Another Biopellet newbie

reef_junkie · Aug 16, 2016

Just starting with biopellets on my 150 with 50 gal sump. Bought an MRC reactor, modded it to run pellets, running off of my return pump (built a manifold when i originally plumbed this tank) reactor has a ball valve for controll and I'm starting with 4 ounces of pellets.
Tank has been up for 8 months and i have large hungry tangs. Corals seem to be happy but im starting to get a little hair algae.

Am i doing right or wrong?

jsker · Aug 16, 2016

I started with 1/4 of the reccumdation of dose. I am now at a third and my nitrates are were I would like them.
Have the pellets at a slow tumble, and give it two weeks for the bacteria in the reactor to develop. Test now and when ever you test.

reef_junkie · Aug 16, 2016

jsker said:
I started with 1/4 of the reccumdation of dose. I am now at a third and my nitrates are were I would like them.
Have the pellets at a slow tumble, and give it two weeks for the bacteria in the reactor to develop. Test now and when ever you test.

So you're still not at a full dose? How long have you been running them? I ordered the phosphate test at the same time as the pellets. Havent got the test yet but i plan to test weekly to monitor.

sawdonkey · Aug 16, 2016

I've been running pellets for over two years. On my 250 gallons or so, I only run about 250 ml of pellets. My tank is nearly all SPS, but I have adult triggers, tangs, and angels that eat a ton. I find that pellets do a good job with nitrates, but I still have to run GFO to keep PO4 down.

Salty1962 · Aug 17, 2016

It's best to set it up and forget it for a while to let the bacteria colonize the BPs. As @jsker stated, start off slow and build up over time and don't tumble so hard that the bacteria can't colonize the BPs. I started mine 8 mths. ago and my nitrates are @2-3. You'll need to topoff when the pellets wear down. The BPs won't help Po4 that is a major contributor to hair algae, check your levels and use some media to take up the Po4 but start very slowly, you don't want to strip too much out of your water.

jsker · Aug 17, 2016

reef_junkie said:
So you're still not at a full dose? How long have you been running them? I ordered the phosphate test at the same time as the pellets. Havent got the test yet but i plan to test weekly to monitor.

It will be to months this Friday. I wanted to go slow and not strip the system. May goal is 3 to 5 ppm on the nitrates.

reef_junkie · Aug 17, 2016

Salty1962 said:
It's best to set it up and forget it for a while to let the bacteria colonize the BPs. As @jsker stated, start off slow and build up over time and don't tumble so hard that the bacteria can't colonize the BPs. I started mine 8 mths. ago and my nitrates are @2-3. You'll need to topoff when the pellets wear down. The BPs won't help Po4 that is a major contributor to hair algae, check your levels and use some media to take up the Po4 but start very slowly, you don't want to strip too much out of your water.

Won't? The pellets I have have specifically state they are for nitrate and phosphate. I bought Dr Tims NP active pearls. Is that misleading?

sawdonkey · Aug 17, 2016

reef_junkie said:
Won't? The pellets I have have specifically state they are for nitrate and phosphate. I bought Dr Tims NP active pearls. Is that misleading?

Well, I believe they are supposed to help reduce PO4, but in my tank, they don't reduce it enough and I've got to use GFO.

gdemos · Aug 18, 2016

BP will tend to reduce NO3 and PO4 but will reduce both in proportion; and by nature, NO3 is 'consumed' lets say brought down to close to 0ppm...then you are left with a situation with the communal NO3 AND PO4 reduction is limited by the fact that NO3 has been minimized...i.e., NO3 becomes the limiting factor. this is why you may need to introduce GFO to reduce the remaining PO4. you could also find a balance in NO3 reduction such that it is not fully 'consumed' such that the bacteria can also 'work on' bringing down the PO4 in unison proportion. make sense? whether its Dr Tims or any brand, the polymers are the food source for the bacteria. i cant say one brand 'works PO4 AND NO3 better' than another; but one can say that one brand may be bulkier or more durable than another, thereby breaking down at a more reasonable rate than another. alternative to something like GFO there are also "All in one pellets" that combine biopellets with GFO in one media; or you can get a reactor that can take on mixed media - biopellet on top of GFO (but be warned here that GFO traditionally needs to be changed completely on say a monthly basis; whereas Pellets degrade over time and need to be topped off). more than one way to skin the cat, but same logic applies. i've posted much of my BP trials and tribulations on other forums

gdemos

reef_junkie · Aug 24, 2016

gdemos said:
BP will tend to reduce NO3 and PO4 but will reduce both in proportion; and by nature, NO3 is 'consumed' lets say brought down to close to 0ppm...then you are left with a situation with the communal NO3 AND PO4 reduction is limited by the fact that NO3 has been minimized...i.e., NO3 becomes the limiting factor. this is why you may need to introduce GFO to reduce the remaining PO4. you could also find a balance in NO3 reduction such that it is not fully 'consumed' such that the bacteria can also 'work on' bringing down the PO4 in unison proportion. make sense? whether its Dr Tims or any brand, the polymers are the food source for the bacteria. i cant say one brand 'works PO4 AND NO3 better' than another; but one can say that one brand may be bulkier or more durable than another, thereby breaking down at a more reasonable rate than another. alternative to something like GFO there are also "All in one pellets" that combine biopellets with GFO in one media; or you can get a reactor that can take on mixed media - biopellet on top of GFO (but be warned here that GFO traditionally needs to be changed completely on say a monthly basis; whereas Pellets degrade over time and need to be topped off). more than one way to skin the cat, but same logic applies. i've posted much of my BP trials and tribulations on other forums

gdemos

Thank you for that. I found an article some time ago that explained the relationship between the two but couldn't source it again. I did find that my po4 is
.5 so not terrible.

