Biopellets

[oceanlife83]

I am adventuring into the thought of running biopellets on my 120 gallon tank. I am wondering if anyone has or is running bio pellets. If so what reactor are you sing and what are some of the pro's and con's you have experienced. Any information would help greatly. Thanks

 

[OneReef]

I have a biopellet reactor onmy 120g. Been running it for years. I had one on my previous tank, a 150g as well. I have always like it, it has kept me from needing GFO or carbon, and helps keep phosphates in check.

I just this week took it offline just to try it without for awhile to see what differences that I notice. My fear is that the biopellets are keeping the water to clean and stripped down, robbing my coral of nutrients. If I have a ultra low nutrient system, I would need to feed coral heavily and add things like amino acids. I only do both occasionally. My growth has seemed stagnant for awhile, and my thoughts are the water is too stripped of what my coral needs. I have seen a burst of coral growth this week, since I took it offline, but I also boosted my Ca reactor to add more calcium too. So it could be one or the other or both. I'll see how things go over the next couple of weeks.

By the way, I use the NextReef SMR1 reactor and Warner Marine EcoBak pellets.

 

[oceanlife83]

Thanks Jay. I have thought the same issue is that it may strip the water of too much of the nutrients causing coral to not grow as much and to have to feed more to corals. Thanks for the feed back still trying to decide.

 

[Greg 45]

I purchased a BPR from Reef Dynamics
Reason's for purchasing this unit
tumble rate of pellets separate from flow through reactor
Flow through reactor is also adjustable
The pellets run at full speed all the time they don't slow up or speed up working all the time
Look at there sight this is the reason for purchasing there BPR
I have owned other brands and you will poss hurt or kill your livestock

 

[Grendel0501]

I modified a Two Little Fishes reactor to tumble my pellets.
I've run it for about 2 years now.
Works really well.

 

[BassandReef]

I've been running biopellets for about a year now. I use a recirculating biopellet reactor like greg_45. I like Jay am considering taking it offline briefly. I added some soft corals and fear that if I don't run carbon, I could be asking for trouble. the carbon has really affected the effectiveness of my skimmer so I am experimenting right now. I do run GFO because my biopellets just can't keep up with my phosphates. The pellets handle nitrates just fine.

 

[neuroslicer]

I've been growing coral continuously now for 18 years now and I've learned to treat my reefs with long term objectives. Rather than trying to accelerate coral growth with added feeding (don't even get me started on amino acids!) and having to then boost bacterial populations with organic supplements, I've focused on slower growth without the need for added waste elimination systems which introduce multiple problems back into the system. My goal is long term stability. That's what you have in natural ecosystems.. and while no enclosed reef comes anywhere close to a natural ecosystem, there's much you can do to reduce artificial fluctuations in your tank.

If you do a search on RC you'll find thread after thread of short term successes and long term problems with biopellets. Here's one of many:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2112565

but you can easily find many more threads with dissatisfaction with biopellets.

The best system that's worked for me for the last several years (and I've tried many) is a high capacity skimmer in combination with an algal turf scrubber (lit with high intensity illumination and harvested every 1 - 2 weeks). The very first reef tank I saw was back in the 80's at the Smithsonian in DC... it was created by Walter Adey (Adey was an adjunct professor studying algal ecology where I was studying marine biology in grad school at U of MD). His reef had an an ATS.... worked then, and works now!

Best fishes!
JB

 

[OneReef]

Oceanlife, I would give them a try. I have talked to several manufacturers of biopellets and reactor manufacturers to get different points of view and how to best use them. From what I have learned, it is best to start them up on a new setup when you start a new tank. I have run them for years, and never had a single problem with them. From what I know, people that have had negative reactions from them, have used them improperly, or found that their pump had been off for a few days and turned it back on, dumping crap into the water from a stagnant reactor. Some of the most beautiful tanks on the planet run biopellets, or things like the Zeovit system. If you add them on from the beginning you'll be fine, or if you add them to an existing tank, add them little by little every week or so. Don't use more than recommended. If you use as intended, you will not have bad results. On my old 150g, i ran biopellets from the start on it, and had incredible colors and growth. I also fed the coral, and used amino acids. I wanted to start feeding lighter and do less upkeep on my current tank, hence me taking them offline to experiement. I would try them, some of the most successful people in the hobby use them, and some don't. Decide by trying them and seeing if you like or not.

ill add this as well, my success has been with Warner Marine EcoBak pellets. I did try another brand once, and got cloudy water, so i changed back and never had another issue. I always recommend Warner Marine Ecobak pellets to anyone trying them.

 

[oceanlife83]

Thanks for the advice. I will most likely give them a try.

 

[coondog]

+1 on what Jay said. Warner Marine Ecobak pellets are the best hands down IMO. Like Jay said, start slow and slowly increase little by little. Remember everything good takes time, bad things happen fast.

 

[oceanlife83]

I am also wondering has anyone or is anyone running GFO and or Carbon. I am thinking about adding that as well as running the bio pellets. Just wondering what reactor people recommend and what media they run.

 

[BassandReef]

I ran GFO with my Biopellets.

 

[BassandReef]

I stopped using my biopellet reactor if your are interested in it. It is a Aqualund Proteus-200 recirculating reactor. It is rated for up to 200 gallons. I have some Warner Ecobak pellets I can throw in as well.

 

[coondog]

I run Warner Ecobak pellets and GFO (Rowaphos) in two separate Nextreef reactors. I also run carbon passively in a bag.