Biopellet Reactor: Tuning

[gdemos]

I decided to turn off my AquaUltraviolet 57W today and see what happens.
I have of course read about a high quality UV potentially killing off the bacteria before it could populate effectively; but figured it would never be possible for UV to sting everything. Worth a shot at this point. Could be entire coincidence, but within 20 minutes of shutting off UV the skimmer overflowed.

 

[Aqualund]

I have never seen a skimmer overflow as much as yours has!

 

[gdemos]

Thanks for feeling my pain! This really does not like a wet skim setting. Thanks again for sticking with me through this. I would guess that for as many reefers that get BIOPELLET to work, there are just as many that give up. I'm determined to get this working!

 

[gdemos]

Btw all I did is unplug UV. I did not alter flow anywhere whatsoever.

 

[Aqualund]

Yeah i dunno that's crazy. Whatever...I don't think the operation of the skimmer good or bad would affect the nutrient reduction (on this scale). So it can be temperamental all it wants

 

[gdemos]

I feel the same. I may just put parameters aside and roll.

 

[gdemos]

Big day today. I took advantage of yet another 8" of snow and played hookey. Avast wiper and skimmate locker up and running. AND put 36 sps frags in display after months in QT.

I believe this is day 4 of UV unplugged and tonight's salifert is 5-10 NO3. Will continue to test daily

 

[Aqualund]

congratz man. You have arrived Now it's just tuning to achieve your desired parameters.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Big day today. I took advantage of yet another 8" of snow and played hookey. Avast wiper and skimmate locker up and running. AND put 36 sps frags in display after months in QT.

I believe this is day 4 of UV unplugged and tonight's salifert is 5-10 NO3. Will continue to test daily

View attachment 310376View attachment 310377View attachment 310379

Congrats!! Glad they're working for you.

 

[gdemos]

Holding pretty nicely now.
5-10 NO3; .045 PO4 and testing daily.

Summary of fixes made:

BPR Effluent up to 180gph; modified RD model 500 to all 1/2" line for feed and effluent

Redirected GACarbon effluent away from skimmer intake

unplugged 57w UV for a week now on 8 hrs/day

Added skimmer neck cleaner

Thank you all for staying tuned and for collaboration.
-Greg

 

[DamonG]

Congrats, congrats. .

 

[Aqualund]

Now that you've seen what works, you can see just how astonishing the advice from manufacturers has been.

It's kinda weird.

 

[gdemos]

Agreed. Not all great builders are experienced users

 

[Wangspeed]

I haven't been keeping up with this thread but I have a few comments. Glad things are coming under control now.

There's something wrong if you were having problems getting up to 50gph effluent without modification. I have the smallest BP reactor from RD and I have to dial it back severely to keep it from exceeding about 30 gph, which is my target. It is capable of much more. You sure the feed line is rotated the correct way above the pump? The intake is angled and must be set to the correct position. I know you're just forcing it through now, but if it is not rotated correctly, it will adversely affect the recirculation ability within the reactor.

I would also just ditch that UV light. It's countering the action of the biopellets.

 

[gdemos]

You are right about the feed line. When I bumped up to 1/2" line I inspected the feed connection and it was improperly rotated. I also eliminated extra line and now feed fitting is vertical as opposed to horizontal. So this may have been a source of restriction.

I am running approx 2-5ppm NO3 and
.045 PO4 and holding as is which I'm pleased with

So far as flow restriction goes I was unable to get 50 gph when I ran without the feed. It could be due to the location of the reactor well above the sump.

 

[Aqualund]

I would also just ditch that UV light. It's countering the action of the biopellets.

Not true enough. On all my system I still use heavy UV with no adverse effect to proper bacterial population. If you have enough rock, substrate and pellets the bacteria will just stick to them and do their job from there...and the UV will have no part in their demise =P

The risk of a catastrophic ich outbreak is too great to recommend removing its biggest defense.

 

[gdemos]

Given my substantial fish population I feel best running UV. I'm running the 57w Aquauv 16 hours per day and have seen no noticeable impact on BPR effectiveness.

While I believe that just the few days of unplugging UV had a major impact in finally getting the BPR to work, certainly the major increase in BPR effluent rate , skimmer improvement, and relocation of GAC effluent also likely combined for effectiveness.

With the LR and substrate and pellets now presumably inoculated, although UV may "kill" some good bacteria I can only speculate that UV cannot out compete the overall system's bacterial population.

 

[gdemos]

I should add that since BPR has kicked in I have now reduced effluent to 50gph; down from the 180gph I needed to get things going.

I continue to test regularly to ensure I'm not depleting nutrients too rapidly

A few sps frags have had some tip burn and base up STN. A lot of changes since these are all new additions out of QT into a whole new system.

Monitoring parameters daily and taking Alk down slowly (Ca reactor) as nutrients are lowered

Continuing to feed as normal (heavy)

 

[syilk1]

I get my reactor today!! I have been waiting for a month for it. I have the all in one biopellets soaking and hopefully will get it fired up tonight

 

[gdemos]

biopellet has been doing well! i seem to be "consuming" pellets more rapidly and even with my high bioload and heavy feeding I am keeping NO3 around 10ppm and PO4 .03-.08 with consistency. still doing 15% water changes every two weeks

So I heard ReefDynamics shut down. What are the best Pellets to use??

Thanks,
_Greg