Are Bio Pellets becoming a thing of the past?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

But you would have to stop at some point, correct? Once the bacteria colony gets established.

FWIW, since I consider the growing bacteria to be a useful food for organisms such as corals and sponges, I wouldn't consider it unreasonable to dose all of N, P and organic carbon at the same time, although I've not heard of many people doing that.

 

[Hitman]

I may just have to set up a 3rd tank to play with some of these ideas.

 

[Hitman]

I’m going to give Bio Pellets a try in my 125. It has always been on the dirty side in my opinion. As my lion fish eats like a pig!!! Lol I got the Lifegaurd Aquatics Large reactor and Vertex pellets last night. 1/4 cup of pellets are soaking in RO water yet. I hope to have it set up and running first thing in the morning.

How fast should the pellets be tumbling?

125 DT and a 40 breader for a sump. Approximately 110 total water volume. Starting with 1/4 cup of pellets and will work up towards recommend amount of 2 cups over 2 months.
Starting water tests all done with Salifert, Reefkeeper, and a refractometer.
Temp 78
Salinity 1.025
Ammonia 0
NO2. 0ppm
NO3. 20ppm
PO4. .3
CA. 440ppm
Alk. 9 dkh
Mg. 1350

 

[DSC reef]

A steady tumble where they won't clog or clump should be fine. Just keep an eye on the pellets as they can stick together.

 

[maxwell]

Hitman
I run a reef fanatics circulating reactor and they have video's on youtube explaining the pellets and amount of tumbling and how long it takes for them to act.The main thing is to keep the pellets tumbling and keep the output grills and tubing clean of mulm as it can build up pretty quickly. if you use a reactor without a tap on to adjust the output I would say fit one as you may reduce the nitrate to zero and can always back it off. I have tried all kinds of pellets and started with the vertex pro ones which reduced in size pretty quickly with a high flow circulation the trick is just get them tumbling and keep your eye on them.( I'm in the UK and could not get hold of reef fanatics pellets that they recommend)
Bill

 

[Hitman]

The Lifegaurd Aquatic has an adjustable pump on it up to 370 gph. I’ll watch a few YouTube videos and try to match them. Thanks y’all!

 

[DMan]

I’m still using biopellets with good results. Occasional issues with cyano but nothing that would cause me to stop using them.
I did have to experiment a bit. Meaning I had to try a couple different brands and final,y settled on Two Little Fishies pellets. I tried most of them Vertex, Ecobac, etc. But I found with my reactor the ecobac pellets prettty much disintegrated. Results absolutely vary, depending on so many factors. The reactor is one. A recirculating reactor probably works better than ordinary media rectors. With the flow running through my Aquamaxx I needed pellets that wouldn’t end up as fine powder. Once I figured that out the next hurdle was patience. I didn’t really see results until 6months in and didn’t reach my desired levels until about a year on the pellets. For now I’m sticking with them.

 

[Hitman]

How’s this for flow? I have it running at 25% flow. Sorry I can’t figure out how to post a video.

 

[DSC reef]

Not familiar with circulating reactors but the middle of the pellets not moving much would be a concern to me, especially when bacteria mulm comes into play.

 

[Hitman]

Not familiar with circulating reactors but the middle of the pellets not moving much would be a concern to me, especially when bacteria mulm comes into play.

I was thinking the same but wasn’t sure. Anyone know if you can spin them to fast? There’s only 1/6th of what is called for. I have 1 cup in the reactor and it calls for 6 cups for my size tank. If it makes a difference they are the Vertex pellets.

 

[DSC reef]

I usually go for a constant steady tumble of all the pellets. I'm sure someone will chime in with more experience with that type of reactor.

 

[jasonrusso]

I was thinking the same but wasn’t sure. Anyone know if you can spin them to fast? There’s only 1/6th of what is called for. I have 1 cup in the reactor and it calls for 6 cups for my size tank. If it makes a difference they are the Vertex pellets.

I have mine at a slow tumble. I've read several times that too violent of a tumble doesn't allow enough contact time for the bacteria.

 

[jasonrusso]

I’m going to give Bio Pellets a try in my 125. It has always been on the dirty side in my opinion. As my lion fish eats like a pig!!! Lol I got the Lifegaurd Aquatics Large reactor and Vertex pellets last night. 1/4 cup of pellets are soaking in RO water yet. I hope to have it set up and running first thing in the morning.

How fast should the pellets be tumbling?

125 DT and a 40 breader for a sump. Approximately 110 total water volume. Starting with 1/4 cup of pellets and will work up towards recommend amount of 2 cups over 2 months.
Starting water tests all done with Salifert, Reefkeeper, and a refractometer.
Temp 78
Salinity 1.025
Ammonia 0
NO2. 0ppm
NO3. 20ppm
PO4. .3
CA. 440ppm
Alk. 9 dkh
Mg. 1350

I have a lion and a porcupine puffer. The lion is far from being the dirty one, lol.

 

[IonicBond]

As Randy mentioned, NOPOX is Ethanol and Acetic Acid with trace amounts of Methanol and Isopropanol. The Methanol and Isopropanol are not needed and are only impurities. In the original thread on RC, I worked out my own recipe that used stove alcohol, as vodka (ethanol) locally costs as much as NOPOX to buy. The stove alcohol I used had a bit more methanol than in the NOPOX recipe (90% ethanol, 10% methanol), but I used it for a year or so and had no issues with it.

Dennis

@Dennis Cartier

What is stove alcohol?

 

[Hitman]

I have mine at a slow tumble. I've read several times that too violent of a tumble doesn't allow enough contact time for the bacteria.

So do you think I have to fast?

 

[DSC reef]

Its a balance for sure when it comes to tumbling. I've found with no movement in the middle the mulm collects and the biopellets clump. I don't think you have it to fast.

 

[jasonrusso]

So do you think I have to fast?

I think so. You have more of a swirl not a tumble.

 

[Hitman]

I think so. You have more of a swirl not a tumble.

The swirl is the design. They claim it is a better design then tumbling. It sounds odd but it seems I’m playing with a update to old technology lol

 

[Dennis Cartier]

@Dennis Cartier

What is stove alcohol?

It is marine stove fuel. It is used for alcohol burning stoves on boats. The brand I used (linked below) is comprised of 90% ethanol, 10% methanol and a bit of blue food safe colouring.

See: http://www.captainphab.com/web/product-category/marine/marine-alcohols-solvents/marine-alcohol/

Dennis

 

[Hitman]

Well just a update. I’m still only running 1 cup of pellets in my reactor and my P & N levels are holding good.
N 5ppm
P .01ppm
Ca 480ppm
Alk 8.3 dkh
Mg 1380
Just for a far test I have some zoa’s, and a few Hammers in the tank so I am dosing 6ml each of Ca and Alk.
I feed fairly heavy with frozen Mysis, Krill, Nori on a clip, and Rods frozen herbivore mix.
I have noticed a large red cyno outbreak this week in my sump. This is on my 125 with a 40 gallon sump with messy eaters like my tangs, lion, and marine betta. I have approximately 1800 gph flowing through the sump that also has Cheato, Skimmer, and a Carbon reactor in it. Going to clean the sump tonight and see how long it stays clean and if it comes back.