Bio-pellet reactor

[Paul B]

It works well. I never liked those surface skimmers with the square tooth design, some waxy films don't go through that and I just want to skim the very top surface as that is where the gunk is. The adjustable floating top allows me to skim a paper thin film. The water flow to through the strainer at the bottom allows me to adjust the level in the skimmer which is something my last model did not allow for. As the level of water in the device falls, there is less preasure inside and more water will flow through the strainer so there is always the same level inside and the surface always pulls in just enough of the surface water to keep the thing working. I like this design and hope it will last as long as the last model which is filled with tube worms and brittle stars.

 

[CulturedCritters]

i use bio pellets on my clownfish grow-out system that is heavy stocked they work great for all the heavy feeding i do to reduce nitrate. i also ran them on my reef tank for about 3 months but think they did more harm then good in there. one thing i see is you need to get them moving more, the first time i had mine like yours and in about 2 weeks they all started to stick together and had some nasty glue/slim build up in the reator, try to get each pellet free tumbling

 

[Paul B]

They move much better now, that video was a test run.
I am fairly sure I won't run it for very long as I think it is stupid, but I just like building things so it is a test. I may rip it apart and build a vacuum cleaner, outboard engine or 1955 Oldsmobile out of the parts

 

[Paul B]

I brought some water to a LFS and had it tested. He found that my nitrates are zero. I said that was impossible and I broke one of my rules and bought a test kit. I was correct, my nitrates are about 25 which is where I want them. I guess my bio pellet reactor is working as the nitrates were over forty a month ago.
If my nitrates were zero, I would have taken half the pellets out as in my mind, zero is not good at all.