GFO, Biopellets, and Carbon....

[Soehl]

I would just like some information on what everyone runs and what your expertise is. I am confused. :tongue:

Went to the LFS today and they said that GFO takes out "good" stuff from our system as well as phosphate. He called it a "harsh" thing to use and said that they took it off all their systems.

LFS also said that he runs Biopellets. He told me that biopellets need a little phosphate in the system to work properly. Didn't sound right to me but his tanks are spectacular.

Carbon. Pretty tried and true, I think. Most people run it at least a little.

My system:

I got my 180 up and running a couple months ago. Put the 75 gallon sump/fuge in a month ago. I have been running GFO, Biopellets, and Carbon. My main question is: Am I over doing it? I have a macro garden in my sump/fuge to absorb nitrates and phosphates.

The way I see it is that GFO removes phosphate(but what else does it remove?), biopellets remove nitrate, and carbon is just good all around to remove impurities in our systems. Am I wrong to want to use all three? Will they compliment eachother or am I hurting my system?

Thanks!
Cory

 

[gmoney243]

with biopellelts will keep your nit/phos in check andm once they kick in fully which should be soon if youve been running them a month the gfo wont be needed and will be making your water to low of phos. a little nit/phos is good and corals need it.

reason he said you need a little phos is because the bacteria use nit/phos at a 10:1 ratio and with no phos they cant consume nit.

 

[Soehl]

So you agree with his recommendation to take out the GFO(run it ONLY when/if I have a phosphates spike) and keep running the biopellets and carbon?

This is very intersting.

 

[bobbyM]

I agree too. GFO also bonds out ALK. It's still useful stuff just not all the time.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Just to be contrary, I have a 180g mixed reef (mostly sps & lps) that has been running about 3 years now (I've been in the hobby about 9 years). I don't need biopellets because I have a coil denitrator and a big (2' x 2" x 7") DSB. I only ran GFO for a few weeks when I had an outbreak of pest algae and I only ran carbon for a few weeks after I used Flatworm Exit. I have a good reactor in the sump and GAC & GFO on the shelf, but why run it if you don't need it? I have a 2' x 2' 16" fuge which has 3 different algaes and none of them grow very well because the nitrate and phosphate levels are always zero or very, very close to zero. So you spend money on GAC, GFO and carbon pellets. I spent money on those once a few years ago but haven't bought any more since! And my corals are growing well enough that I dose 400mg of cal & alk at the BRS mix rates. I actually use dowflake, soda ash, epsom salt and magflake which costs way less than half (more like 25%) of what BRS charges for 35lb buckets.

 

[goody]

Just to be contrary, I have a 180g mixed reef (mostly sps & lps) that has been running about 3 years now (I've been in the hobby about 9 years). I don't need biopellets because I have a coil denitrator and a big (2' x 2" x 7") DSB. I only ran GFO for a few weeks when I had an outbreak of pest algae and I only ran carbon for a few weeks after I used Flatworm Exit. I have a good reactor in the sump and GAC & GFO on the shelf, but why run it if you don't need it? I have a 2' x 2' 16" fuge which has 3 different algaes and none of them grow very well because the nitrate and phosphate levels are always zero or very, very close to zero. So you spend money on GAC, GFO and carbon pellets. I spent money on those once a few years ago but haven't bought any more since! And my corals are growing well enough that I dose 400mg of cal & alk at the BRS mix rates. I actually use dowflake, soda ash, epsom salt and magflake which costs way less than half (more like 25%) of what BRS charges for 35lb buckets.

I recently upgraded my 90g to 150g. On the 90g I was running biopellets. I wanted to go simple on the 150g, so I am not using GFO, GAC, or pellets. It is sps dominant, but I do not have a DSB. I do have macros in my fuge, and dose BRS 2-part, but looking at switching to Randy's Recipe (cheaper as mentioned above).

 

[Alabamareef]

I would run bio pellets or GFO but not both. I think it would take out too much from your system. Also if your using bio pellets make sure the outlet from your reactor is close to your skimmer intake. Bio pellets are very rich in sugar and it needs to be taken out of the system or it can cause an algae outbreak. Here is a good place for some info on a bio pellets.

Bio Pellet Reactor for 135 gallon Systems

go to the bottom of the page I think there are a couple of videos.

