Considering a biopellet reactor - thoughts?

[Ben jammin]

I have a 260 gallon FOWLR with a pretty heavy bioload. Lots of fish and I feed twice a day to keep them fat and happy. My nitrates run about 40+ ppm routinely, and that's with weekly 80 gallon water changes. I tried adding a refugium with cheato but for whatever reason the cheat won't grow, so at this point it is really just extra sump volume.

I'd like to cut back on my water changes but I also want to reduce my nitrates. I've read a lot about biopellet reactors and I am considering adding one, but I want to get some feedback first on whether I should expect it to be effective in this situation. I am concerned that they could reduce nitrates from 5-10 to 0 in a reef, but maybe not from 40 or 50 to 10 or 20. Any feedback would be welcome. Thanks.

 

[jerseypete]

I don't know what type of skimmer you have. But doing biopellets you need to plumb the outlet of the biopellets reactor so it feeds into the skimmer so it can remove the gunk that comes out of the biopellets. If you have a good skimmer you could also just use red sea no3po4x. Works great in reducing nitrates you just have to start slow. Or you'll get a big bacterial bloom. Either way it will save on the time and money of weekly 80g water changes. I use the no3po4x . And only do a 40g waterchange on a 150 every 2 months. Nitrates stay at 5.

 

[Ben jammin]

I have a reed octopus skimmer, the ps-2000int. It's an I -sump skimmer rated for 200 gallons. My whole system was designed and installed by a custom installer because I had it done in-wall when we built our house, and I didn't realize until recently that they undersized the skimmer.

I have read that you don't need to plumb the bio pellet reactor directly to the skimmer, and that doing so actually makes the skimmer go crazy so a lot of folks just direct the output near the skimmer pump intake, which is probably what I would do.

I have not heard of the Red Sea product your referring to. Is that some kind of media? How heavily are you stocked and feeding?

 

[jerseypete]

I had mine plumbed to the skimmer. In the beginning if you put too many pellets in at once the skimmer would go crazy. Cause it skimming the waste. If it's not going into the skimmer it's going into the sump. With biopellets you have to start really slow. Especially if your nitrates are high. Like 20% . Then you have to wait a while for the bacteria to colonize. The wait a while and add like 40% more then a week then the other 40%. When I first started them I didn't have it plumbed to skimmer and had gunk all over the sump. Plumbed to skimmer. Skimmer went crazy. Just had to tune it down some. But now I just have a dosing pump and dose the no3po4x daily. Much easier for me. But each have their down sides. If you do the pellets you'll see what's best for you. Easy to connect the reactor to skimmer and even easier to disconnect. The red sea is basic carbon dosing. I have a 150 and I'm a overfeeder. Keeps the agressive down in the tank. All fish are happy

 

[Ben jammin]

I just read the instructions on the Red Sea stuff. I might try that in my small 30 gal reef, but in my large FOWLR it looks like it could get expensive. I'd go through a liter a month plus the cost of a dosing pump since I travel occasionally. Seems like a bio pellet reactor might be cheaper in the long run.

I'm not sure how I would plumb the reactor to skimmer. My skimmer has the pump attached, and pump also injection the bubbles. I might need a different skimmer for that, but that's a whole additional expense, and I'm not clear on what kind I would need or how that all would work.

 

[jerseypete]

I just put a tee on the inlet of the pump with a barbed fitting. As for expense a nice biopellets reactor and pump. Will set you back 100-200. And the cost of pellets isn't cheap. The no3po4x didn't have to be with a dose pump. It can be added daily manually. And only set you back 20 buck to start. You can also use vodka or vinegar. Anything is cheaper then the amount of water your changing.

 

[cu455]

Biopellets work great. Just keep adding more until you get the results you want. I use them in a HOB filter with no skimmer or on top of a wet dry, depending on system. My nitrates are under 5ppm. It won't take much to bring your tank 50ppm to less then 5ppm.

 

[LostInTheDark]

I have a heavily stocked 225 mixed reef and use the Warner Marine Eco-bak Plus bio pellets. I feed heavy and nitrates are 0. I actually dose a small amount of potassium nitrate and that enables the pellets to kep my phosphate at .03-.06. Bio pellets take about 6 months to really kick in but once they do its set and forget.

 

[Ben jammin]

Thanks for the recommendation. Looks like good stuff. What reactor and skimmer do you use? I'm just starting to research reactors but am initially leaning towards toe Reef Octopus for no other reason than that's the brand of skimmer I have. But then, I may need to upgrade the skimmer too since it is apparently undersized for my aquarium and I'm concerned it won't be efficient enough to deal with the added waste from biopellets.

 

[jerseypete]

I'm no longer using biopellets. I use the no3po4x. But I have a lifereef set up. Skimmer sump reactor. The reactor was a pain to clean. I found the exit screen to keep pellets in would start to clog. Had to clean it every 2 weeks. I switched to dosing. But they worked. I'm just on a kick now to try and make my tank the least possible maintenance and what works for me. Just bought a larger skimmer cup. And I bought the avast swabbie to keep skimmer neck clean
Haven't hooked that up yet.