Vodka VS BioPellet Reactor

Mr.Firemouth · Jan 28, 2011

I run an auto feeder with finely crushed flake food. I feed about a teaspoons worth 4 times per day.
I manually feed baby brine shrimp(live) and a mixture of phyto plankton and golden pearls mixed with tank water as a liquid(cloud) solution for filter feeders.

If I would of tried this before bio-pellets I would of had a horrible tank with nutrient overload, algae, and cyano for sure. But now I am unsure all the food I am feeding is enough? The fish are fat and the corals are growing so I am cool with that, but I am only having to clean the light dusting of algae off my front glass about once every 7 to 10 days. This is a great sign that the system is handling the heavier feeding schedule well.

I have found that using micro foods in the auto feeder is tough as they tend to get moist from the humidity and clump together. Also, much of the finer foods float at the surface and do not mix well automatically. I suggest when using coral foods that you use a small container, mix the powder or fine food for a few minutes and then add it to the tank for better results.

kingfisherfleshy · Jan 28, 2011

Yea, that is how I usually do it...just wanted to see the best method for feeding corals throughout the day when I wasnt there.

I could get the NLS flakes and do as you describe, mix them in with some pellets for my fish.

Maybe I could get one of those brine shrimp hatchery things and put its outflow near the outflow of my sump?

mizzoumed02 · Jan 29, 2011

I made the switch to WM EcoBak in Aug, I was a Zeo head prior to that. So far I've enjoyed the pellets and the results I've gotten. I always like my Zeo system, but I was tired of doing the daily dosing, esp since I'm out of town a lot with work. With the pellets, I still dose Amino, Iodine, and a few other Zeo additives to help keep the corals looking good. As far as my reactor, I just used my old 3L Zeo reactor and slowly added my pellets to it. I did keep the stones in a mesh bag for a few weeks so the system didn't have a major sudden change in systems.

btkrausen · Jan 29, 2011

I'm running vodka right now and its not that bad to dose. Just like anything else, you have to do the research before you start. Having a great forum like this to ask questions can't hurt either. haha.

I'm on day 65-70, somewhere around there. My tank is crystal clear, coral color is fantastic, and my phosphates and nitrates are close to unmeasurable. I still haven't hit my 0 mark yet, but we'll see how things look when I measure today. Good luck on dosing, keep us up to date on the progress and what you see.

kingfisherfleshy · Jan 30, 2011

Thanks, Im pretty sure that I am going to go with the pellets.

I have the reactor I am going to use as well.

The only thing holding me back now from either doing WM's Ecobak or Phosballs is that I like having live macro algae to feed out to my tangs...and that wont be happening if I start running bio pellets.

bkoppes · Jan 30, 2011

I have the Super Ree Octopus BR-110 and set it up and pulled it offline the first night because of fear of killing things in my tank. Call me crazy??

kingfisherfleshy · Jan 31, 2011

Ha nope!

Anyone think if I grew macros in the first chamber of my fuge, and ran the reactor in the outflow chamber, with its return going into the middle chamber (skimmer) that I could still grow some macros as food in my sump?

Thanks

Mr.Firemouth · Jan 31, 2011

I am still able to grow grape calurepa and C.taxofolia, but can not grow Cheato well or C.Halimeda . I think you should try it and see what happens.

kingfisherfleshy · Feb 2, 2011

I will be growing a form of grape caluerpa.

One last question before I splurge...what are the chances of me killing off all my LPS when I start the pellets?

Seems like the risk of shock is high, and I have some valuable colonies.

Mr.Firemouth · Feb 2, 2011

I don't think that adding the reactor will crash your corals, just make sure that once the reactor cycles and the nitrates drop that you increase feeding to compensate for nutrient loss.

kingfisherfleshy · Feb 2, 2011

Im going to get my sump up and running with my grape macro algae...maybe try a red algae in there for the tangs as well. I will be testing weekly for h2o quality along with my new h2o change schedule (20g a week) to see if I can keep h2o quality where it needs to be before going this route...then if I decide to do it, I can.

Until I get the sump and macros running though I think I will put matrix carbon into my reactor. Can you mix carbon and phosban?

Mr.Firemouth · Feb 4, 2011

Until I get the sump and macros running though I think I will put matrix carbon into my reactor. Can you mix carbon and phosban?

Yes.

kingfisherfleshy · Feb 4, 2011

Thanks everyone, I will post back with updates no matter what goes into that reactor!

Alabama Reefer · Feb 4, 2011

Via aqua has awesome reviews I just purchased one for myself from thatpetplace it's only 33.99 with 8.99 shipping and it includes a pump

davelink · Feb 4, 2011

i love bio pellets. ive seen drastic changes in my tank since ive added my reactor

kingfisherfleshy · Feb 5, 2011

davelink said:
i love bio pellets. ive seen drastic changes in my tank since ive added my reactor

Dave, describe your system...what was it like before, and now after?

What has changed? Lose any corals?

Cyano? Bacteria bloom?

What kind of pellets are you running?

Details man!

VegasRick · Feb 6, 2011

kingfisherfleshy said:
+1 to that, I wouldnt recommend the bioplastics unless you are looking at trying to handle a bioload that is bigger than your system can maintain naturally.

Are all bio pellots bioplastics? if not what brands are what

m and m · Feb 6, 2011

Im shocked by the results of this poll, i would think every one would go for the vodka its more controlle IMO along with cheaper about 1/3 the price. Pluse a little Mb7 and your tank looks 100 times better.Well that was my result when i used vodka about a year ago.

btkrausen · Feb 6, 2011

m and m said:
Im shocked by the results of this poll, i would think every one would go for the vodka its more controlle IMO along with cheaper about 1/3 the price. Pluse a little Mb7 and your tank looks 100 times better.Well that was my result when i used vodka about a year ago.

I thought the same thing. Was surprised to see vodka so low. Biobellets are easier and less manual work, probably the reason they beat out vodka.

kingfisherfleshy · Feb 7, 2011

Exactly bt...

m and m said:
Im shocked by the results of this poll, i would think every one would go for the vodka its more controlle IMO along with cheaper about 1/3 the price. Pluse a little Mb7 and your tank looks 100 times better.Well that was my result when i used vodka about a year ago.

Cant really see this...whole cost of setup was only a little over $100. Plus it isnt something you need to do everyday...it just does itself. Also running it in a media reactor allows you to run the outflow into a skimmer inflow and keep cyano and hopefully bacteria out of your tank and everywhere else.