Biopellets - anyone running them?
- Thread starter Jacob D
- Start date
Jacob D
New member
Hey Johnny, where are you keeping your ALK at?
sfexplicit
New member
Alk has been steady 7.5-8 per Elos. Maintained by Profilux Doser.
sfexplicit
New member
Using BRS 2/3 part.
sfexplicit
New member
I am NOT trying to scare anyone from trying these bio pellets. But I'm not the only one losing tissue on acros in strange places. Not base STN or burnt tips.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18279332
Do your homework and read. Then read some more. Goggle is your friend. Get an understanding of organic carbon dosing which isn't the same but similar concepts of running a bacteria driven system.
I have not given up on the pellets. Others have had success running pellets for at least a year. Hopefully somebody or maybe myself will figure out what is causing it.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18279332
Do your homework and read. Then read some more. Goggle is your friend. Get an understanding of organic carbon dosing which isn't the same but similar concepts of running a bacteria driven system.
I have not given up on the pellets. Others have had success running pellets for at least a year. Hopefully somebody or maybe myself will figure out what is causing it.
sfexplicit
New member
Pulled the plug on the pellet reactor this morning. Ordered a Super Reef Octopus pellet reactor and switching to the Warner Marine Ecobak. I found a lump of pellets at the bottom of the reactor. Not enough flow perhaps creating a dead spot in there. I don't know. But my Bubblegum Milli was not looking happy today and I've had enough. Will keep you guys updated.
Jacob D
New member
Thanks for the info Johnny. I'm sitting here with a major flu / head cold right now and I'm trying to comprehend it all. Experiences seem to vary really widely among BP users. It's a little strange.
I obviously haven't been running them very long, but I can see a few things in common between my system and some of those in the thread you posted.
- I feed a LOT
- My alk is 6-7
- I tumble them as slowly as possible
- I run less than the recommended amount of BP (about 75% of what WM recommends)
I only have one piece of SPS in my tank right now, the rest are in QT so I can't really comment in that area. The rest of my corals have been fine. The only thing I've noticed is one colony of zoas has been mostly closed up lately, but it's a wild colony that I purchased locally and it's always been temperamental.
BTW, I recently reduced the flow through the reactor a bit and the diatom issue that I had went away in a few days.
I obviously haven't been running them very long, but I can see a few things in common between my system and some of those in the thread you posted.
- I feed a LOT
- My alk is 6-7
- I tumble them as slowly as possible
- I run less than the recommended amount of BP (about 75% of what WM recommends)
I only have one piece of SPS in my tank right now, the rest are in QT so I can't really comment in that area. The rest of my corals have been fine. The only thing I've noticed is one colony of zoas has been mostly closed up lately, but it's a wild colony that I purchased locally and it's always been temperamental.
BTW, I recently reduced the flow through the reactor a bit and the diatom issue that I had went away in a few days.
Bdimas
No on 15
Man! Im really on the fence after reading a lot of negative effects using bp's. Im tired of spending money on Gfo, and bp's seem to help for the people having good results with them. Things are going pretty good with my tank now, but they can always be better. I really dont want to have any of my sps die on me either. Im confused!!! :spin2:
I wished people would state which brand they are using on the RC side.
I've been talking with several of "WM EBr's" people... No problems with any corals. Start date of 6/2010 and 8/2010 and another who's now at 7mos with no issues at all. I'm only going on week 6 and everything looks awesome - growing and opened, along with NO3 and PO4s dropping.
I feed 2-3 times daily. 13 fish in a 90, plus two 5"-8" anemones along with corals that gets target fed.
*According to Jon Warner. As long as you have flow going through the reactor at a 100GPH min. you will be fine.*
(A few of us agree that...In our reactors...Full tumbling is not absolutely needed, half of our does not tumble at one time or another while the other side does.)
I've been talking with several of "WM EBr's" people... No problems with any corals. Start date of 6/2010 and 8/2010 and another who's now at 7mos with no issues at all. I'm only going on week 6 and everything looks awesome - growing and opened, along with NO3 and PO4s dropping.
I feed 2-3 times daily. 13 fish in a 90, plus two 5"-8" anemones along with corals that gets target fed.
*According to Jon Warner. As long as you have flow going through the reactor at a 100GPH min. you will be fine.*
(A few of us agree that...In our reactors...Full tumbling is not absolutely needed, half of our does not tumble at one time or another while the other side does.)
