Bio pellet reactor msytery opions?

[ddc0715]

Ok heres the stats..

1.175tg including sump.

2.Reef octopus 1000ss bio pellet reactor. Rated for 170-250 g

3. 1000 ml of Brs brand bio pellets ( 250 per 50 g per instructions)

4.Skimz monster 201 protein skimmer rated for 211-580 gallon tsnks and or 190g for a heavy bio load.

Current CONDITIONS:
1.skimmer and reactor both in the samesump chamber.

2.The reactor dicharge tube is larger (5/8" dia)than my skimmers intake port. So i have the reactor discharge hose placed directly into my filter socks
Which are located before the skimmer chamber.

3. The tumble rate is set to max.

4. There has be no reduction or bio pellet media lose over the passed few months.

5. My basket ball size cheato looks healthy and deep green.

iSSUE:
My bio pellet reactor has been running now for about 5 months. I have watched my no3 rise waiting on the reactor to take hold..i get merves and get My no3 get under control with nopox at 2-5ish. I stop dosing it nopox at that point. Thinking THIS TIME MY REACTOR SHOULD TAKE OVER. And the NO3 climb again. I have dosed bacterica also thinking it would aid my reactor..

QUESTION.
1. why did i buy a BIO pellet reactor? Retorical question. I know why..
2. WHY am i still haveing to dose nopox about every month or so?
3. Why has my reactor been a failure at reducing No3.?
4. What is the fix to get my reactor functioning?that was alot of money.
5. What am i not understanding here.?

Hope i hit alot of the majors tk aid yall.

 

[Montiman]

How much no pox were you dosing? Sometimes the BioPellet recommendations are guide lines and you may need to increase the pellet amount.

 

[TX_Punisher]

Slowly add biopellets every few weeks until no3 starts to fall.

 

[KrisReef]

Slow down the tumble rate. The bacteria have to colonized and eat the biopellets to reduce their mass and remove NO3. No loss of mass = no bacterial consumption of biopellets. Slow down the flow rate until the pellets are only moving slightly and see if you can't get the bacteria to start consuming the pellets.

Also, you posted a history of nitrate that is moving around but you did not provide the date(s)? when nopox was introduced on the same timeline.

 

[roberthu526]

Bio pellets in the past had crashed my tank my consuming all my nitrate in a matter of days. My nitrate dropped from 25 to 0 within a week. But before then I slowly added pellets and nothing happened until I reached the break even point. In my experience you should be patient with how long it takes to see effect. Also I would find a way to direct all outflow into the skimmer intake so none of the waste gets into the tank. It formed a light yellow or brown film on all my equipments and the skimmate I got was super thick. Don’t tumble it too fast also. It tends to decrease efficiency.

 

[ddc0715]

Nopox dose was 21 ml dased on its instructions. Bio pellets were added slowly. Well the dates for the nopox dising can been seen in the pic i did attach. Because the levels started to declin. Slow the tumble rate huh.. you are going againest the masses with that one. All say increase... i like your thoughts. i may slow it to a crawl.

 

[Montiman]

What are phosphate levels. Low Phosphate can stop the Nitrate reduction?

 

[ddc0715]

Hmm low phos.. i have also had 0 phos. 2rs running now. I do not intentionally treat to keep them at 0. They just have always been 0.
Maybe once or twice they were a above 0. Also i have NEVER HAD and form of algea out break on my tank noe that i think about it.

 

[Montiman]

The de-nitrifying bacteria that breakdown the nitrate need carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to grow. The whole reason we add NoPox or Biopellets is that these bacteria use Carbon Nitrogen and Phosphorus in a specific ratio to fuel their growth. The average ratio in the ocean is the Redfield ratio which is 106 Parts Carbon, to 16 Parts Nitrogen, to 1 Part Phosphorus.

Because the bacteria use so much more carbon than anything else the most common scenario in the aquarium is low carbon and an abundance of nitrate and phosphate. When we add a carbon source the bacteria continue to grow in number until something else limits their growth. Usually this is nitrogen because the bacteria use 16 times as much nitrogen as phosphorus. In your case however it may be that the bacteria are not growing in number because they are phosphorus limited. I would stop any phosphorus removal practices while running bio pellets. If you want to get advanced you can even add phosphorus back using a product like Brightwell Neo Phos.

Since you had success removing the nitrate with NoPox I would continue increasing the pellet amount to see if there is a change but if not you may need to address the phosphorus issue.

 

[huangeffendi]

Hi Guys, is biopellet reliable for long term use? I torn between continue using NoPox or installing the Biopellet. Understand that we better add pellet slowly to maintain stability, but from what I read, even when it came to point that stabilize the Nitrate. It affect the growth of the SPS (forgot what the term that I read ). Now that I've bought the reactor, I plan to change it to Chaeto Reactor instead and keep the nopox dosing.