Slime in Bio-pellet Reactor

[Sartium]

About a week ago I cleaned out my 2LF Phosban reactor (setup to use 2LF Bio-pellets) and added another 1/2 cup of pellets after the cleaning, I noticed today that the flow going through the reactor had all but almost stopped. I removed it and this is what I found, YUCK!!! Did I add too may Pellets? Is it a flow issue?

 

[Vance]

Mmmm, bacterial slime yummy. Well you know its working! I'm sure someone else will be better explaining how to fine tune your reactor. But I got so tired of cleaning my reactor I did away with it. Loved the ULN coral colors, hated cleaning the thing.
Corals are a little browner now with higher nutrients, but they seem more forgiving of my husbandry mistakes, and I don't have to clean that plate anymore.

 

[Sartium]

OK so in short this just means it's working?

 

[hybridazn]

No, exact opposite actually. Bio pellets need a lot of flow and need to tumble a lot. When they don't have enough flow they melt and turn to goop like you have

 

[Damon]

Hmmnn.. The issues with single pass pellet reactors.. Though, I have never seen melting pellets.. That is a new one.. It's certainly not normal..

Try modifying your reactor into a recirc.. You don't need to tumble them a lot, because that releases a ton on bacterial slime. It's that what you are seeing(the slime collected) and the pellets are still there, or did your pellets actually melt?

 

[Sartium]

Yes the pellets are still there, this reacoter has been running for a year and the only change i made was adding some new pellets that came from the same bag as the older pellets. Flow is the same tank is the same etc...

 

[Chezted]

+1 on the recirculation modification, it allows you to have enough flow to tumble the pellets while allowing you to fine tune the flow through the reactor. It also helps to have a recirculation on your protein skimmer and feed all the reactor effluent to the skimmer. Then you can fine tune everything and the slime problem will go away. Less flow through the reactor means less nutrients to grow bacteria, so it doesn't go crazy and produce more slime than your protein skimmer can handle.

 

[Damon]

Yes the pellets are still there, this reacoter has been running for a year and the only change i made was adding some new pellets that came from the same bag as the older pellets. Flow is the same tank is the same etc...

Hmm.. That sounds interesting.. Couple things possible, could be the pellets(new ones added), simply kicked fast(because mine do that), and the flow may have been a bit too high through them, and shed some of the film. From the old and new pellets.. I want to say that at some point a while ago, I read that if exposed to air, they can do funky things.

But, I would wager that they just kicked fast, and we're tumbling hard, and released some mulm excess.. Either that, or you had some sticking, and they dislodged themselves, freeing up all that gunk..

You don't have that infamous sulfide smell anywhere, or any dark pellets do you? And have you checked your nitrate to see if it dropped any?