Restart Biopellets?

Marquiseo · Apr 10, 2015

Hello Randy,

I think my biopellet reactor is producing Hydrosulfide gas. My pH has significantly dropped to 7.6 according to my apex and doesn't seem to get any higher than 7.7. I have done water changes just in case and it has brought it back to 7.9. The reason I think it is producing sulfuric acid is because it smells like it in the sump and inside the container it appears to be lines with brown or black particles that make it no longer see through. Those particles may be debris from the AIO Biopellets but I am not 100% sure. There is also white clouds within the reactor which I thought were streams of micro bubbles but I am not 100% certain.

Some recent changes I have made were I added the remaining portion of the AIO biopellets to the rector about 2 weeks ago. I also added Biospira which caused a bacterial bloom but has since subsided. I started dosing potassium nitrate about 1.5 weeks ago and brought my nitrates to 5ppm. My phosphates are at .06 last time i checked.

Should I just rinse and start over?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 11, 2015

Sulfuric acid has no smell. You mean hydrogen sulfide? Like rotten eggs?

If H2S is being produced, increasing the flow rate through it should eliminate that problem.

Marquiseo · Apr 11, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Sulfuric acid has no smell. You mean hydrogen sulfide? Like rotten eggs?

If H2S is being produced, increasing the flow rate through it should eliminate that problem.

Yes hydrogen sulfide. I was extremely tired last night when I typed this. I increased the flow but temporary because if I keep it at that speed for too long, it more than likely will obliterate all the biopellets.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 11, 2015

It seems odd that the flow is slow enough to allow hydrogen sulfide to build up but high enough to damage the pellets. Is all of the flow through it and not recirculating?

Marquiseo · Apr 12, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
It seems odd that the flow is slow enough to allow hydrogen sulfide to build up but high enough to damage the pellets. Is all of the flow through it and not recirculating?

It is the Reef Dynamics Recirculating Biopellet Reactor. I have the valve about 20% open for the effluent because anything higher will shock my system and also speed up the tumble in the reactor. The valve for recirculation is about 35% open.

Here are some pics of the "black stuff" I was mentioning:

And I am using these biopellets (Reef Interest):

Funbags · Apr 12, 2015

Shouldn't your biopellets be aggressively tumbling?

Marquiseo · Apr 12, 2015

Funbags said:
Shouldn't your biopellets be aggressively tumbling?

No. Too much tumbling and they can grind to smaller particles or a powder. They do, however, require more flow for tumbling than traditional biopellets.

M3ace9 · Apr 12, 2015

Marquiseo said:
No. Too much tumbling and they can grind to smaller particles or a powder. They do, however, require more flow for tumbling than traditional biopellets.

To start do not increase the flow off the bat if the reactor smells. You will dump all the sulfide into the tank and you don't want that. You need to open th valve all the way into a bucket to get all the bio film build up out of your reactor. If this film ends up in your tank its bad news. Also, the black stuff is probably the carbon in the all In one pellets. I think those things are bad news. If there is carbon in them then is it just disappearing? It's probably saturating your water colum as we speak :/ You might want to switch to regular pellets. Oh and I would suggest getting coral snow pronto If you cleaned out your reactor into your tank. It will bind with excess bacteria and probably even the carbon from your pellets and allow your skimmer to skim it out with more effiency.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 12, 2015

These pellets have granular activated carbon in them?

I agree that dumping the reactor sounds good, but if that black is from H2S forming metal sulfide a rather than GAC, something is seriously wrong and the flow through, not recirculating, needs to be increased.

Marquiseo · Apr 12, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
These pellets have granular activated carbon in them?

I agree that dumping the reactor sounds good, but if that black is from H2S forming metal sulfide a rather than GAC, something is seriously wrong and the flow through, not recirculating, needs to be increased.

There isn't any GAC. There is only infused GFO. My best guess by looking at it further is that some of the pellets I added recently broke down and lined the reactor while forming small pockets and the gas started to build up in those locations.

It is connected directly to my skimmer so I am hoping that it will remove some of the particulate and flow steadily into my skimmer until all is gone.

Edit: Also, the reactor is a lot more visible inside compared to before. I couldn't see anything even with me shiny a light through from the opposite side.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 12, 2015

Is there any way to stop or reduce the recirculation and just go with single pass flow?

Marquiseo · Apr 12, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Is there any way to stop or reduce the recirculation and just go with single pass flow?

Reducing the circulation will reduce the tumble. Here is a video from youtube of the reactor so that you can see it visually:

[video=youtube_share;blbdRDXLLFQ]http://youtu.be/blbdRDXLLFQ?t=4m[/video]

Skip to about 4 mins.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 12, 2015

So can you increase the flow through the system, and reduce the recirculation just to the point where they tumble as you want, but not too much?

Marquiseo · Apr 12, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
So can you increase the flow through the system, and reduce the recirculation just to the point where they tumble as you want, but not too much?

Nope. Opening the recirculating valve all the way will increase the tumble. Opening the output more will increase the tumble a little but also strip the system of Nitrates dramatically. Closing the output more and leaving the recirculating valve open full or more will probably continue what is currently going on now. I think it is just the AIO pellets. I may need to switch to the regular version of pellets. The pellets work great but the debris from the pellet seem like the issue.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 12, 2015

Not sure what you mean by strip the nitrate dramatically. You are concerned nitrate will drop too fast? Have you been tracking it?

You can't run it this slow if you are getting hydrogen sulfide, and water flow rate is the key.

redfishbluefish · Apr 12, 2015

Not sure if you have the best reactor for these unique type of pellets. Other forums talk about recirculting reactors being problematic....for one, the ferrous components clogging up the magnets in the pumps too frequently. Might wish to do a seach on these pellets and the type of reactor that works best. I beleive the odor of sulfides in the reactor is an indication of the bacteria dieing and breaking down there and not in the skimmate. My skimmate, while running biopellets, is quite the odor of rotten eggs. Again, shouldn't have it in the reactor, but in the skimmate.

Marquiseo · Apr 12, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Not sure what you mean by strip the nitrate dramatically. You are concerned nitrate will drop too fast? Have you been tracking it?

You can't run it this slow if you are getting hydrogen sulfide, and water flow rate is the key.

I have been tracking the nitrates. My nitrates were undetectable (API & Red Sea) at first. I then dosed potassium nitrate which brought my nitrates to 20 ppm, then it lowered to 10 ppm days later. I just tested again just now, after opening the output valve further a few days ago, and my readings were 5ppm (API)/ 2ppm (Red Sea) for nitrates and 0.009 ppm phosphate (Hanna phosphorus). So it is stripping a lot faster than before.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 13, 2015

Marquiseo said:
I have been tracking the nitrates. My nitrates were undetectable (API & Red Sea) at first. I then dosed potassium nitrate which brought my nitrates to 20 ppm, then it lowered to 10 ppm days later. I just tested again just now, after opening the output valve further a few days ago, and my readings were 5ppm (API)/ 2ppm (Red Sea) for nitrates and 0.009 ppm phosphate (Hanna phosphorus). So it is stripping a lot faster than before.

Maybe put in less pellets.