to bio pellet or not?

[jose.j.vargas.18]

It help me with phosphates before star using it had problems but not now I think depends on how fast you make them tumbling and which reactor you use it. After using 2 little fishes then Next reef and I couldn't make the bio balls tumble I get the BRS BIO PELLETS REACTOR and it is working perfect .

 

[jt17]

I ran bp for a year and a half w mixed results. No nitrates but plenty of phosphate. When i stopped running pellets i saw positive results in all corals so I think the pellets were stripping the water of something the corals needed. I switched to vinegar dosing as I want my bacteria culture in my DT and not in a reactor that can spoil during a power outage. My DT has battery back up but my reactors don't. I also ran a next reef BP reactor which I would not recommend as I needs a lot of flow and modifications to keep them tumbling. There are many success stories w bp I think the key is to introduce them slowly and most important to use a recirculating reactor.

 

[Alabamareef]

Hey el rookie guess my first question is why are you running bio pellets?
Me personally I've been using a reef dynamic BPR for going on two years. I have a 180 SPS tank and love tangs. 5 of my 22 fish are tangs. My system has been going for close to 4 years. But I mainly got my reactor to help get my nitrates down do an SPS acceptable level. I personally have not noticed any drop in ph or dkh. My ph runs 8-8.3 and my Alk hangs around 7.7-8.0. I also get my pellets from reef dynamic. I've seen other reactors with a ton of biopellets in them. I have a very small amount, recommended amount for my reactor, of pellets in my reactor but they are doing a great job. No sure but maybe the set up that reef dynamics, recirculating pump, uses allows for a smaller of pellets to get the most bang for your buck. Any way I've posted a video of my reactor and how the output line dumps into a T fitting at the venture of my skimmer.

Click on the Picture to View the Video​

 

[SoDak]

Me personally I've been using a reef dynamic BPR for going on two years.

Do you like your Reef Dynamics reactor? I have one purchased and waiting for my 120 when I finally get that up and running. I think he has the best design on the market for BP Reactors and I am looking forward to using it.

His design is what I based the modification of my Reef Octopus on to turn it into a recirculating reactor.

 

[TwistedTiger]

CAD Lights also makes a great recirculating reactor and I've tried a few. BR-1 Recirculating Conic Media Reactors (50G-350G Capacity) [BR-1] - $174.99 : CAD Lights, Think outside the cube

 

[1saltyjoker]

Been running my avast marine bio pellet reactor for almost a month now and it has improved my protein skimmers efficiency by about 50%!! I have been told it takes about 6 weeks for the reactor to start making bacteria!!

 

[Connie]

I've been running a dual GFO/Carbon reactor for a couple of years with limited success. I slowly put EcoBak Plus on line in my 180g using a Hydra Aquatics Reactor. I added 1/4 of the recommended amount weekly as I had high nitrates (over 60) due to heavy fish load. I got to recommended dosage last Saturday. I haven't tested my water yet (lazy)...but I can visually see a huge difference in the coral growth and PE. I will test my water today and post results.

 

[Alabamareef]

Do you like your Reef Dynamics reactor? I have one purchased and waiting for my 120 when I finally get that up and running. I think he has the best design on the market for BP Reactors and I am looking forward to using it.

His design is what I based the modification of my Reef Octopus on to turn it into a recirculating reactor.

Yes I do like the RD BPR. I would also get the mod that hooks up to the RO skimmer. I also bought a new venturi that allowed the RD mod to slip right on my pump, as you can see in the video above. Here is what I used and I'll try to dig up the link where I bought it.

 

[Alabamareef]

Been running my avast marine bio pellet reactor for almost a month now and it has improved my protein skimmers efficiency by about 50%!! I have been told it takes about 6 weeks for the reactor to start making bacteria!!

FYI its not improving your skimmers efficiency but skimming out the biofilm produced by the bio pellet reactor.

 

[reeffirstaid]

Most nitrate absorbents, sponges, etc that I have used, either don't function real well at all, or function for a while, then suddenly quit, creating a stream of nitrates. I think biopellets are one of the best, long term, solutions for removing nitrates. You could always combat the kh/ph inconsistencies by testing and dosing daily, preferably in the morning before your lights come on, when kh is at its lowest point. Any form of carbon, even soluble carbon, will effect ph. I found that putting a carbon scrubber on my skimmer's air intake helped in maintaining a more consistant kh, when running pellets.

