Bio-pellets

[Wheel of Time]

Any of the local CT reefers using / tried the bio-pellets instead of or along side GFO to control NO3/PO4?

Been doing a fair amount of reading about it over the past few months. Seems the jury still out, but some having success, and it seems to be much cheaper in the DIY form now that an inexpensive PHA alternative has been found. Have read about several tanks shavign success using PCL and PLA as well but again only a few. Im seriously contemplating maybe trying a bag of PHA (basiclly its the same as NP Biopellets but much cheaper) along side my gfo in a reactor.

Any thoughts or anyone have experience locally with any of this since its still relatively new?

 

[RTMA]

Just removed mine. I was using about 500ml NP Biopellets. It did control the nutrients like it says, but you need a beast of a skimmer, or feed the output of the pellets into the skimmer chamber if you can. My NAC7 did a decent job, but not enough as I got a cyano breakout in the main tank. I switched back to GFO on Thursday. Before I took them off, my PO4 measured .02. With GFO, the Hanna meter measures 0. Although with the NP, my filter feeders took off, I have a ton of fan worms now.

I didn't see the benefit in growth and color and I ran them for about 2 months (I imagine it would take longer then that, but the Cyano really bummed me out). I would try them again, if I ever got an external skimmer that I could feed the output directly.

 

[Wheel of Time]

Great input! Thanks a lot Joe.
I think I have a pretty good external skimmer and can easily have the effluent from the media reactor go right to the hole/spot where the skimmer draws water from the sump. Wonder if I ran the biopellet in a reactor with gfo to allow it time to get colonized with bacteria etc for a few months first and not risk having levels change quickly w/o gfo in the tank is the way to tyr it out. I think Ill buy a bag of the PHA alternative to NP today it put it through a 6 month test. LOL, guess that means I should buy a hanna phosphate meter too to be consistent / more accurate than those other tests I have.

 

[RTMA]

Yes, I ran GFO and the Biopellets for two weeks concurrently and you certainly want to do that. Some people use MB7 to get the variety in cultures, I didn't. That could have been a reason why I got the cyano. Not enough diversity left the cyano to benefit. Hard to really say tho. They say you want the pellets to really tumble, but I couldn't get that to occur in a BRS reaction with a MJ 1200 until I modded my canister. If you put it in with GFO, I doubt that it will tumble at all. I modded my BRS canister with mesh at the bottom and top. This allowed much more flow through.

So far I am loving the Hanna meter. Makes life much easier, although getting the regents from those packets into that little bottle takes some effort.

 

[sedor]

I have been using Warner Marines pellets for a couple months and do not run GFO and they have done a great job at controlling the nutrients in my system. Running GFO along side wouldn't hurt if you need it, the pellets will just make the GFO last longer.

 

[scolley]

Normally I would not "jack" like this, but since this our local club form, I'd like to ask a newbie question...

It seems that this technology benefits the "intentionally feed a ton, and skim like heck" crowd in reducing nitrates. Is that correct? Or does it have other benefits - like vodka dosing - which austensibly provides organic carbon that can be directly beneficial to the corals?

Thanks.

 

[RTMA]

Biopellets are considered "solid vodka dosing".

 

[Wheel of Time]

Well Im making the plunge into testing some bio-polymers along side gfo and carbon in several reactors. In addition Ive ordered the Hanna Phosphate meter. I struggled on which type of Bio-pellet to go with: PHA, PCL or PLA based as a DIY or to go with a commercial product that many have had success with like the warner NP Biopellet. They were all pretty expensive from what I could tell (topping out at about $50 for 500ml)

It was this comment in one of the forums that really made my mind up:
"I've been watching this topic metastasize throughout the SPS & Chemistry forums, and I must confess that I don't even know where to begin. We are on the edge of doing some serious experimentation with this stuff with Australian & Indonesian shipments in a wholesale setting ... from straightforward receiving-acclimation systems ... to large-scale frag growout systems ... to coloration emergence/enhancement systems ... to dedicated non-photosynthetic acclimation & holding systems.

So I'm going to wait until I've got the hard data to back up my opinions before I step out onto the playing field. But I will try to post a few observations as time permits.

As to insight into the compounds ... we're talking about three major groups: Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA ... speculated as the main component of NP Biopellets), Polycaprolactone (PCL ... confirmed as the main component of Instant Ocean's product), and Polylactic acid (PLA ... a degradable plastic widely applied in the food industry) ... or derivatives thereof. PHA is by far the more interesting of the three as it is synthesized by some bacteria as an energy storage molecule. PCL is almost as interesting because it is a polyester used in the medical industry as a degradable suture. PLA is essentially a corn starch derivative. These groups may have CaCO3 mixed in as a filler."

Luckily I was able to find an industrial source for a biodegradable PHA. Unfortunately had to buy a lrg quantity...so if the test works, Im set for a long time (or you guys can try it) or I have tons of material meant for its industrial purpose -- injection molding! I got a hold of a 55lb bag PHA for about $160. I justified buying the PHA by comparing to commercial 1kg or 2.2lb NP biopellets that cost about $90.

The Hanna meter arrived today -- so Ill set it up and take my first tests tomorrow morning and then add the bio-pellets. Will be interesting to see how quickly the bacteria consume them and the effects on phosphate and nitrate ..also curiuos what my real phosphate levels are testing with the new meter.

More to follow....

 

[RTMA]

This is fantastic Seth. Can't wait to see your results. I want to try again, but after I figure out how I can skim all of the output. Ideally this looks to be the best of both worlds. Reducing PO4 and Nitrate at the same time, and now a cheap source of the media. Good luck. You going to dose MB7? Some say it is good to diversify the cultures.

 

[scolley]

Seth... is this stuff pelletized? If so, and if this works, you could have a lovely little side business selling that stuff off. Heck, if you undercut the competition by half, you'd still have enough to pay for a year's worth of salt. Or maybe a REALLY nice coral.

 

[RTMA]

Hey Seth, how goes the Bio-Pellets? How do you like the Hanna meter?