Backinthegame
New member
+1 I want to give the pellets a try, but after reading these experiences I'm not sure. GFO cost are killing me, especially Hi-cap GFO. Maybe going with 50% of the recommended amt of pellets and increased feeding I can avoid some of these issues.
Jacob D
New member
I'm even a little sketched out by all the mixed results. Before I started running them I was researching for a while and it seemed like people who were running the WM pellets were complaining less. I dunno, non-scientific observation I guess, but I based my purchase on that info.
Meanwhile, my GHA has almost totally vanished finally, just a very small patch in one spot on the back of the tank and a little on my Tunze power cables. Every week I can see a difference, so they definitely do what they're meant to do. I'm just hoping that in 6 months to a year I'm not going to be another one of these people running into problems!
Like Kevin is thinking, if you're going to give it a try start slowly and follow the recommendations of feeding more (once pellets are active) and keep the output of your reactor near the intake of your skimmer.
sfexplicit
New member
Obviously I believe they do work and that's why I'm not giving up on them yet.
Suohhen
New member
I have read speculation that some pellets may contain impurities in the form of backbone elements that hold the long chains of carbon together. These could be in the form of silicates but I have seen no actual confirmation of this.
The makers of NP Bio Pellets claim, "Recently, we obtained samples from different competitors and had them analyzed. In addition, we collected data sheets from some manufacturers. The outcome was surprising, some pellets appeared to contain toxic fillers like anti-oxidants which, at high enough dose, could be toxic to aquatic life such as fish, corals and even algae. These toxins will not be released in the water instantly when you introduce these pellets to your system, but will slowly accumulate as a result of pellet degradation by bacteria and toxin stability in water."
Here http://npbiopellets.dvh-import.com/index.php/The-Difference.html
Of course I put very little stock in what a manufacturer who is being smashed by their competition has to say about said competition, but it's interesting.
The makers of NP Bio Pellets claim, "Recently, we obtained samples from different competitors and had them analyzed. In addition, we collected data sheets from some manufacturers. The outcome was surprising, some pellets appeared to contain toxic fillers like anti-oxidants which, at high enough dose, could be toxic to aquatic life such as fish, corals and even algae. These toxins will not be released in the water instantly when you introduce these pellets to your system, but will slowly accumulate as a result of pellet degradation by bacteria and toxin stability in water."
Here http://npbiopellets.dvh-import.com/index.php/The-Difference.html
Of course I put very little stock in what a manufacturer who is being smashed by their competition has to say about said competition, but it's interesting.
Suohhen
New member
I have not posted an update in a month and a half so I will try and catch up.
Dose: 400ml of Vertex Pro Bio Pellets in a TLF Phosban Reactor for 100g of system water.
Water Testing: At the time I introduced the bio pellets my Nitrates tested with a Red Sea test kit at 10ppm and were tested a little more often than weekly for a month and I recorded the following results: 10, 6, 5, 3.5, 3, 2.5. Phosphates were tested with a Red Sea test kit as well, were at .8 ppm to begin, and tested at the same times for the following results: .8, .4, .5, .05, .3, .4. I tested my water again today and Nitrates are undetectable while phosphates are .1 ppm.
Bio Pellets: The pellets were an inch from the top of the chamber when I reached the 400ml mark but they are now only reaching 2/3 of the way up the chamber. I feel that this is attributable to loss of mass as well as the smoothing out of the pellets.
Algae Growth: Lol where do I start? I have had significant red slime cyano growth throughout my tank since returning from LA and attempting to recover my tank from 2 years of maintenance by my father. The cyano would cover my rock work in a matter of days and I would suck it all out only to have it return over the next few days. However, a few weeks ago the red slime started receding all of a sudden and it was replaced by a mix of what appears to be Calothrix Cyano, Dinoflagellates, Diatoms, and some film algae on the glass in the refugium. Also the diatom growth on the viewing panels picked up significantly. Where upon starting the bio pellets I could go two weeks without cleaning them, it now takes two days.
"Double Rainbow oh my god what does this mean!"
My Observations: I believe the elevated NP levels were fueling the red slime growth and when they disappeared so did the cyano. However, this cleared territory was still attractive to other algae that could better survive the strong flow and NP levels. The organic matter that built up in my rock through years of neglect will continue to fuel algae growth and I will continue to suck it out until something else gets a foothold in its place. A few rocks have recovered their coralline growth and have been hardly affected by other alga. The grazing herbivorous in my tank seem to appreciate the new algae. The corals have been seemingly unaffected by the algae growth and have looked better since starting the pellets. The new algae is not as easy to suck out as the red slime was but it doesn't cover the rock work as well and it is feeding the tank so I think its an improvement.
