Offical Eco-Bak Thread

[Dowtish]

Chris,

Since setting up the tank in May, my phosphates and nitrates have never been very high. I do keep a log of all my testing and the PO4 has never been above 0.05 ppm and the NO3 has never been above 3 ppm. You might ask then why start biopellets???? I like to experiment with new toys and I wanted to be proactive. So, that's how I started biopelllets. I also had a real good experience with biopellets in my old tank that I just rebuilt. What I glean from your and Mike's input is...."don't worry, be happy" for now....continue to watch closely to make sure things don't get out of hand.

I need to work more on stablizing my Alk to tighter variations closer to 8 dKH so that I can keep the SPS corals with the eco-bak. Also, I may need a little more flow. Right now I have 35-40 turnovers/hour through the RSM S650 and need to get up to 50-60 or so...would you agree?

Bob, are you having ALk swings with the dosers? Or are you saying it is just higher than 8 right now?

Flow through the RSM at the critter seems pretty good IMO, but I'm sure that depends on your scape and placement of corals as well. IMO, you can always add more variant flow, and the SPS will thank you.

 

[sluicebox]

Bob, are you having ALk swings with the dosers? Or are you saying it is just higher than 8 right now?

Flow through the RSM at the critter seems pretty good IMO, but I'm sure that depends on your scape and placement of corals as well. IMO, you can always add more variant flow, and the SPS will thank you.

I'm trying to dial the dosers in to slowly reduce the ALK to 8. I didn't worry too much about ALK early on and let it get too high (about 11 dKH) for the Eco-Bak primarily due to the Red Sea Coral Pro salt mix. Prior to this, my ALK did vary from 9 to 11 and visa versa between water changes. I'm trying to limit any more ALK swings to not more than 0.5 dKH per week. Anyway, I only have one SPS in the tank now that seems to be handling this sort of variation without an issue. The LPS don't seem to be effected whatsoever.

 

[Dowtish]

Bob-
I have found that if my alk has gotten too high, I reduce the dosing by half for a day or 2, and then bump my cal by 1/4 for those 2 days. this will typically let the alk fall without any major swings for either one.

 

[sluicebox]

Bob-
I have found that if my alk has gotten too high, I reduce the dosing by half for a day or 2, and then bump my cal by 1/4 for those 2 days. this will typically let the alk fall without any major swings for either one.

Thanks, I'll try that and let you know.

 

[schooleyosis]

Picking up my reactor tonight and I already have the pump and EcoBak at home. Is it recommended to run the pump and the reactor minus the media in a bath of vinegar and water for a day or two to clean it?

 

[Dowtish]

I would just soak the reactor and pump in 20-30% vinegar to 60-70% water for about 3 hours. This will remove all oils from manufacture. Then you should be good to go. Also, I would soak the initial 1/4 of pellets in fresh RO/DI for 24 hours to alleviate floaters.

 

[schooleyosis]

Thanks Chris.

What brand of test kits do you recommend to test for Nitrate and Phosphates? My API test kit just does not have the accuracy that I will need to test while in the early stages of running EcoBak to monitor it's effectiveness.

 

[Dowtish]

I use Salifert for Nitrate, and a hanna checker for phosphates. you should be able to get both from BRS.

I think the new red sea test kits are good for nitrates, although I have never used one myself.

 

[schooleyosis]

Ok, I'll look into those.

Now, as far as modifying the reactor to fit the avast nozzle, what did you use to glue the nozzle to tube?

 

[Dowtish]

Just regular pvc glue

Typed from my phone, because I have nothing better to do.

 

[schooleyosis]

Thanks again Chris. I soaked the pump and the reactor last night for several hours in vinegar and water. Then rinsed both off afterwards and will be dried out to install tonight. Also got 125mL of Ecobak soaking in RO/DI water so that will be ready tonight as well.

The goal at lunch is to go get the 1/2" tubing and ball valve and after work go grab the P03 Hanna from Jay to see where my levels are at. I plan on running 500mL total even though with my total volume 750mL is recommended. So I plan on adding it 1/4 at a time. 125 now, maybe another 125 in a month??? Not really sure but that is my plan until I am instructed otherwise.

I've decided to see how the tumble rate is without the Avast nozzle mod even though I ordered one. I just can't cut a new piece of equipment and modify it without trying it first... lol

 

[schooleyosis]

What kind of levels are "ideal" for Nitrate and Phosphate while running EcoBAK? I tested them and my crappy API kit shows my best guess of 5ppm of Nitrate and the Hanna Checker shows 0.03 for Phosphate. Suggestions? Comments?

 

[Dowtish]

What kind of levels are "ideal" for Nitrate and Phosphate while running EcoBAK? I tested them and my crappy API kit shows my best guess of 5ppm of Nitrate and the Hanna Checker shows 0.03 for Phosphate. Suggestions? Comments?

Ryan, you have pretty much perfect parameters. Once you get a decent test kit for nitrates, you can see what it says, but when they are really low, it's hard to really read no matter what test kit it is. When I test with the salifert, i'm looking for a very slight pink color, but it usually doesnt change at all. so we call that "undetectable" or zero.

Your phos being at 0.03 is perfect if you ask me. It is necessary to have minimal or trace amounts of phosphate for the health of your corals. You really dont want 0.00 readings.

So as you continue to stock your tank with corals and fish, and the feedings become more heavy, the ecobak will keep your parameters right where they are now.

 

[schooleyosis]

Thanks Chris. The API test kit normally shows a yellow color which is very close to 0 but when I tested the other day it was a copper'ish color which shows signs of nitrate in the water. I'll still look into other test kits but it seems as if there are no really good nitrate test kits to give a good, precise number without spending a ton of money on a lab grade one.

So if my params are in the ideal range, should I just run the 125mL of EcoBAK without adding more in a month?