melts all in same time, keep the biomass, around pellets.

 

[vio]

Funny i never run this reactor, just build , i give the pump to Matt 22, was a way to powerful for me in that time (150 Gal.) to bad i don't make a Video, i may start again .lol, but i really love , how easy and nice lift ( move ) pallets. That the Key. You can see on OFF pump, position the level , than how high go on ON

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/diy-do-yourself/149848-biopellet-reactor.html.

 

[piranhapat]

+ widdy...... I ran BP for 6 months when I first started my tank. I stop when Pump stop working and noticed a lot of cyano when BP stop moving. I found that BP help more with Nitrate than removing Phosphate. To me another useless product and waste of money. Watch your salinity and Alk for burnt tips.