Switching from Vodka to Biopellets

[Scubabum]

I'm currently dosing vodka to lower my Nitrate. I've only been dosing for about 4 weeks and my Nitrate level is down from 40ppm to 5ppm. I'm thinking of switching to Biopellets to get rid of the daily dosing of Vodka. I've read that the biopellets take a few weeks to get going. Should I continue to dose Vodka until the biopellets kick in or should I stop the Vodka dosing when I put the Biopellet reactor online? Thanks in advance.

 

[Chrisss]

I would stop dosing Vodka otherwise probably going to get a cyano outbreak because that's a lot of carbon dosing(Still might get on). The way I did it was stopped Vodka, Added half the recommend NPX biopellets then after 2 weeks the full dosage then after a month I added 3/2 the recommend. Which took care of both Phosphates and Nitrates in my system.

Do you have a algae outbreak which is the reason you want to get nitrates under control?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'd personally keep dosing it but slow the dosing over 2-3 weeks and see what happens.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, please report back later and let us know how you like the biopellets compared to vodka dosing in terms of what it does for the tank, etc.

 

[Reefboy1]

I have biopellets in my system. I like to feed my corals in my frag tank and my fish in my DT. For the most part the biopettets work good but when I find that I overfeed I use sugar to bring down nitrates. I tried to use vodka before but for some reason I kept running out, lol.

 

[Scubabum]

Thank you all for your responses. I still haven't decided If I'm going with biopellets. I do not have an algae outbreak. I had a bad Nitrate test kit. Thought forever my system was at 0 Nitrate and discovered that my Nitrate was 50ppm. I also verified it with a second new test kit. I started Vodka dosing, and cut back on my feeding about 4 weeks ago and so far my Nitrate has fallen to 5-7ppm. I might just continue dosing Vodka as it seems to be working. If I do decide to use Biopellets I will report back.

 

[Chrisss]

Nitrates are not as bad as everyone thinks they are.. Im actually about to start dosing Nitrates into my system

 

[Downbeach]

I did this about 6 years ago, and cut back on the vinegar as the pellets colonized. I added the pellets by starting with 1/3 of the recommended amount and adding an additional 1/3 on two week intervals, until I reached the recommeded amount. During that period I reduced the vinegar by 1/3 with each incremental increase in pellets, and completely stopped when the recommended amount had been achieved. My readings never changed much with the NO3 in the 1-2ppm level and my PO4 ~ .08. Ultimately I redeployed my GFO reacto to get the PO4 down to .02-.03.

 

[Scubabum]

I did this about 6 years ago, and cut back on the vinegar as the pellets colonized. I added the pellets by starting with 1/3 of the recommended amount and adding an additional 1/3 on two week intervals, until I reached the recommeded amount. During that period I reduced the vinegar by 1/3 with each incremental increase in pellets, and completely stopped when the recommended amount had been achieved. My readings never changed much with the NO3 in the 1-2ppm level and my PO4 ~ .08. Ultimately I redeployed my GFO reacto to get the PO4 down to .02-.03.

Thank you for this! If I decide to use Biopellets, I will use this method. Sounds like an excellent plan.

 

[Orly20]

Any updates??

 

[Scubabum]

Any updates??

Hey orly20. I haven't gone to Bio Pellets yet. I added 1 block of Marine Pure and stopped the Vodka dosing. My Nitrate is hovering steady at around 7 ppm.

 

[Orly20]

Hey orly20. I haven't gone to Bio Pellets yet. I added 1 block of Marine Pure and stopped the Vodka dosing. My Nitrate is hovering steady at around 7 ppm.

Glad you were able to get things inline. I like to read everyone's experience with biopellets. Thanks

 

[Scubabum]

Glad you were able to get things inline. I like to read everyone's experience with biopellets. Thanks

Do you run Bio Pellets? I'm curious as well with everyone's experience. Any recommendations on which reactor to go with?

 

[Orly20]

Yes, I just started up my new 120gallon with bp from day one. I have tried read about biopellets as much as I possibly can and I am still being very careful. I choose the Ecobak Plus pellets which claim to have a new blend of polymers that also target phosphates

I'll give you a few points I've learned that can help in getting started. I invite anyone else to chime in if I missed something.
1) Get a recirculating reactor, there aren't many in the market. I bought mine from Aqualund, he can custom make you one a decent price. Reefdyanmics had the best recir reactor on the market but they shutdown the business right when I was about to order mine.
2) Get a great skimmer, I went 1+ which means to get the skimmer above the one rated for your system water volume
3) Point the water coming out of the reactor as close to the skimmer intake as possible.
4) Start SLOW if your system has already been running but if you start the bp from day one you can get away with the full recommended amount for your system. Start with a quarter of the recommended amount and every two weeks add another quarter of bp's until you get to the desired amount.

So far I've been running the tank for 3 months and the skimmer has been producing some nasty gunk. The video link below helped me understand bp's and the recirculating reactor a lot better. Hope this helps


Part 1

Part 2

Now reading my response I should have maybe just said, Yes to your question. lol sorry

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I choose the Ecobak Plus pellets which claim to have a new blend of polymers that also target phosphates

Where did you read that EcoBAK does more for phosphate than other biopellets?