Dose: 400ml of Vertex Pro Bio Pellets in a TLF Phosban Reactor for 100g of system water.
Water Testing: At the time I introduced the bio pellets my Nitrates tested with a Red Sea test kit at 10ppm and were tested a little more often than weekly for a month and I recorded the following results: 10, 6, 5, 3.5, 3, 2.5. Phosphates were tested with a Red Sea test kit as well, were at .8 ppm to begin, and tested at the same times for the following results: .8, .4, .5, .05, .3, .4. I tested my water again today and Nitrates are undetectable while phosphates are .1 ppm.
Bio Pellets: The pellets were an inch from the top of the chamber when I reached the 400ml mark but they are now only reaching 2/3 of the way up the chamber. I feel that this is attributable to loss of mass as well as the smoothing out of the pellets.
Algae Growth: Lol where do I start? I have had significant red slime cyano growth throughout my tank since returning from LA and attempting to recover my tank from 2 years of maintenance by my father. The cyano would cover my rock work in a matter of days and I would suck it all out only to have it return over the next few days. However, a few weeks ago the red slime started receding all of a sudden and it was replaced by a mix of what appears to be Calothrix Cyano, Dinoflagellates, Diatoms, and some film algae on the glass in the refugium. Also the diatom growth on the viewing panels picked up significantly. Where upon starting the bio pellets I could go two weeks without cleaning them, it now takes two days.
"Double Rainbow oh my god what does this mean!"
My Observations: I believe the elevated NP levels were fueling the red slime growth and when they disappeared so did the cyano. However, this cleared territory was still attractive to other algae that could better survive the strong flow and NP levels. The organic matter that built up in my rock through years of neglect will continue to fuel algae growth and I will continue to suck it out until something else gets a foothold in its place. A few rocks have recovered their coralline growth and have been hardly affected by other alga. The grazing herbivorous in my tank seem to appreciate the new algae. The corals have been seemingly unaffected by the algae growth and have looked better since starting the pellets. The new algae is not as easy to suck out as the red slime was but it doesn't cover the rock work as well and it is feeding the tank so I think its an improvement.
Jacob D
New member
My lack of motivation has had me leaving the tank alone lately, so everything's the same since my last update. No noticeable loss in mass of the pellets, no diatoms, and algae still receding. The small patch of GHA on the back of my tank is now gone. I have not tested the water but I'm assuming it's roughly the same as the last time I checked it.
Sean, are you still seeing an increase in diatoms/film on the glass? I noticed that too initially, but it has seemed to go back to about where it was when I was running GFO (2-3 weeks between cleanings).
I'm really thinking about getting out of the hobby now, but wanted to keep the thread bumped for those testing the ways of the biopellet.
Sean, are you still seeing an increase in diatoms/film on the glass? I noticed that too initially, but it has seemed to go back to about where it was when I was running GFO (2-3 weeks between cleanings).
I'm really thinking about getting out of the hobby now, but wanted to keep the thread bumped for those testing the ways of the biopellet.
Jacob D
New member
Hey all. Anyone still following this thread?
Well I thought I would do a final update on my experience with BP's... Params today are same as last time I had them tested. I've only noticed a very slight reduction in the level of my BP's... maybe half an inch. I have had some stinky skimmate but nothing major. My fish load is a lot less these days and for some reason I have noticed an increase in diatoms corresponding to that, mostly when my wrasse decides to dig up some sand.
I had SPS only for a very short time and could not comment on any issues or benefits for SPS one way or another but I have been very happy with the WM EcoBak product. I think as long as it's used correctly it works as well as anyone could ask for. Ok, so that's my last words on BP's
Here is the FS thread for my Deltec reactor and the biopellets:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18694235#post18694235
Well I thought I would do a final update on my experience with BP's... Params today are same as last time I had them tested. I've only noticed a very slight reduction in the level of my BP's... maybe half an inch. I have had some stinky skimmate but nothing major. My fish load is a lot less these days and for some reason I have noticed an increase in diatoms corresponding to that, mostly when my wrasse decides to dig up some sand.
I had SPS only for a very short time and could not comment on any issues or benefits for SPS one way or another but I have been very happy with the WM EcoBak product. I think as long as it's used correctly it works as well as anyone could ask for. Ok, so that's my last words on BP's
Here is the FS thread for my Deltec reactor and the biopellets:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=18694235#post18694235