ReefingwithO · Aug 25, 2016

I've used biopellets in the past, i find that they work well on nitrates but a much smaller effect on phosphates, I still have to run a little GFO. I start with about 1/2 the recommended dose.

G8trBait16 · Aug 25, 2016

I just bought biopellets from salty supply today. I am going to try them out also. @jsker, since I am running, AF Zeostones, Phosphate Minus and AF Carbon; is biopellets at a very small dosage going to be ok to run also.

jsker · Aug 25, 2016

G8trBait16 said:
I just bought biopellets from salty supply today. I am going to try them out also. @jsker, since I am running, AF Zeostones, Phosphate Minus and AF Carbon; is biopellets at a very small dosage going to be ok to run also.

I would start with .25 dose and build. I am at a third of a dose and that is all I need to maintain my 4 ppm of nitrates. As the pellets start kicking in also pull the AF Carbon. I still run the NP Pro though

G8trBait16 · Aug 26, 2016

jsker said:
I would start with .25 dose and build. I am at a third of a dose and that is all I need to maintain my 4 ppm of nitrates. As the pellets start kicking in also pull the AF Carbon. I still run the NP Pro though

Dude I can't say enough nice things about salty supply. I bought Probiotic salt and biopellets yesterday morning and Chris dropped it off yesterday afternoon. Was able to meet him and show him my tank. I will never buy Anything that they carry from anywhere else.

Talk about service!

jsker · Aug 26, 2016

G8trBait16 said:
Dude I can't say enough nice things about salty supply. I bought Probiotic salt and biopellets yesterday morning and Chris dropped it off yesterday afternoon. Was able to meet him and show him my tank. I will never buy Anything that they carry from anywhere else. Talk about service!

Just rub it in with personal delivery

Chris is a great guy, and I feel the same way.

G8trBait16 · Aug 26, 2016

jsker said:
Just rub it in with personal delivery Chris is a great guy, and I feel the same way.

I'm just trying to figure it out if I can run the biopellets in the same dual reactor as everything else. So if I use one chamber for the zeomix, carbon, and phosphate minus. Then the other for biopellets or do I need to go out and buy a separate reactor for the biopellets.

jsker · Aug 26, 2016

G8trBait16 said:
I'm just trying to figure it out if I can run the biopellets in the same dual reactor as everything else. So if I use one chamber for the zeomix, carbon, and phosphate minus. Then the other for biopellets or do I need to go out and buy a separate reactor for the biopellets.

Hmmmmm, That is a hard one, myself I like things separated. If you have the room do the seperate reactor, then you can pull them off line if and when you need to. The key is to tumble the pellets at a low rate and fast. I have to soak some more pellets and add some today.

Broadfield · Aug 26, 2016

G8trBait16 said:
I'm just trying to figure it out if I can run the biopellets in the same dual reactor as everything else. So if I use one chamber for the zeomix, carbon, and phosphate minus. Then the other for biopellets or do I need to go out and buy a separate reactor for the biopellets.

Technically they should all be in their own chamber with the ability to adjust flow independently for all of them. Carbon should not be tumbled, GFO should be tumbled and bio pellets absolutely need to be tumbled. Also, your GFO will typically exhaust far before your carbon. So you would be wasting media if you dumped perfectly good carbon out when changing the GFO. With that being said, most people don't run carbon when using bio pellets... I don't and have absolutely crystal clear water. If for some reason I think I have a toxin in my tank, I'll toss a large bag of carbon in my sump for a week or so. But hey, this is reefing after all... so what works for one person doesn't work for the next lol.

Brian Kim · Aug 26, 2016

Has anyone used BP made by two little fishes (NPX bio plastic)? That's the only brand I've used since coming back into this hobby last year. I would like to try different brands in the future

G8trBait16 · Aug 26, 2016

Broadfield said:
Technically they should all be in their own chamber with the ability to adjust flow independently for all of them. Carbon should not be tumbled, GFO should be tumbled and bio pellets absolutely need to be tumbled. Also, your GFO will typically exhaust far before your carbon. So you would be wasting media if you dumped perfectly good carbon out when changing the GFO. With that being said, most people don't run carbon when using bio pellets... I don't and have absolutely crystal clear water. If for some reason I think I have a toxin in my tank, I'll toss a large bag of carbon in my sump for a week or so. But hey, this is reefing after all... so what works for one person doesn't work for the next lol.

Oh Ok I can Definitely take the carbon offline and take that approach (If I need it throw it in a mesh bag). I will order a single reactor for the biopellets. Thanks y'all for the tips and tricks!