Look Out SPS, Here Come the Bio Pellets

[njreefermadness]

Well, the tank looks good and a lot of people say if it ain't broke, don't fix it, but I took the plunge and am now running BRS Bio Pellets. I do have some small cyano patches and a few tufts of hair algae in lower flow spots (if that is possible in my tank, it's like a Jacuzzi in there - 4 MP40s and 9 Tunzes across the back wall, plus the sea swirls). Today, I did a little pre-pellet testing, and my nitrates were between 10 - 15 and my phosphates were .13 on the meter. Not great numbers, but the corals for the most part are looking nice and colorful. I also have 2 "two little fishies" GFO reactors running as well w/ BRS high capacity GFO.

I picked up a Reef Octopus pellet reactor from BRS, along w/ a "liter" of pellets. I am running the reactor w/ a Mag 5 pump that has a ball valve on it so I can throttle the reactor flow down if I need to. I put about 3 cups of pellets into the reactor, which should be good for my 180. I ran the setup in a bucket of tank water for about an hour before putting the rig into the sump. I also put a few squirts of Zeo Bak into the bucket setup just to get the pellets juiced up w/ bacteria. Not sure how fast to run the pellet reactor, but I decided to turn down the flow because I had a layer of pellets along the top of the reactor, so full blast must have been too fast.

Looking for some input/advice from any pellet gurus out there. I hear enough horror stories, so lets see if anyone has had good results w/ these babies.

Thanks.

Herb

 

[ryeguyy84]

Watch your alk, I had some alk burn issues when I first started pellets. My tank was in the 10dkh region.

Also your corals are doing well in my tank. Polyps are swaying in the breeze (although less of a breeze)

 

[mutateddogbone]

Ive been on them for over 2 years now and have no complaints. What i did find is that i only use 1/3 of the recommended ammount for my system. Had some problems with alk burn when my alk was above 10 but now run 9.5 alkwith no issues. The big thing is feeding your fish, do it frequently. When i stop feeding 2x a day or even every other then my lps would bleach very quickly and sps would turn a bit pale

 

[LStorm]

I would agree with the comments so far. My experience is start slow, use 25% to 50% of recommended starting dose. For you, probably one cup would suffice, then wait 6 to 8 weeks and see where your params are.

Maintain just enough flow in the reactor to keep pellets slowly tumbling. As bacteria begin to populate the pellets, more flow may be required, so check it once a week or so.

Also, keep alk lower, 8 to 9, and you should be fine.

Good luck.

 

[jdraider75]

I do the same a little less than half recommended amount of pellets and you will be fine keep good tumble so pellets dont clump on you

 

[Truck54]

Bio

Bio

That's funny I experienced some cyno also, one thing I know is they got rid of that irritating bryopsis

 

[NegroModelo]

ive seen issues with people having pale sps with biopellets when having to drop alk to 7-7.5