Bio Pellets??

[Kyle918]

I went to another LFS yesterday and the guy there seemed pretty knowledgable. Said he has been keeping SW tanks for 27 years. 20 of those years professionally. Anyway, when telling him my ideas for my 50 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump, with PS and refuge with the return in the center he said he would rather see me spend that money and space on bio pellets vs a refuge. He said for the size fug I would have, it wouldn't be as large of a benefit as I am hopping for.

Can anyway shed some light on this?? I did some searching on this forum but didn't find too much information on bio pellets and their effectiveness. From what I read though it seems like it is possible to go overboard with the pellets but I don't see how that can really happen. I would assume one would start with less and add until they find a happy medium.

From reading Krzysztof's TOTM, it seems like he is a fan of bio pellets and even stated that they may be a breakthrough in reef keeping but it doesn't appear that too many people on the forum use them or push the idea from searching "bio pellet".

Does anyone have any input on this??

 

[grcforce327]

I do both !

 

[Kyle918]

I do both !

And how are your results?? Did you add them both at the same time or was one after the other and if so how large of a change did you experience??

 

[Fay]

I am about to do bio pellets then got told sulphur reactor is better, now don't know what to do ?

 

[Mrscribbled]

A high end protein skimmer and bio pellets will beat a fuge hands down. The first 5 months running my system moderatley stocked with a large fuge with cheato, my nitrate ran around 40. Now with it heavily stocked and a reef ocopus bio reactor and a litre of pellets give or take at any given time, the nitrates are conistant at 2 to 5 ppm.

 

[grcforce327]

And how are your results?? Did you add them both at the same time or was one after the other and if so how large of a change did you experience??

Did both when I set up the tank.I put a valve before and after the reactor to control flow. I'm reducing flow so I get some reading on phosphates(last test 0.00). I'm using the x-large pellets,so there is no tumbling.

 

[grcforce327]

A high end protein skimmer and bio pellets will beat a fuge hands down. The first 5 months running my system moderatley stocked with a large fuge with cheato, my nitrate ran around 40. Now with it heavily stocked and a reef ocopus bio reactor and a litre of pellets give or take at any given time, the nitrates are conistant at 2 to 5 ppm.

I'm running a skimmer too!

 

[Pittsburgh]

yep, biopellets + good skimmer here as well. Very effective, clean and consistent. Well, in that config you would also need to run some GFO for phosphates I presume. But the fuge is not really necessary unless you need to raise pods for some types of fish. The downside is the media for biopellets and GFO is a recurring expense.

 

[Fitz19d]

Off the BRS website I thought it said it also takes care of Phosporous as well as the Nitrates with bio pellets?


Recurring expense aside, seems like that could cut down on heat and maybe power from a sump/refugium growing chaeto with a light and such? Tad less maitenance since you are not harvesting chaeto out, just replacing the pellets once in a long while and dumping skimmer cup?

 

[ryeguyy84]

I've used pellets for almost a year now. I started with 1/4 of the recommended amount because my tank isn't heavily stocked and I ended up at about 3/4 of the recommended amount. I drew a line on the reactor to let me know when to add pellets.

it's better at reducing nitrates than it is phosphates IMO. I still run a little GFO but I also feed heavy.

 

[Pittsburgh]

Right. biopellets will help reducing phosphates but they may not eliminate them all. w/o GFO my phosphates are around 0.10 ppm on just biopellets with zero nitrates. So I have to use GFO every once in a while to fine tune my phosphates.

 

[Fitz19d]

Can you put the GFO in the same reactor as the pellets or its own? Or if you don't need much of it could it just go in with a cheap HOB type filter?

 

[Pittsburgh]

GFO can't go with the pellets in the same reactor. The media is much different and works in a different way. I have a separate reactor where I run GFO or Carbon or a mix of both depending on my needs. A cheap BRS reactor will do. I suppose you could throw a bag of GFO into a hob filter or the sump, it may be less effective though, I've never tried that...

 

[Kyle918]

I am about to do bio pellets then got told sulphur reactor is better, now don't know what to do ?

Any clarification on this??

A high end protein skimmer and bio pellets will beat a fuge hands down. The first 5 months running my system moderatley stocked with a large fuge with cheato, my nitrate ran around 40. Now with it heavily stocked and a reef ocopus bio reactor and a litre of pellets give or take at any given time, the nitrates are conistant at 2 to 5 ppm.

