dowtish
New member
This is a good example of the tumble you want.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXdB8oN8Bok&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXdB8oN8Bok&feature=related
Biopellets for Nutrient Reduction?
- Thread starter acroholicreefer
- Start date
rogerwilco357
Active member
ok so if someone with a 120 gallon tank wanted to use this setup say brs pellets and gfo or carbon how much should be used to start with? half the recommended dose or less to be safe? Currently using gfo in the brs reactor and bag of carbon in the sump.
Roger
Roger
emillarsson
New member
Hi
I have been running Phosballs from seaslug and I am very happy with them.
I did run some biopellets before but this is better for my tank.
(100G Sps and clam tank)
I have been running Phosballs from seaslug and I am very happy with them.
I did run some biopellets before but this is better for my tank.
(100G Sps and clam tank)
bella127
New member
Really, 3 days! That is very hard to believe as most people do not see results in months
Dre59
Z&P Addict from IL
I have the same issue here with cyno.. Trying to remove it with WC and using more GFO in my reactor.
Its less now since doing this. But still drives me crazy
Also getting tiny clear air bubbles on rocks... Im skimming wet and only have 3\4 of a cup added for my 75gal and 29gal sump.
dowtish
New member
Picture this: a three armed monster with a big mouth. All this thing does is, with each arm, grab nitrates,phosphates, and sugars off the pellet itself. and after a while he gets so fat and full he lets go off the pellet and gets lifted out of the reractor and into the water column. There the little monster(bacteria) either gets skimmed out, or doesnt, and enters the tank, which can be consumed by corals. BUT, if your skimmer is not over rated for your tank, and more bacteria is entering the system than being skimmed out, then you have a bacterial imbalance in your tank. Hence Cyano.
Another cause can be tumbling your pellets at too fast of a rate to where the bacteria cannot colonize on the pellets and then you have more entering the tank too quickly. and, having too many pellets in the reactor. the more pellets, the more substrate for the bacteria to grow, and enter the system faster than your skimmer can keep up with, which will cause cyano as well.
If you are having these issues, you should slow your tumble, remove some pellets, get a bigger skimmer, and use a nitrifying bacteria to dose your tank in order to outcompete the cyano. i.e. Microbe-Lift special blend.
Cyano is a different strain of bacteria than is growing on the pellets. IMO people have issues with cyano because it is able to use the trace amount of sugars that exit the reactor and algae can't. It doesn't colonize the reactor because of the flow. I do agree with your advice to get rid of the issue.
So I've got a 180g display tank now that has about 200g in the system, I'm upgrading this fall to a 375g display tank that will have close to 500g in the system. I want to test out Bio-pellets in place of what I'm doing today but don't know how to start and not have to invest in a huge reactor if this isn't going to work for me but on the flip side I don't want to test this in a way that I'm not giving it a chance to be successful. Thoughts on how you'd implement the test and then the full system cut over? Get a reactor that is half of what I'd need and use that with less pellets? Then if I like it get a second reactor when I upgrade?
I've used a sand bed over a plenum for over a decade to keep nitrates low and various things for phosphates, I just don't think that approach will cut it on the larger system at least not without taking up a huge amount of space in my tank room.
Thanks for the help!
I've used a sand bed over a plenum for over a decade to keep nitrates low and various things for phosphates, I just don't think that approach will cut it on the larger system at least not without taking up a huge amount of space in my tank room.
Thanks for the help!
dowtish
New member
I never said the cyano is the same bacteria that colonizes on the bio-pellets. all I'm saying is that when you have excess bacteria entering the system it throws things out of balance. Then the cyano has a chance to take hold. I could be wrong, but this is just what Ive experienced in my own tank. And by talking face to face with Jon Warner of Warner Marine. So the statement of trace elements of sugars causing it is basically the same as what I'm saying. The bacteria has been consuming the sugars from the pellets, so when the bacteria(that is full of sugar) enters the system you can possibly fuel the cyano.
dowtish
New member
I use Warner Marine's EcoBak, and the suggested amount is 500ml of pellets per 100 gallons. So you eventually will need around 2500 ml of pellets, and that will take a large reactor to fit that amount in there and still get the correct flow and tumble.
Yea good point, i have just slowed down the trumble a bit.
So in case of Cyno, we could play around with the flow rate and the amount of biopellet used. Just wondering - reducing the amount of GFO is an option as well? I.e. too much PO4 being absorbed and the bacteria has nothing to consume hence releasing sugar in the water column. Make any sense?
So in case of Cyno, we could play around with the flow rate and the amount of biopellet used. Just wondering - reducing the amount of GFO is an option as well? I.e. too much PO4 being absorbed and the bacteria has nothing to consume hence releasing sugar in the water column. Make any sense?
