Biopellet and skimmer

[andysfive21]

I just started running biopellets a few weeks ago. I’m running the tropic Marin pellets in my ro br-140. I have the outlet plumbed in so that it dumps out right infront of my skimmer outlet (ro regal 250int). Problem I’m having is I’m not getting and foam head in my skimmer no matter how I set it. I turned the reactor off and I started getting foam pretty fast. Should I try different pellets?

 

[blaxsun]

Would repositioning the skimmer slightly work? Or just rotating the intake on the skimmer?

 

[hhaase]

Supposedly pellets can take 6-8 weeks to really get going, particularly if you have a lot of them.

 

[andysfive21]

Would repositioning the skimmer slightly work? Or just rotating the intake on the skimmer?

I moved my skimmer a little so the biopellet output is like 45 degrees in front of the skimmer. I’m getting a foam head this way. Idk why I just can’t run the bp outlet pretty much directly into the skimmer‍ Was going to plumb it right in but I’m afraid it won’t work

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I just started running biopellets a few weeks ago. I’m running the tropic Marin pellets in my ro br-140. I have the outlet plumbed in so that it dumps out right infront of my skimmer outlet (ro regal 250int). Problem I’m having is I’m not getting and foam head in my skimmer no matter how I set it. I turned the reactor off and I started getting foam pretty fast. Should I try different pellets?

If you just started using biopellets, it could be that the bacteria has not built up enough yet. Maybe wait another week or 2 and reposition the outlet closer to your skimmer intake and see if there's any improvement.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Supposedly pellets can take 6-8 weeks to really get going, particularly if you have a lot of them.

Sorry, I didn't read this before making my last post.

 

[andysfive21]

If you just started using biopellets, it could be that the bacteria has not built up enough yet. Maybe wait another week or 2 and reposition the outlet closer to your skimmer intake and see if there's any improvement.

They’ve been running for a few weeks but just added another 1.5 cups. I’ll give them some time and try moving it in a few weeks. Thanks man

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

They’ve been running for a few weeks but just added another 1.5 cups. I’ll give them some time and try moving it in a few weeks. Thanks man

You're welcome girlfriend

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

This is from a BRS article:

How To Use Biopellets
Once biopellets are added to the reactor, it generally takes 4-6 weeks for the bacteria colony to establish.

The bacteria works quickly to reduce nutrients, so you will want to start slow by adding only about 25% of the recommended amount of biopellets to your reactor. Then add about 25% more biopellets to the reactor each week thereafter until you have reached the full recommended dose. This way you will avoid a dramatic decrease in nitrate and phosphate which can stress your aquarium animals.

 

[blaxsun]

I moved my skimmer a little so the biopellet output is like 45 degrees in front of the skimmer. I’m getting a foam head this way. Idk why I just can’t run the bp outlet pretty much directly into the skimmer‍ Was going to plumb it right in but I’m afraid it won’t work

As long as the output is in the area of the skimmer you'll get the majority of it. You may not want it hooked directly to the skimmer as this will be more of an issue for any maintenance.

 

[hhaase]

That's always been the "that's how it's done" rule with biopellets, running the reactor output near the skimmer input, but I'm not sure if anybody has done any actual testing. The theory is that the biopellets will generate a lot of bacterial waste, and you want that going right into your skimmer in order to be the most efficient and not having it all get into your display tank. A valid theory at first blush and that's what I recommend.

Realistically though, some of the reactor outlet water is going to get into your display tank no matter what you do. The flow rates will never match up close enough to plumb the reactor outlet directly into a skimmer. And if you plumb directly into your skimmer it's going to screw with the skimmer output. I think that as long as you have a high turnover skimmer, and a low turnover sump, you'll be just fine as long as the reactor output is at least somewhat near the skimmer input. Preferably upstream from the skimmer in the sump flow.

I do highly recommend though that you keep a close eye on your nitrate levels if you run biopellets. In a tank with a low bio-load, biopellets can rapidly strip all the nitrates out of the tank and leave you with a high phosphate low nitrate situation. I'd much rather have nitrates a bit high than extremely low.

Another question I'd ask is how new is the tank? and how new is the skimmer? It takes a while for things to really kick off and start generating the right kind of foam and actually generating skimmate.

-Hans

 

[Saltyanimals]

Given the recent understanding of carbon dosing resulting in the bacteria feeding the coral, is a skimmer still preferred? If you follow this bacteria feeding theory, why would one try and skim out all this "food". It's been a while since I've done biopellets and getting back into the game to help maintain a lower NO3/PO4. Was this output from biopellets reactor output being bad because we all targeted zeros years back and wanted to quickly remove the bad bad bacteria drop off water?

 

[SamsReef]

Given the recent understanding of carbon dosing resulting in the bacteria feeding the coral, is a skimmer still preferred? If you follow this bacteria feeding theory, why would one try and skim out all this "food". It's been a while since I've done biopellets and getting back into the game to help maintain a lower NO3/PO4. Was this output from biopellets reactor output being bad because we all targeted zeros years back and wanted to quickly remove the bad bad bacteria drop off water?

I have just started my Nth round of bio pellet testing but with food reactor, pump and output directed to the display tank.

Did you proceed. How is the bio pellet working for you as a food source for acros

Sam

 

[Saltyanimals]

I'm over a year of BP usage and it's working great for nutrient control, but I wouldn't be able to comment on it as a food source. I have BP output pointed towards the skimmer and yes I'm running it now skimming all the "food" out for a couple reasons. I clearly see the BP coat things in my sump. My ATO optical sensor failed because it was near the BP effluent and ended up being covered in the biofilm. You may have observed something very similar in your display area where you're exporting coating certain things. This made me concerned what else it would coat including corals directly. I can imagine the biofilm coating acros and chocking them out by shielding them from the light or covering polyps. I revert back to the "standard" acro care myself and just maintain water and nutrients.

The bigger problem with BP is the impact to pH. In order to use BP and not have it tank my pH, I had to add a kalk reactor as a supplement to my CaRX just for the pH counterbalance. That took me a while to observe and solve for. BP is a necessary evil for me because of my high fish load and nutrient issue, otherwise I would probably not do it. I imagine you may be experiencing same thing with pH and how it may depress acros growth.

 

[SamsReef]

Thanks for a detailed response. I am still in my 2nd week. I might replace it with MB7 dosing.

Sam

 

[Saltyanimals]

Oh man that’s another rabbit hole to jump into. lol. I’ve done my share of bottle bacts and personally concluded that benefits are too unknown for the effort and money. Ie Bottle X has an unknown type of bacteria. Throw it in large quantities and that bacteria may produce some very short term benefits (assuming it did and wasn’t something else) only to have your existing tanks bacteria population rebalance based on dominate strains. Throw in bottle Y and repeat. They this point I’ve thrown in all kinds of bacterial $$$ and can’t say it worked for sure and wasn’t something else. I’ve stopped it and just allow the BPs providing the carbon source to feed my tanks bact balance and save the time and money. Happy reefing

Thanks for a detailed response. I am still in my 2nd week. I might replace it with MB7 dosing.

Sam