I plan on purchasing the Reef Octopus NWB110. I've been told that would suffice for a 50 gallon DT and sump. What do you think?

Did both when I set up the tank.I put a valve before and after the reactor to control flow. I'm reducing flow so I get some reading on phosphates(last test 0.00). I'm using the x-large pellets,so there is no tumbling.

That is exactly what I would do to avoid over doing it. Either less flow or less pellets. I think I would opt for less pellets though.

yep, biopellets + good skimmer here as well. Very effective, clean and consistent. Well, in that config you would also need to run some GFO for phosphates I presume. But the fuge is not really necessary unless you need to raise pods for some types of fish. The downside is the media for biopellets and GFO is a recurring expense.

It will be months before any livestock is introduced to the tank....I don't even have water yet!!!! :headwallblue: So a GFO at this stage may not be neccessary. The reason I bring up bio pellets now is because I was orginally planning on a refuge but I don't have space for both a fuge and reactor so it's one or the other and it needs to be decided now before things get up and running.

I've used pellets for almost a year now. I started with 1/4 of the recommended amount because my tank isn't heavily stocked and I ended up at about 3/4 of the recommended amount. I drew a line on the reactor to let me know when to add pellets.

it's better at reducing nitrates than it is phosphates IMO. I still run a little GFO but I also feed heavy.

That is exactly what I would do. Start low and work my way up and mark it.

One last question, does anyone know of any sites that have good detailed information on bio pellets?? I'd like to do some more reading on them.

Also, about how much do you guys spend refilling your reactors?? Is it a monthly cost or more like a quarterly expense and how much??

Thanks again for the help!

 

[dmackerman]

You don't need bioballs.

 

[Kyle918]

You don't need bioballs.

Can you explain why?

 

[Fay]

I am about to do bio pellets then got told sulphur reactor is better, now don't know what to do ?

Kyle918 I have made my decision be it right or wrong I am going to go with biopellets. I have been running zeovit for the last 4 years and of late my nitrates have gone up to 50.
I do weekly water change with NSW so I am not lazy with the tank my problem is I have to many fish and I over feed. So if you mind how you stock your tank control your feeding and use biopellets sounds like a good plan to me.

 

[ryeguyy84]

Any clarification on this??



I plan on purchasing the Reef Octopus NWB110. I've been told that would suffice for a 50 gallon DT and sump. What do you think?



That is exactly what I would do to avoid over doing it. Either less flow or less pellets. I think I would opt for less pellets though.



It will be months before any livestock is introduced to the tank....I don't even have water yet!!!! :headwallblue: So a GFO at this stage may not be neccessary. The reason I bring up bio pellets now is because I was orginally planning on a refuge but I don't have space for both a fuge and reactor so it's one or the other and it needs to be decided now before things get up and running.



That is exactly what I would do. Start low and work my way up and mark it.

One last question, does anyone know of any sites that have good detailed information on bio pellets?? I'd like to do some more reading on them.

Also, about how much do you guys spend refilling your reactors?? Is it a monthly cost or more like a quarterly expense and how much??

Thanks again for the help!

I bought a 1000ML pack which if i remember correctly is good for a 50G tank but mines only 29G so its lasted a year. I top off every few months.

 

[Kyle918]

Can you explain why?

Answering my own question. I just realized you typed bio balls, not bio pellets. I am aware that bio balls are in no way needed for my setup. Bio Pellets on the other had is my initial question just to clarify.

I bought a 1000ML pack which if i remember correctly is good for a 50G tank but mines only 29G so its lasted a year. I top off every few months.

An entire year? That isn't bad. Even estimating with a 50 gallon, I would go through that in 6 months or so but even still, that isn't a huge cost at all. Do you recall how much you spent on that and from where?

 

[ryeguyy84]

I bought them on sale at Dr.foster and smith. I was buying salt that was like $40 and you get free shipping if your order is over $49 so I added the pellets and MB7. I think the pellets were like $20 of something.

or maybe it was marine depot. . . I don't remember. and I think it is two little fishes brand?

Edit:
remember my bioload is fairly light 2 fish in a 29G. your results will vary