calling all biopellets reefers

[tycoakley]

So i pulled the trigger and ordered some biopellets to throw in a spare reactor i have. i have a 95 wave sps domonaite tank. ive tried running gfo and carbon in reactors and just dont like the way they stop tumbling (GFO) in my BRS reactors or that they will break up and enter my system. My tank just took hit the 1 year old mark and has done pretty well. My question is do you like your biopellets and if so do you feed your sps corals and how often. Any links would be great. I have been on every forum for the last week and just want to here it from the source. So many likes and dislikes im up in the air.

 

[tmb22]

I can't really give you an in-depth analysis; but I do know one thing about bio-pellets... Start with very few pellets and gradually increase them. I learned this the hard way by putting in a "normal" amount into my reactor right off the bat and paid for it by all corals STN'ing. I lost one coral completely, and the rest started bleaching. I took carbon, GFO, and the pellets offline for a while to let the corals suck in some extra nutrients and repair themselves. Now I have carbon and GFO running again. I'm waiting until the corals are back to 100% full health to put the pellets back online.

So like I said, not really much help... But wanted you to avoid my stupid mistake :headwally:

 

[cnaegler]

I've been running them for about a year and a half. I CAN say that they have kept my nitrates at 0 and my PO4 at +/-.02 which is the reason i got them in the first place BUT i HATE the cyano that came with them and the STN if the alk gets above 8.5. So...i'm slowly weaning the tank off of them. I can get the same effects from my RDSB and fuge but hopefully without the cyano and STN.
My opinion is the same as tmb22...start SMALL with LOW flow and you can dial it up as the tank acclimates to them.

 

[JAustin]

I run BRS BP reactor for 3 months now. DKH is 9-10 and I feed every night. I do two tsp of phyto and one tsp of oyster feast. I also skime heavy and do 10% water changes a week. I run 1/2 cup GFO changed every two weeks and 1/2 cup carbon changed same.

BPs allow me to feed the tank more at night and since then i've noticed increased growth from all corals. The only thing that's not happy are chalices....must be to low for them.

Cheers,
Jason

 

[Tokyoyankee]

I've been using BP now for about 6 months. Start slow and ramp up slowly. Watch your coral carefully as I overdosed and the BPs striped my tank of all nutrients. I had RTN and immediately removed some. My nitrates and phosphates starting creeping up so I added more. I carefully measure how much I add and remove from my tank and observe. Heavy feeding helps if you do experience STN or RTN.