 

[Downbeach]

I have a mixed reef 180, and use all three. Initially I took the GFO off line while the pellets were colonizing, after a few month's my PO4 was still at .08, so I redeployed the GFO. I did however take the fuge off line, since I felt the combination of pellets and macro algae was going to be counter productive, since they would be competing for the same nutrients. I've been using this combination for going on three years now.

 

[yman32]

great advice!

 

[johntran216]

I like downbeach's method. Because everyone's system is different, it's hard to say based on just ur tank size. What kind of skimmer are you using? A good skimmer can handle most of ur filtration. The other medias are more like reinforcements. Some good established pellets can probably handle ur nitrate problem, but imo, phosphate is the one I'm always battling so i run gfo on everything. Anyway, I would follow downbeach's idea and use only what you need. That way you don't waste money and complicate things.

 

[twisted]

I've used chemi pure elite for over a year now with great results. It's simple and works well in sump or a reactor.


Twisteds 40 breeder

 

[Pappy]

I don't run any. I just do 10% wc every week and tanks been great. Did have a hair algae outbreak at one point and temporarily ran gfo and it did its job and absolutely no ill effects. Good rule of thumb I've always followed is be as biological as possible with NO chemicals unless absolutely necessary.

 

[larangcon]

I have been using the bio pellets for a while now, removed gfo and only use carbon as needed, worked so far...

 

[Electrobes]

I currently use GFO (I can't use Bio Pellets as I don't use a skimmer (Long story)), and quite a bit of carbon. In addition, I do regular 5G (12%) water changes. If I did have a skimmer that was fairly over qualified for my tank, I would try bio pellets and take the GFO offline. I will always use carbon for any aquariums I have, it's just too good a medium to not use.

 

[gmoney243]

I currently use GFO (I can't use Bio Pellets as I don't use a skimmer (Long story)), and quite a bit of carbon. In addition, I do regular 5G (12%) water changes. If I did have a skimmer that was fairly over qualified for my tank, I would try bio pellets and take the GFO offline. I will always use carbon for any aquariums I have, it's just too good a medium to not use.

I used to think so about carbon but i havnt ran it in months and all is great. But i do have on hand just incase i need it.

 

[bigkai]

So do you run carbon with biopellets?

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[Alabamareef]

I'm sure you know by now that no two systems run alike. Carbon, GFO and Biopellets have all been proven. Some run all three with a fuge. Some only run one or the other. Some will say to use but not all the time and others use all the time. I'm sure you see my point. What I can tell you is that GFO will aid in the reduction of P04. I have a friend with an amazing reef that runs it 24/7. Carbon to my knowledge cleans your water and helps to give it that clear look. Honestly I"m not sure if it reduces nitrates or p04 but it sure does make my tank look good. I run it 24/7 through a reactor. Biopellets remove nitrates and phosphates, p04,and do this at a 4-1 ratio,(4 nitrates to 1 phosphate). I'm running biopellets to lower my p04. It has them in check at around 0.05, hanna. I also have a skimmer, carbon and fuge.
I think it's already been said but I would run my pellets with the GFO offline and when the colonize, about 2 weeks, I would bring my GFO back on line only if needed. Remember you need a little p04 and nitrate for your corals to grow. Also make sure with the pellets you have your return line empty near the skimmer intake. Here is my setup and you can see the T with the white line that comes from my reactor go right into the skimmer intake. Doing this did not hurt my skimmer at all. I measured the skimmer with an airflow meter before and after and it actually improved a fraction after I installed the reactor. Good luck and I hope this helps.

***************CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO PLAY THE VIDEO**********************

 

[Alabamareef]

Yes you can.

 

[gmoney243]

You dont want to remove ur gfo untill your pellets start working or else you will have high po4 by the time they actually start working good in 2 months

 

[Starblenny]

I used to run Biopellets but it recently crashed my system due to reducing my nitrates to 0.00ppm. Without nitrate, phosphate won't drop, so long term in my tank I just had high phosphate but zero nitrates...

I think Biopellets works great if you have a large tank with lots of fishes but not too useful in a nano tanks with a few fishes. I believe if you run biopellets with low nitrates but high enough phosphate, dosing Sodium Nitrate or Potassium Nitrate along with Biopellets would work great. Atm, I'm just running on 10% W/C (so my corals can recover) without either gfo/biopellets/carbon but I will go back to gfo since Nitrates isn't too hard to take care IME