help with biopellets

spscrazy · Nov 27, 2011

my biopellets have been sticking in my nextreef MR1 reactor I'm getting a super reef octopus BR 70 sometime this coming week the pellets have now clumped to the point that only about 25 percent are actually moving I had to take my filter sock off & my sponge for my mag 9.5 has to be cleaned daily because of the slime from the clumping pellets when the new one comes in should I rinse the pellets & get them as clean as possible, start with fresh pellets, or use new pellets & add some of the used ones or use all the old ones & use a filter sock to catch any crud?

Me z · Nov 28, 2011

bio pellets arent a resin and dont absorb nutrients so having them tumble is not very usefull. In fact most people end up with cyano problems because they keep trying to get their pellets to tumble, all they accomplish is sloughing off the excess carbon which fuels cyano outbreaks. I tried a reactor but could never get the flow low enough to keep from getting small patches of cyano in my dt. I finally ditched it and just run them in a filter bag in the sump. Same results but no cyano. In short as long as you have water flowing in the reactor dont sweat it the bacteria will still do their job. Read on reef central a few people have come to the same conclusion as me. Less is more when it comes to flow in bio pellet reactors. PM me if you have any other concerns. Good luck.

ViperReef · Nov 28, 2011

I tumble them but do it slow. As far as cyano never had that problem! I think biopellets work diffrent for some people. I keep a pump on the reactor that is way overpowered! I also run a recirc skimmer and the reactor is plumbed right into the skimmer! Think this is the best way I have found to grab the nastys comming out of the reactor! When they clump I just crank the pump for an hour and break them up and then turn them back down!

There are mixed feelings on these products but they have worked for me so far 0 trates 0 phos and only do 10g water change about once a month to replace trace. But to each his own i seeded the reactor with microbacter 7. It takes about 8-12 weeks to really start working for you and I dose MB7 once a week but just a few drops

Redstag · Nov 28, 2011

I got my reactor last weekend from Tom Socal TRopical Fish Sponsor in here. and set up yesterday and really like it.
I'm running with ATB Biopellte (they look identical WM ECOBAK). I plan to run slowly a small cup from the beginning for 2 weeks, then ramp it up a cup every 2 weeks. I'm getting good tumble with the JNS biopellet reactor and the skimmmer is working more than before. So far, I'm so happy.

JNS BioPellet Reactors add new “twist” to fluidized reactors

Dowtish · Nov 28, 2011

What kind of pellets are they?

jaytizzle · Nov 28, 2011

Mine tumble great in my Octopus reactor on a manifold system. Tumbling is definitely what you want. When they get stagnant you get biofilm build-up out of control and end up with an anoxic system generating all kinds of nastiness.

spscrazy · Nov 28, 2011

had to take it off last night as no pellets were moving at all got the pellets from beadfilters.com they took my nitrates from 20-30 to zero so have been happy with them just not with the nextreef MR1 reactor which was upgraded when they came out with the reactors for pellets. since I had to take it completely off I'll just clean & dry them & reuse when the new reactor gets here
Jay what is a manifold system? yeah the bio film is outta control thing is gonna be nasty wicked smelling when I get up the umph to open it up!

ViperReef · Nov 28, 2011

spscrazy said:
yeah the bio film is outta control thing is gonna be nasty wicked smelling when I get up the umph to open it up!

IMO one of the worst things I have ever smelled! Need some of the white stuff for under your nose lol

jaytizzle · Nov 28, 2011

I have one big return pump running my whole system. I have a Reeflo Dart running as a 120g return, 30g return, Calcium Reactor feed pump, Carbon+GFO reactor pump, and biopellet reactor pump. The manifold system has each of these components on one common plumbing system with each one having its own gate valve to control the flow from the one big pump.

spscrazy · Nov 28, 2011

yeah I can't wait :tongue: gonna do it outside it's cold & wet but still better than the smell lingering in the house all day!

spscrazy · Nov 28, 2011

thanks Jay had no idea what that meant

Larsen · Dec 2, 2011

jaytizzle said:
I have one big return pump running my whole system. I have a Reeflo Dart running as a 120g return, 30g return, Calcium Reactor feed pump, Carbon+GFO reactor pump, and biopellet reactor pump. The manifold system has each of these components on one common plumbing system with each one having its own gate valve to control the flow from the one big pump.

So you are running GFO,Carbon, and bio pellets?

jaytizzle · Dec 2, 2011

Larsen - Sometimes, yes. I have been frustrated with my BRS Dual Reactor lately. I can't get the flow right to allow the GFO to tumble. It's been so aggravating that I took it offline. Right now I am just running the biopellets but I will likely put the GFO + Carbon back on later.

spscrazy · Dec 2, 2011

I thought the gfo wasn't supposed to tumble just have good flow thru it? I am running gfo & the BRS rox carbon in my nextreef now the carbon is moving but the gfo is in a layer under it ontop of the foam disc