Biopellet reactor and maintenance time

[AYGurgies]

I'm new to the biopellet reactors, and that's why I'm doing my research to try not to make any mistake, and to collect as much information as possible. So, my Biopellet reactor is up and running for the last three weeks (Reef Octopus BRH90 reactor with Vertex Biopellet). My first question is, is it possible to turn off the reactor when you do your maintenance, or water change or not? If yes, for how long will it be ok? My second question is, do you have a UV Sterlizer running? The reason why I'm asking this question is because I noticed alot of manufacturers don't recommend UV Sterlizers when using Biopellets. Thanks in advance

Johnny

 

[AYGurgies]

No help? No info?

 

[ReefKeeper64]

It's certainly possible to turn off your reactor when you do your maintenance. I do this without an issue. What I find is that if I turn mine off for about an hour or less, it will start up without any cloudiness inside the reactor upon startup. If I leave it off for a few days then the bacteria tends to build up inside the reactor and the worst that will happen is that the reactor chamber will be cloudy for a few minutes upon startup and I sometimes notice a little bit of cloudiness in the water column for a short period of time afterwards. It's nothing dangerous to be concerned about from my experience.

A UV sterilizer will kill off some of the bacteria that you are trying to build up by using bio-pellets in the first place and that is the reason why the bio pellet manufacturers recommend against them. That said, folks have chimed in on other threads that they run both without issue. I don't run a UV sterilizer but I do run a bio-pellet reactor.

Hope this helps!