by AquaNerd | May 15, 2014 | Science
Aquarium Specialty is introducing us to a brand new type of biopellet from Reef Interests that hopes to be a game changer for nitrate and phosphate removal. Announced on the Aquarium Specialty Blog, the All-in-One biopellets are a mixture of NP Reducing Biopellets and the active ingredient found in phosphate removers. This marriage of carbon dosing with phosphate removal is said to remove 5 times more nitrate and 10-20 times more phosphate than all other biopellet products s currently available to aquarium keepers. How do they work? According to the blog article, the pellets are effective because they provide all of the nutritional requirements for the bacteria in one place, the surface of this new pellet. Since bacteria consume both nitrate and phosphate to grow and reproduce, the original biopellets weren’t able to be successful because these key compounds were being removed too rapidly. The bacteria were essentially starving becusse phosphate was being removed via other avenues, most likely Granular Ferric Oxide (GFO), which is run independent of the pellet products. So, the minds at Reef Interest decided to bring the phosphate removing chemicals to the pellet, which works well because as the bacteria consume the pellet, they are not only getting the nitrogen, but the phosphate that has been absorbed as well. As the surface of the pellet is consumed, so too is the phosphate absorbing portion that has been added
