Offical Eco-Bak Thread

[.AcroKiller.]

We dont speak of these "other" bio pellets. For it is an abomination....

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

One thing for sure is that I have not expirience any clumping as of yet. And no cloudiness in the water with npx

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[fireman23]

Got a new avast reactor. Waiting on eco bak to start my journey.

 

[schooleyosis]

Very nice!

 

[fireman23]

Should i start out with 250ml on my 110

 

[bknapp]

Should i start out with 250ml on my 110

I believe when I started ecoBAK on my 110 I started with 200mL and went up by 200mL every two weeks until I had 600mL. My tank had just finished the cycle when I started the pellets.

 

[fireman23]

Thanks Brandon. Ill start with 200 . Did you have any cyano outbreak

 

[Dowtish]

As long as you take it slow, and keep the tumble slow, and have the output of the reactor very close to the intake of your skimmer, you shouldnt have any excess bacteria slough off entering the system. If for any reason you start seeing cyano, you start dosing microbe lift 'special blend', and that should balance things out.

 

[Alabamareef]

Great info.

 

[Alabamareef]

got a question. if your starting out with 0 nitrates and 0 po4 is this a bad idea. I'm wanting to feed my tank like crazy. So should I wait till I see my levels go up then start my reactor?

 

[bknapp]

Thanks Brandon. Ill start with 200 . Did you have any cyano outbreak

I didn't have any cyano then, I have small patches now, but oddly enough its only around some LR I used to seed my dry and around Corals that have been dipped. not sure of Abby possible correlations but I wouldn't attribute any to pellet use.

 

[.AcroKiller.]

got a question. if your starting out with 0 nitrates and 0 po4 is this a bad idea. I'm wanting to feed my tank like crazy. So should I wait till I see my levels go up then start my reactor?

I didn't have any cyano then, I have small patches now, but oddly enough its only around some LR I used to seed my dry and around Corals that have been dipped. not sure of Abby possible correlations but I wouldn't attribute any to pellet use.

Start using Microbe lift special blend and dont stop. I started using special blend on my new tank im on the third week of dose after the fourth you only have to use it once every two weeks. My tank has no signs of cyano yet.

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[Dowtish]

got a question. if your starting out with 0 nitrates and 0 po4 is this a bad idea. I'm wanting to feed my tank like crazy. So should I wait till I see my levels go up then start my reactor?

Do not wait, start running the pellets asap.

 

[bknapp]

Start using Microbe lift special blend and dont stop. I started using special blend on my new tank im on the third week of dose after the fourth you only have to use it once every two weeks. My tank has no signs of cyano yet.

I add some MB7 on a weekly basis, a small amount around 5 mL just to add some bacterial diversity. I started MB7 because it was locally and readily available. Is there any big difference between the two? Where is the cheapest place to purchase?

 

[Dowtish]

Microbe Lift "special blend" can be found at Petco. For much cheaper than MB7, and I have never heard or read any threads about special blend causing issues. But I have read plenty about MB7 causing more algae than what they started with. Not saying it is true, because I use it too, just not near as much as the special blend.

 

[shellynjason]

I just put an order in for some Warner Ecobak500ml and Microbe Lift "special blend", for my 120 gallon tank. I don't have the stand build for a sump so I plan on using one of the two Ehiem's I am running for the Ecobak. I figure I need to dump the present bioballs that are in it , replace the sponges and put about 200ml of the ecobak in between the filters. But I have two questions - a) how do I position the sponges with ecobak for a little tumble in this set up and b) where exactly does the microbe go ? . thanks!

 

[Dowtish]

I just put an order in for some Warner Ecobak500ml and Microbe Lift "special blend", for my 120 gallon tank. I don't have the stand build for a sump so I plan on using one of the two Ehiem's I am running for the Ecobak. I figure I need to dump the present bioballs that are in it , replace the sponges and put about 200ml of the ecobak in between the filters. But I have two questions - a) how do I position the sponges with ecobak for a little tumble in this set up and b) where exactly does the microbe go ? . thanks!

I ran my ecobak initially in an eheim canister filter. I used the large round blue filter pad to keep the pellets from escaping the top of the canister. and did not use anything at the bottom. You might want to consider a ball valve to control the tumble of the pellets depending on how much flow you bet thru your's.

And as far as using the microbe lift, just read the directions on the bottle. And it does stink, so you might want to dose right before you leave the house.