I have been asked by many hobbyists in the last month or so exactly what are the differences between the many brands, and new formulas within the same brands, of carbon reducing pellets available on the market. I thought I would share the information that I have in one public place so that more can reference it, along with a comparison photo of the current brands we carry.
From the research that I have done on my own I have come to figure out that we are dealing with non-starch based genetically modified plastic resins, manufactured by only a couple of different places world wide.
These plastic resins, as many products are in the very small aquarium industry, are not designed or manufactured specifically for our industry. Rather, they are used in injection molding and blow molding of biodegradable items such as plastic water bottles, disposable forks, spoons, knives, and plates. Once these items hit the landfill, which is full of anaerobic and aerobic bacterias, the breakdown process begins. It just so happens that these same anaerobic and aerobic bacterias are present within our aquariums, causing a similar reaction, which then releases the wanted food source for our bacterias to "super" populate.
Now that we have multiple available pellets, what are the actual differences? Again, to my knowledge from my own research, I have found that mostly it's just manufacturer who has extruded the pellet itself. I have found exactly 2 companies worldwide who have created an additive that when used between .5% and 1% mixing ratio with the polymers that form the resin, make the plastic "biodegradable" once the pellet is extruded.
Below you will find a photo of the different brand pellets we have, and the similarities between those. Please note that this is just the information I have formed from my own research. I do not have definitive information on the exact chemical makeup of the different brand pellets we are selling, as that has not been released by the reseller.
From the research that I have done on my own I have come to figure out that we are dealing with non-starch based genetically modified plastic resins, manufactured by only a couple of different places world wide.
These plastic resins, as many products are in the very small aquarium industry, are not designed or manufactured specifically for our industry. Rather, they are used in injection molding and blow molding of biodegradable items such as plastic water bottles, disposable forks, spoons, knives, and plates. Once these items hit the landfill, which is full of anaerobic and aerobic bacterias, the breakdown process begins. It just so happens that these same anaerobic and aerobic bacterias are present within our aquariums, causing a similar reaction, which then releases the wanted food source for our bacterias to "super" populate.
Now that we have multiple available pellets, what are the actual differences? Again, to my knowledge from my own research, I have found that mostly it's just manufacturer who has extruded the pellet itself. I have found exactly 2 companies worldwide who have created an additive that when used between .5% and 1% mixing ratio with the polymers that form the resin, make the plastic "biodegradable" once the pellet is extruded.
Below you will find a photo of the different brand pellets we have, and the similarities between those. Please note that this is just the information I have formed from my own research. I do not have definitive information on the exact chemical makeup of the different brand pellets we are selling, as that has not been released by the reseller.
