Denitrators and Biopellets Experience, Thoughts & Recommendations

[Dan Man]

I have been running Ecobak plus (after starting with 1/4 of the total recommended amount and adding an additional 1/4 every week until full) for about a month. I have been running it in a Reef Octopuss BR-1000SS. Total media used is about 600ml.

I have seen nitrates hang pretty steady however haven't seen the big drop to an ULNS. Part of that I believe is that I was running the biopellets to fast. Recommendation from Ecobak is 100gph for each liter. Pretty slow and the reactor is only using 1/3 of its capacity. I went larger because O anticipate getting a large tank in the future.

I have checked to make sure I have some phosphate and I do. I have been dosing microbacter7 once a week while shutting off the skimmer for four hours yet no real progress. I am wondering if I should throw in the towel on this and trade it in for a denitrator instead. Maybe I just need to be more patient. Also I run the biopellets out line back into the skimmer chamber so it is taking water for the return pump area.

What has been everyone's experience here with biopellets (mine specifically would be helpful) as well as denigrators.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

What is your goal? Are you battling a specific issue or just looking for general husbandry use?

I run a sulfur denitrator and find it to be very effective and honestly wonder why they aren't used more often. Its not going to help you with phosphates though, as the biopellets claim to.

 

[Dan Man]

What is your goal? Are you battling a specific issue or just looking for general husbandry use?

I run a sulfur denitrator and find it to be very effective and honestly wonder why they aren't used more often. Its not going to help you with phosphates though, as the biopellets claim to.

I am looking to reduce my nitrates and phosphates in order to better grow SPS as I transition my tank from mixed to SPS dominant.

Phosphates are at ok levels and nitrates can get into the 15+ range due to a good amount of stocking and feeding however I want to get them very low and then dose back in specific items which specifically help with SPS growth like Red Sea Energy supplements.

Biopellets and ecobak plus appeared to be a great solution as they allowed me to feed my slightly overstocked tank without forcing tons of water changes while reducing my phosphates and nitrates to close to undetectable levels.

 

[scardall]

Here's one way to kill two birds with one stone. NO3PO4-X by Red Sea Been using for little over a year. Nitrates are now at O ppm and PO4 .06 to .1ppm (no water changes and great skimming )

 

[Dan Man]

Here's one way to kill two birds with one stone. NO3PO4-X by Red Sea Been using for little over a year. Nitrates are now at O ppm and PO4 .06 to .1ppm (no water changes and great skimming )

That is a great suggestion. The reason I didn't try NoPox first is due to my trying to have a low maintaine/automatic system. NoPox reportedly works great but does take a little attention via testing and I believe daily dosing.

Maybe I should do that while the biopellet readctor gets going? Or maybe that would throw everything off and I just need to give it more time... I just don't know at this point.

 

[scardall]

That is a great suggestion. The reason I didn't try NoPox first is due to my trying to have a low maintaine/automatic system. NoPox reportedly works great but does take a little attention via testing and I believe daily dosing.

Maybe I should do that while the biopellet readctor gets going? Or maybe that would throw everything off and I just need to give it more time... I just don't know at this point.

It will take some time for the proper bacteria to colonize whether you use a reactor or NOPOX or even both. Their are many biologic/husbandry issue that need to be balance correctly. I'm not always as attentive as I should be.

 

[lion king]

Biopellets never worked for me, I could never get past all the cyano and upset balance from the beginning. I then went to a denitrate reactor using seachem denitrate, it worked for a while then overnight the nitrates went to 30. Seachem confirmed the media reaches a saturation point then needs to be replaced, this didn't work for me. I now run nopox on one tank and am very happy with it. All of these methods while addressing nitrates really did still allow po4 to be too high. I now still run chemipure elite on the tank with nopox to keep po4 in check. The best tank overall I run an algae reactor on, maintains a nice low balance of both nitrate and po4.

 

[Dan Man]

I checked my log and I started my biopellets on 6/3. So after not seeing any difference in my phosphate or nitrate levels I have decided to turn the biopellets reactor off and let it sit for 3 days. Hopefully this will give bacteria a better chance to colonize and then I am going to turn it back on and run it real slow.

Any other suggestions? I am really disappointed. Is it possible that I got a bad batch of biopellets?

 

[cvicente]

I run a 5 gal batch denitrator in my 130 gal system. It is set for six 4 hours cycles every day. Two ml of vodka are dosed in each cycle. I tried different carbon sources like vinegar, NoPoX, concentrated acetic acid, Brightwell carbon source and others. Nothing worked as well as vodka. Besides the obvious reduction of NO3 and PO4 the main advantage of batch denitrator is that the carbon source is consumed inside the chamber before the treated water is returned to the system. There is no dusturbance of the coral holobiont bacterial population. Is very common for corals to suffer from RTN/STN when the carbon source is dosed directly to the tank.