Biopellet Advice

[BassandReef]

Well I just tested for Nitrates after a partial tank crash and I am scared. 80+ppm on Nitrates!! Very little phosphates. I just added some corals so the sand got stirred up a bit. But I usually have 0 Nitrates. I am thinking that I can no longer rely on Cheato alone.

I looked at some older threads from this club and saw people moving to Biopellets. I need to make this move quick if it is the best thing for my system. Biopellets looks promising but I need advice.

Also I need a better test kit for Nitrates and phosphates. I have two API kits. I tested the water three times for Nitrates because the test tube turned blood red before I finished shaking it. Three tests with three different results. I need something more reliable.

I have a 120 drilled with a 30 gallon sump/Refugium w Cheato. ASM G-3 protein skimmer. Mixed reef with a high bioload. I don't plan on changing the bioload.

 

[Rudolph]

Carl: I have used pellets in the past and it seems to increase the amount of gunk pulled by my skimmer, so I think it was working. However, I switched to GFO in a reactor and it works better at keeping everything in line.

 

[BassandReef]

Thanksgiving for the response. Does the GFO reduce your nitrates in addition to the phosphates?

 

[Blindside]

im a big fan of pellets! Has increased looks of my tank for sure. There is a curve with them though sometimes things look bad before they look better. Test for Mag, calcium, ph, phos everyday till your tank looks better and the pellets stabilize.

 

[OneReef]

It is my understanding that GFO absorbs phosphates and removes them when you remove the GFO. Bio Pellets, provide a carbon source, which will promote bacteria which will feed on phosphates and nitrates and remove them. The skimmer will pull out the bacteria and junk. Have the biopellet output hose near the intake of the skimmer pump, or better yet, plumb it into the skimmer.

They are totally different ways of removing unwanteds. It's hard to say one is better than the other since they do different things.

I would suggest trying biopellets as they will help with phosphate and nitrates both. It will take around a month for the bacteria to build up though. Some have had success adding another bacterial strain like Prodibio or Brightwells MicroBacter-7 to help out, or for a bacteria source in the meanwhile. Be careful when adding liquid bacteria or carbon, as too much can cloud the water, and make a bacterial bloom for junk on your rocks if done too fast. Pellets are different, its hard to overdose them.... They just do their own thing in the background with no maintenance.

I've used biopellets with success for many years keeping my nitrates and phosphates in check, usually nitrates are around 0 and phosphates around less than .05.

I've tried several different brands of biopellets, and have liked the results of Warner Marine EcoBak pellets the best.

 

[ajcanale]

How well is your chaeto growing?.... My tank has somewhat of a high bioload and I feed pretty heavy. I started dosing Iron along with Potassium Iodide which I have always dosed and chaeto growth has absolutely taken off. I am now pruning about a basketball sized chunk every two weeks, way more than ever before. My DSB + Chaeto are keeping my nitrates undetectable. Bio Actif salt might be helping as well.

I've considered going to bio pellets but have had several bad experiences dosing very small amounts of vodka.

Anyways my point is if your water column is starved of iodine and/or iron you might not be getting good chaeto growth, proving it ineffective.

 

[duke1215]

I've tried dosing vodka and sugar with good results once you.get it right. I lost fish in all 3 of my tanks till I learned how to get it right. Make sure you have a Ph monitor and start out slow. I started with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in my 90g tank. I am now averaging about 1 & 1/4 tsp/day. My Ph is still pretty low but dosing kalk as well helps. Sugar give my corals better color than vodka, that's why I went that route. I am in the final stages of winning a year long fight with gha. At times it was covering every rock in the tank. Now it is quickly turning white and dying. My Skimmer is a little undersized for that system and I think the algae would have been gone alot sooner and oh higher if I had a better Skimmer. One thing I have noticed lately is a buildup of bacteria. About once a week now, I'm removing a pink gelotinus goop from my overflow and sump. Probably a sign of overdosing but I can keep the Ph high enough to get the nutrients the algae is releasing out. I've never tried the pellets but I know the philosophy is the same. I like the sugar because its cheap, gives great color, and can be adjusted easily daily. Always have kalk handy however if the Ph drops too low.

 

[BassandReef]

Thanks for the responses. My Cheato growth is good, but not amazing. I am going to get the reactor. The are a couple of units out there with a recirculating pump. They allow control of both the tumble and the output of the reactor. One is by aqualund and another by Reef Dynamics. I don't want to remove all of the phosphates and nitrates because my corals need some of them for food. This way I can control how many Narates and phosphates I am removing.

 

[BassandReef]

I've tried dosing vodka and sugar with good results once you.get it right. I lost fish in all 3 of my tanks till I learned how to get it right. Make sure you have a Ph monitor and start out slow. I started with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in my 90g tank. I am now averaging about 1 & 1/4 tsp/day. My Ph is still pretty low but dosing kalk as well helps. Sugar give my corals better color than vodka, that's why I went that route. I am in the final stages of winning a year long fight with gha. At times it was covering every rock in the tank. Now it is quickly turning white and dying. My Skimmer is a little undersized for that system and I think the algae would have been gone alot sooner and oh higher if I had a better Skimmer. One thing I have noticed lately is a buildup of bacteria. About once a week now, I'm removing a pink gelotinus goop from my overflow and sump. Probably a sign of overdosing but I can keep the Ph high enough to get the nutrients the algae is releasing out. I've never tried the pellets but I know the philosophy is the same. I like the sugar because its cheap, gives great color, and can be adjusted easily daily. Always have kalk handy however if the Ph drops too low.

