biopellet guidance needed

[jacob.morgan78]

Update

Update

Did a simple mod of the tlf 150 reactor and it seems much better now. I'm very cautiously optimistic. I took the bottom red screen off and the needle point stuff and pushed the other parts all together by using Teflon tape to make it snug. I saw the mod on youtube if anyone is interested in a better explanation. The tumble seems much better even with less flow. Only thing is that the upper screen is getting gunked up pretty good because the increased tumble is taking care of the gunk on the pellets and pushing it up into the screen. I'll probably need to clean that screen tomorrow.

I also was able to scrape the glass of some of the slimy stuff by using a scraper attached to a hose. I then tried to siphon most of the material as i was scraping it through a filter sock and into the sump.

Also put some GAC in a media bag since using the reactor wasn't going too well. I'll use the reactor again once everything settles down.

Thanks again for everyone's help with this. I'll try to keep this updated with how this goes in case someone else could use the info in the future.

 

[tmz]

Good Luck.

 

[bertoni]

Slower flow might or might not improve the effectiveness of the pellets. If it is effective in improving the nitrate removal, it likely will improve the phosphate removal, as well.

 

[jacob.morgan78]

So far so good. The parts of the glass I scraped have not grown any slimy stuff back since making the changes and i think it's overall starting to diminish on its own. The pellets are tumbling much better now and have stayed that way without needing to adjust. I've actually turned down the tumble some.

The area of the sump with my skimmer has some gunk build up and I think this may be due to not all of the outflow of the reactor going into the skimmer. I have the hose as close as possible to the skimmer input but I'm suspicious that some still gets by. I've seen the adaptors some use but it would be difficult to fit something like this on my skimmer pump input.

Also, I've read that when doing carbon dosing of any sort that its better to keep a lower alk. Mine is still where it was and I'm having a hard time getting it down. All but two of my sps look great. The other two have some sign of bleaching at the tips. Could this be due to alk still being between 8 and 9? How can I safely lower alk?

Thanks for everyone's help and guidance through this!

 

[bertoni]

To lower the alkalinity, just stop dosing for a day or so. That should do it. 8-9 dKH seems a bit low to be causing problems, but then there's test kit accuracy to consider.

 

[tmz]

FWIW I run my system at 8.6 to 9.3 alkalinity with organic carbon dosing(vodka and vinegar) and low PO4,usually less than 0.03ppm and NO3 <0.02ppm. No burnt tips over the 4 years of dosing with these levels of alk.
Rapid depletion of nutrients and rapid increases in water clarity and consequent lighting intensity might have some thing to do with burnt tips . Some argue higher alk encourages stony coral skeletal growth ,which it does, but that the coral tissue can't keep up in so called ultra low nutrient water. There is no evidence whatsoever to support that notion though. It makes less sense when you consider surface water values for PO4 on the reef are quite low : around .005ppm with NO3 around 0.02ppm.

IME, consitency in alk is quite important and droppping below 7 or so is usually follwed by some stn .

 

[jacob.morgan78]

Thank you. Very helpful

 

[reeferlover]

i have had the same bacteria type stringy algea brown right and it will be on everything i hate it so much. and it will hurt zoas and sps the worst it just sticks to everything

 

[jacob.morgan78]

update

update

Still doing much better since the mod of the Phosban 150. I've also thoroughly cleaned the skimmer since the last post and I think it's helping a lot as well; especially with the stringy stuff in the sump. All the buildup on the glass has gone away as well.

One observation would be that there is a little bit of the clumpiness, mulm type stuff forming on the very top of the biopellets but it doesn't seem to be causing a problem yet. Should I do anything about that or just leave well-enough alone? Also, you think it's safe to run carbon in the reactor again?

I think that's all I got for now. I hope these updates help somebody else down the road. Feel free to ask questions if needed cause this was definitely an aggravating experience!

Thanks!