 

[zemuss]

I had a bio pellet reactor on my 34 gallon and the nitrates went from a constant reading of 10 -20 to 0-5. I feed heavy so i needed the pellets to cut down on the nitrates which it did. However, You need to watch your results because if you don't tumble the pellets correctly then you might get a huge algea bloom as I did.

Currently I am setting up a 60 gallon and will be setting up a recirculating Bio Pellet reactor for this tank.

FYI, only other method I will use for Nitrate control is ATS.

 

[Jonreefer]

I cant do that plumbing directly into the skimmer the way my CPR reactor is just an overflow out of the top. but I have it overflowing basically right in front of the intake of the skimmer so I am guessing its sucking up as much as it can and better then nothing I guess
what is the correct speed for tumbling i have seen it all over place some faster some real slow and I just kinda set mine to a mid range
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkIzyMzCxLs

 

[Alabamareef]

SoDak, I finally found where I bought this venturi at, man did it take some digging. Any questions please PM me, AVAST Marine Works - Sicce PSK1000 venturi - Product Details

Yes I do like the RD BPR. I would also get the mod that hooks up to the RO skimmer. I also bought a new venturi that allowed the RD mod to slip right on my pump, as you can see in the video above. Here is what I used and I'll try to dig up the link where I bought it.

 

[AJsTank]

I'll share my bio-pellet experience with you guys.

I started a 400 gallon system back in September.

I cycled my tank and as soon as I saw nitrates, I added about 20% of the recommended amount that BRS says to use. I also added my macro algae and started dosing MB7. Diatoms came very heavy and went away within about 2 weeks. Green hair algae came and went within another 2 weeks. Everything was great and the bio-pellets, IMO were working. At the time, I had no snails, crabs or any clean up crew. In my mind, I was thinking the pellets were working, so I went ahead and filled up my Vertex reactor to the top which was the amount BRS said to use.

1 week after I did that, clear "fur like" algae appeared all over my rocks. It was everywhere. At the time, I thought it was algae, so I added a rabbit fish, a couple tangs, sea hare, snails and crabs. NOTHING would touch it. So I posted pics on my local club forum and come to find out it was bacteria from excessive carbon dosing.

For the next 4 weeks, I reduced the amount of pellets back down to 25%, I plumbed the reactor into my skimmer and reduced the flow through the reactor quite a bit. No change at all. The bacteria was not getting worse, but it was not getting better.

I then made the decision to completely pull the pellets offline and go back to my normal GFO and carbon that I've always done in the past. Even pulling the pellets, I did not see any result in the bacteria being starved out for a good 5 weeks. Then it finally disappeared.


The moral of the story? Be careful about excessive carbon dosing. It was a bad mistake that I did and it put my tank back literally 2 months.

Here is a shot of it when it happened.

 

[SoDak]

I dose ALK and CAL every morning using BRS dosers so I have not noticed any decline in pH or kH in my tank.

I am running only half of the recommended amount of BP. My thought was more to maintain good tumble vs over carbon dosing but that is a good point and a good thing to think about.

 

[Jonreefer]

I had that furry junk grow all over my rocks but it was before I added my BP..I added a lawnmower blenny and stuff is almost all gone in like 1 week and I also cut back on my feeding by half. Has not come back in any spots either

 

[Alabamareef]

I'm reading several people are putting bio pellets online right after their tanks are cycling. IMO this is a wast. get a good clean up crew and learn some good husbandry. Then fill your tank with your animals and if your keeping up with your husbandry, ie: water changing nor overfeeding... and your clean up crew is still living and doing a good job but your still faced with an elevated nitrate level or you want to feed like crazy at that point bring your bio pellets online.

 

[MWDcasey]

Here's a picture of how my sand kind of solidifies. I wonder if we are supost to almost plum our reactor directly into the intake for our skimmer, because both my skimmer and reactor at in the same chamber. I would figure that would be close enough.

 

[Jon Warner]

Here's a picture of how my sand kind of solidifies. I wonder if we are supost to almost plum our reactor directly into the intake for our skimmer, because both my skimmer and reactor at in the same chamber. I would figure that would be close enough.

FYI that has absolutely nothing to do with running BP.

I'd look to your Ca/Alk dosing and what kind of sand is that?

 

[Jonreefer]

yea that is the finest looking sand i have ever seen. Looks smaller then sugar sand