I am so tempted to take a tablespoon of sugar and dump it in my tank right now

 

[duke1215]

TEASPOON! !! go slow if you do it. I don't know how big your tank is but my total water volume is around 65 gallons. If you add too much your Ph will crash and everything will suffocate. I awoke one morning to find everything in my 30 gallon dead. Fish, shrimp, even ampbipods laying everywhere. I felt so guilty for it. It has a prizm Skimmer and I forgot to top it off before bed. The Skimmer quit and all the oxygen was depleted from the bacteria caused by the sugar. Every tank is different. I now run no sugar in that tank. 1/2 teaspoon on my 55, and 1-1.5 teaspoon on the 90 depending on the Ph. I was bad and didn't change water for 6the months and all my nutrients were office the charts. That's why I started carbon dosing. It took about 4 months to get the nutrients down to acceptable range. I started in February of last year and am just now seeing massive die offs of gha. It is pushing my Ph even lower so I have to cut back the dosing depending on Ph. It is really hard some days not to add any sugar but you have to fight the urge. Just go really slow and you'll be fine. Everything else I lost in my other 2 tanks, was because I overdosed them wanting quick results. Even though it was only a copperbanded butterfly in one and a blood shrimp in the other. I think they were probably the most sensitive to Ph changes in the tank because everything else made it.

 

[ajcanale]

I am so tempted to take a tablespoon of sugar and dump it in my tank right now

If you decide to start carbon dosing you need to start slow, slowly increase dosage, then decrease dosage significantly when near undetectable nitrate levels are reached. This is the method that I had gathered, but take it with a grain of salt cause' it didn't quite work for me. I woke up one day to a tank full of bleached coraline, several bleached sps, and bacterial slime, basically a mini crash. I was down to dosing 1 ml daily. This happened about a month ago...

 

[BassandReef]

The vodka is still tempting. Plus I can use the dosing pump and automate the doses. I'm going to read up on that some more before I buy the reactor

 

[BassandReef]

Did sugar really make that big of a difference versus the vodka?

 

[BassandReef]

Well after much research. It started with an amazing TOTM a while ago. I am going with sugar. I have some Organic sugar I will use. I may start a separate thread to document my results.

 

[duke1215]

You can heat your sugar with equal parts water to.make simple syrup and dose that via pump. I've had great results with sugar just start slow and understand the exact process and its effects. I think the dosing pump is a great idea cause it keeps the urges to dose "just a little more" under control.

 

[OneReef]

This is just my own opinion and means nothing, ha, but I would not mess with vodka or sugar.. Too much to go wrong. Dosing is a guess, based on bioload, tanksize, what kind of unwanted organics are currently in tank..... To me, things could go very badly very quickly. If it were me, I would add the biopellet reactor and try to wait it out a month or so till they populate, and do water changes every week in the meanwhile. Biopellets will do their own things unattended and will work. Sugar and vodka can be overdosed, and will require constant adding and watching. Just my .02

 

[BassandReef]

Actually after sleeping on it, I ordered a Aqualund Biopellet reactor this morning. I started the sugar, but it is temporary. I did over a 50 gallon water change on yesterday. I read a few articles where people dosing vodka did not see a difference between dosing vodka or sugar vs using a reactor. That was valuable advice coming from a TOTM winner who tried both methods.

The reactor seems a lot easier. I could use a dosing pump but the reactor seems safer.

 

[OneReef]

Actually after sleeping on it, I ordered a Aqualund Biopellet reactor this morning. I started the sugar, but it is temporary. I did over a 50 gallon water change on yesterday. I read a few articles where people dosing vodka did not see a difference between dosing vodka or sugar vs using a reactor. That was valuable advice coming from a TOTM winner who tried both methods.

The reactor seems a lot easier. I could use a dosing pump but the reactor seems safer.

I'll be anxious to see pics and hear about the new reactor. I know many people have had success with carbon forms such as sugar and vodka, but with a reef tank at stake, I would prefer the stability and non-hassle of a reactor. No guess work or dosing issues with pellets. I've talked extensively with Marc from re ef add ict s on this. He used to dose vodka through a drip system. Now he has found the best results from bio pellets and additional dosing of bacteria like Microbacter 7 to get multiple strains of bacteria. He also fills up the reactor and feels you can't overdose pellets. He uses more the recommended pellets with no ill effects, but with high phosphates or nitrates I'd start slow so you don't get cloudy water and bacterial blooms.

 

[MPDBullitt]

I have been doing tons of reading on all the 5 billion ways of thriving in this hobby and I am leaning towards biopellets. I have read plenty of success stories with only a few bad reviews. The bad reviews were people not watching their flow through the reactor, the biopellets clump, and that can cause some problems. Other than that they are almost fool proof, and a great natural way of biological filtration that doesn't require recurring supply purchases. The dosing of sugar, vodka, peroxide.....all just seems too risky to me and cumbersome dosing every day. What happens when you forget a day? when you accidentally overdose? when it just decides to implode?

I'm plus 1 for biopellets (and Jay's number 1 fan btw...i want a 120 brick so bad!)

 

[BassandReef]

I know what you mean. I'm on overload from reading all the articles out there on dosing. I'm definitely going with the pellets. I agree it seems like a foolproof method of keeping the tank in check. I'm not big on chemicals at all so I do like the natural aspect of using pellets.