GFO versus Biopellets

[JurisHP]

Group: is it unnecessary/unrecommended to run both biopellets and GFO simultaneously?

 

[Antics]

I'd say most people have limited success with relying on biopellets to reduce phosphates. Most people use both, I don't think you should view them as competing media.

 

[Salty1962]

It depends on your levels. If you have a good skimmer your Po4 should be ok. I run a 2x skimmer and BPs and I have 0 po4 and No3 @2ppm.

 

[immafishguy]

I'm actually doing a experiment with bio pellets right now to test what they can handle. Depending on the brand you go with will affect your results. The best ones in my opinion at the dr. Tims pearls. I'm currently running a 120gallon system on them with a total of 30 large fish(4-7").(I only have this bioload for the sake of experimentation). But phosphates are currently what I'm using to control the nitrates. Right now I'm dosing about 50ml of phosphate a day to keep levels in line. The current parameters are : po4: 0.01, no3: 5. Only thing is you do need a really good skimmer

 

[immafishguy]

Oh also, keep in mind that bio pellets only work if both nitrate and phosphate is present

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Group: is it unnecessary/unrecommended to run both biopellets and GFO simultaneously?

Many people do use them together since organic carbon dosing of any form is often unable to keep phosphate as low as many reefers prefer.