 

[Scubabum]

Yes, I just started up my new 120gallon with bp from day one. I have tried read about biopellets as much as I possibly can and I am still being very careful. I choose the Ecobak Plus pellets which claim to have a new blend of polymers that also target phosphates

I'll give you a few points I've learned that can help in getting started. I invite anyone else to chime in if I missed something.
1) Get a recirculating reactor, there aren't many in the market. I bought mine from Aqualund, he can custom make you one a decent price. Reefdyanmics had the best recir reactor on the market but they shutdown the business right when I was about to order mine.
2) Get a great skimmer, I went 1+ which means to get the skimmer above the one rated for your system water volume
3) Point the water coming out of the reactor as close to the skimmer intake as possible.
4) Start SLOW if your system has already been running but if you start the bp from day one you can get away with the full recommended amount for your system. Start with a quarter of the recommended amount and every two weeks add another quarter of bp's until you get to the desired amount.

So far I've been running the tank for 3 months and the skimmer has been producing some nasty gunk. The video link below helped me understand bp's and the recirculating reactor a lot better. Hope this helps


Part 1

Part 2

Now reading my response I should have maybe just said, Yes to your question. lol sorry

I appreciate the response and videos. Looks like a really nice setup.

 

[Piranhapat]

My Nitrates were 50ppm. I started dosing Vodka very slowly for 3 weeks and than added bio pellets while dosing. I started half the bio pellets. Kept dosing volka around 5ml -10ml. Levels drop to 15ppm. Never had a bacteria bloom. No cyano at all. Po4 .02 with GFO. I like to feed my fish a little heavy. After 6 weeks I pulled the plug on bio pellets didn't like the fact had replace the pellets. Still dosing vodka and the tank water is very polished. I do add bacteria in bottle once a week when doing water changes. Its been 3 months and my SPS love it. I never checked my nitrates. This is why it took me so long to do this.

 

[Orly20]

Where did you read that EcoBAK does more for phosphate than other biopellets?

Here's a statement from Jon Warner in the Ecobak thread on here

"Running GFO while running bio-pellets is counter productive!!

Phosphate feeds the bacteria that consume Nitrate... and vice versa. And of course, GFO has no business being mixed and molded with the bio-polymer.

The physical structure of the ecoBAK and ecoBAK PLUS polymer facilitates the export of PO4 better than any competing product. EcoBAK and ecoBAK PLUS effectively remove PO4!"

And here's another little quote from the same thread

"Great question. EcoBAK (original) is a single polymer and ecoBAK PLUS is a blend of different polymers (the first and only multi-polymer bio pellet). EcoBAK PLUS stimulates the growth of more diverse strains of bacteria and is more efficient and "aggressive". Also, ecoBAK PLUS contains our ecoBAK Spark which is a probiotic solution combined with a compound that assists nutrient export."

So according to Jon the new blend of polymers helps with the phosphate removal. I shall wait and see over time.

 

[Orly20]

My Nitrates were 50ppm. I started dosing Vodka very slowly for 3 weeks and than added bio pellets while dosing. I started half the bio pellets. Kept dosing volka around 5ml -10ml. Levels drop to 15ppm. Never had a bacteria bloom. No cyano at all. Po4 .02 with GFO. I like to feed my fish a little heavy. After 6 weeks I pulled the plug on bio pellets didn't like the fact had replace the pellets. Still dosing vodka and the tank water is very polished. I do add bacteria in bottle once a week when doing water changes. Its been 3 months and my SPS love it. I never checked my nitrates. This is why it took me so long to do this.

Why do you think you had to replace the pellets? All you do is allow the bacteria to consume them and all you do is top the reactor off.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Here's a statement from Jon Warner in the Ecobak thread on here

"Running GFO while running bio-pellets is counter productive!!

Phosphate feeds the bacteria that consume Nitrate... and vice versa. And of course, GFO has no business being mixed and molded with the bio-polymer.

The physical structure of the ecoBAK and ecoBAK PLUS polymer facilitates the export of PO4 better than any competing product. EcoBAK and ecoBAK PLUS effectively remove PO4!"

And here's another little quote from the same thread

"Great question. EcoBAK (original) is a single polymer and ecoBAK PLUS is a blend of different polymers (the first and only multi-polymer bio pellet). EcoBAK PLUS stimulates the growth of more diverse strains of bacteria and is more efficient and "aggressive". Also, ecoBAK PLUS contains our ecoBAK Spark which is a probiotic solution combined with a compound that assists nutrient export."

So according to Jon the new blend of polymers helps with the phosphate removal. I shall wait and see over time.

I've discussed Jon's polymer with him, but I've not heard of any data, nor do I see any reason to think that the material he is using would do more for phosphate (relative to nitrate) than other biopellets. It might, but there's no clear reason to think it would.

Let us know what you find.