Help me bio pellets???

[bigkai]

Ok just picked up a small bag of bio pellets and not realy sure were to start I have a 120 tall with 15 gallons in sump and a 10 refuge. It a small bag so I'm thanking starting with 1/4 of the bag do I need to soak them in ro water or just put them in the reactor and fire it up.
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[Davinci]

I dont like biopellets at all but i do know how they work. yeah just rinse them and put them in.

 

[bigkai]

I dont like biopellets at all but i do know how they work. yeah just rinse them and put them in.

Why don't you like them?

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[chefb_5]

well yo need a cup for every 50 gallons. So it depends on how much your reactor can handle. I have the little bag which is 500Ml and I have the reef octopus br-70 and I need the whole bag. The pump has to beable to suspend all the bio-pellets.

 

[bigkai]

Worryed about algal bloom any one have any problems like that?

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[Eric B]

You will also want to soak them in either RODI or salt water for at least 24 hours or they will float!

 

[chefb_5]

well It's not gong to help with that really, It's more for phosphate and it helps with nitrate. The best thing you can do is water change and more water changes. Make sure your skimmer is skimming dry and that your prams are up to par. Also don't feed heavy if you don't have a good skimmer and good flow and do regular water changes. I learned that the hard way. I was never told to soak, but just throw in and let it buck for a month or 2 weeks.

 

[pgr11]

1st you need to know how many actual gallons your tank is minus sand and rock. Then you need to know how much your pellets to water volume are. Look on the bag and it should tell you how much per 10 gal or so. Then start off running 1/4 that amount. DO NOT add the full amount at once. After about 3 weeks add a little more then in another 3 weeks a little more and so on until you reach the full amount or you reach a nice balance.

 

[chefb_5]

I was told to beef it up yo can add a little more than usual for the first time to boost the bacteria.

 

[bigkai]

All phosphates and nitrates are 0 their is no ammonia and all other water parameters are good but I have to clean the glass every 2 days lol. I just don't want to mess up my reef adding the bio pellets and it throw every thing off or kill any thing. I'm going to start with a very small amount and over the next few week add more as long as every thing keeps looking good.

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[pgr11]

Go very slow!!!

 

[chefb_5]

sounds like a good plan.

 

[bigkai]

Bio pellets have been running since this morning. Flow out of reactor in T'ed to the protein skimmer. Iv only got about 1/4 cup out pellets in right now.

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[Davinci]

The reason why I dont like them its because I have seen many people mess their tanks up with them. Especially with algea blooms. I am a little more oldschool and I think that people get into trouble when they try to add products (biopellets) to sort off do less water changes. I believe I can achieve the same results in terms of water parameters with water changes and good information on keeping a reeftank. I also believe that not enough is known on Biopellets and the right aplications for them. I think they are good in certain tanks and I am Iffy in others.

 

[bigkai]

So far all is well and not seen much of a change. their might not even be enuff to make much of a deference lol that's why I wanted to start very slow with a very very small amount that way if stuff goes hay wire I can shut it down fast.

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[nytegti]

So far all is well and not seen much of a change. their might not even be enuff to make much of a deference lol that's why I wanted to start very slow with a very very small amount that way if stuff goes hay wire I can shut it down fast.

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you probably have about 100-110 gallons of water in your tank. when you added 1/4 cup you basically added nothing but water flowing through an essentially empty reactor. most people say start with 1/4 of what you'll need. Your total biopellet volume should be somewhere near 2 cups. Beef up your current amount to at least 1/2 cup if not 2/3 and start there for 2-3 weeks, then add another 1/2 then 2 more weeks keep repeating until you reach 2 cups.
Also soaking them isn't required, most of the pellets wont float, only a few. As long as your reactor has a strainer up top, it doesn't matter, they'll sink down.

FYI you wont see any results in 4 days lol. biopellets take 5-6 weeks to show any results. this isn't GFO, it takes time.

 

[kyle1284]

Add only 1/8 to 1/4 of the recommended bio pellets and add a 1/8th to a 1/4 more every 3-4 weeks after the bio pellets have become "activated". run the reactor so that the effluent of the reactor is teed off into the protein skimmer. if you are just going to be running them and have not read into it I highly suggest you do EXTENSIVE research before adding them to the system. All you are going to do is make your system crash!

 

[fragmatic]

If you don't want a bloom in your tank start with a table spoon full or so of bio pellets in the reactor, then add a table spoon a week for a few weeks.

Mine is in the center of this old picture. I since removed it because it is a PITA to add pellets to. I found out if I grow algae aggressively in my fuge, dose my tank with parts 1 & 2, and feed my tank well I have no more need of carbon dosing. Bio pellets are a form of carbon dosing. I introduce carbon into my tank via heavy feedings. To do this you must work up the feeding quantity very slowly so that the bacteria count can grow to match it. It was when I did these things that my tank (new in September this time) turned the corner and became robust. Many of us now use the heavy feeding method.

 

[gmoney243]

Biopellets are for nitrates mostly but also take care of phosphates. Someone said it was the reverse earlier. The ouput doesnt need to go to skimmer. The biofilm that the bacteria produce is food for corals and should go to your DT then be skimmed out later. Start at 1/4 recomended dose and go from there. The recomended is really just a guideline not a set in stone ammount you need. Your bioload will determine that. You just need to add 1/4 at a time and wait a few weeks in between additions and see how your params are. Im not sure what brand of.biopellets you are using but not all are the same. I use WM Ecobak and have no algae blooms or any of that problems. I have heard of others i know used to use other brands and had problems but not since using Ecobak.

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[kyle1284]

i am going to agree with you that the bio pellets produce a bio film that does assist in feeding the corals but do you think a tank that has never ran bio pellets would be ready for all that bio film to enter the system without some of it being skimmed out before hand? that is just begging for a bacterial outbreak. There is no way a skimmer can skim out all of the bio flim being produced! you could slowly take the reactor off of the skimmer eventually but i never would.

Biopellets are for nitrates mostly but also take care of phosphates. Someone said it was the reverse earlier. The ouput doesnt need to go to skimmer. The biofilm that the bacteria produce is food for corals and should go to your DT then be skimmed out later. Start at 1/4 recomended dose and go from there. The recomended is really just a guideline not a set in stone ammount you need. Your bioload will determine that. You just need to add 1/4 at a time and wait a few weeks in between additions and see how your params are. Im not sure what brand of.biopellets you are using but not all are the same. I use WM Ecobak and have no algae blooms or any of that problems. I have heard of others i know used to use other brands and had problems but not since using Ecobak.

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