Tomoko Schum
New member
Bill - How long did it take for your corals to really brighten up under carbon and bacteria dosing scheme?
Media Reactor vs Solid Media Reactor
- Thread starter Jennifier615
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poolkeeper1
New member
In my case
In my case
In my case it took several months (4) before i started to believe this way of introducing Carbon to your system was working. I was about to give up on it when what i did was remove all other means of reducing Phosphate and let it go just with the EB and started to dose the Amino's and MB7 in larger amounts at first (2 capful) once a week of MB7 to get the additional strain of bacteria to have the pellets feed on that beside my normal bacteria every tank has. The Amino's are just to keep the tank from starving so to speak as it gets very low readings of No3/Po4 and seems to do as good if not better than when I dosed Vodka, But with none of the work. I do look at my reactor and make sure that the proper flow and tumbling is taking place and that's it.
I have just added more dead Marco rock to my tank which has caused my pellets to get very sticky and quit tumbling, But it is just a mini cycle that is causing a explosion of bacteria that is causing the pellets to clump and Jon Warner said it will clear up in a few more day's once the rock is colonised with Bacteria. Hope this helps you decide but just make sure you know the risks of carbon dosing and if you lose power for any length of time rinse the reactor out with salt water to remove any dead or excess bacteria before you restart your system. Other than that I have had great success with this product and highly recommend it to those that want to use a carbon source or ULNS type tank.
Bill
In my case
In my case it took several months (4) before i started to believe this way of introducing Carbon to your system was working. I was about to give up on it when what i did was remove all other means of reducing Phosphate and let it go just with the EB and started to dose the Amino's and MB7 in larger amounts at first (2 capful) once a week of MB7 to get the additional strain of bacteria to have the pellets feed on that beside my normal bacteria every tank has. The Amino's are just to keep the tank from starving so to speak as it gets very low readings of No3/Po4 and seems to do as good if not better than when I dosed Vodka, But with none of the work. I do look at my reactor and make sure that the proper flow and tumbling is taking place and that's it.
I have just added more dead Marco rock to my tank which has caused my pellets to get very sticky and quit tumbling, But it is just a mini cycle that is causing a explosion of bacteria that is causing the pellets to clump and Jon Warner said it will clear up in a few more day's once the rock is colonised with Bacteria. Hope this helps you decide but just make sure you know the risks of carbon dosing and if you lose power for any length of time rinse the reactor out with salt water to remove any dead or excess bacteria before you restart your system. Other than that I have had great success with this product and highly recommend it to those that want to use a carbon source or ULNS type tank.
Bill
Pickupman66
New member
Define extended period of time.
I have had my reactor clog several times and have had to clean the screens. Just dump pellets in a bowl, clean the screens and then put the pellets back in.
Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk
I have had my reactor clog several times and have had to clean the screens. Just dump pellets in a bowl, clean the screens and then put the pellets back in.
Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk
poolkeeper1
New member
Losing power
Losing power
If you are talking about losing power, I would think anything more than a couple of hours may be safer to rinse than not! JMO
Bill:thumbsup:
Losing power
If you are talking about losing power, I would think anything more than a couple of hours may be safer to rinse than not! JMO
Bill:thumbsup:
Tomoko Schum
New member
Thank you for the quick response, Bill.
I am considering the use of either vodka or bio-pellets. With a storm season approaching, if I decide on the pellets, I need to install an UPS or an inverter/deep cycle battery with a relay to start up pumps when the power goes off while I am at work or asleep at night.
I am considering the use of either vodka or bio-pellets. With a storm season approaching, if I decide on the pellets, I need to install an UPS or an inverter/deep cycle battery with a relay to start up pumps when the power goes off while I am at work or asleep at night.
poolkeeper1
New member
Ideal situation
Ideal situation
That would be the best insurance to have, I have battery backup for my Vortechs not my whole system. That's the next thing on my list is a generator for the whole house if i lose power that automaticly switches on.
Bill
Ideal situation
That would be the best insurance to have, I have battery backup for my Vortechs not my whole system. That's the next thing on my list is a generator for the whole house if i lose power that automaticly switches on.
Bill
josh_tn
Member
We had a power outage here Thursday night that lasted about 3.5 hours. I have a UPS on my computer but not for anything on the tank. When the power went off, I shut down my PC and plugged my 2 MP40's and the biopellet pump(MJ1200) into the UPS. The UPS ran those 3 things for about an hour before it died. I stayed up stirring up the water in the display periodically and when the power came back on I debated on whether or not to rinse the pellets but decided not to, mainly because it was 4am and I was exhausted. I have not seen any ill effects from not rinsing them. They were probably without power for right around 2 hours or just over. I've only been running the pellets a short time though so I may not have as much bacteria in there as someone who has been running them longer. Just my experience FWIW.
I am planning on getting the battery backup for my Vortechs soon and possibly a generator as well.
I am planning on getting the battery backup for my Vortechs soon and possibly a generator as well.
Pickupman66
New member
Very interesting. We didn't lose power at all here. Guess i need to get my backup solution in place.
Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk
Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk
josh_tn
Member
I wondered if you guys had lost power too. Apparantly there were about 1300 homes without power in Lynchburg too because when we called the electric company they told us that they had just got them restored and were heading our way. This was after a couple hours without power already.
Pickupman66
New member
I've actually been impressed at how well ours has done. I am planning a ups and one of the koralias to keep my water movement.
Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk
Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk
Tomoko Schum
New member
A deep cycle marine battery can run your pumps for a long time since it will run an electric trolling motor for a very long time (half a day for sure). A continuous/smart battery charger and a relay to automatically switch the power source is how 8Ball have his rigged up. There was a circuitry information for the relay on ETRC website at one time, too. This would be all you need if you are going to be out of power for half a day or so. A whole house generator would be better, but you have to put gas in it every few hours.
Pickupman66
New member
I have three deep cycles in the boat that in an emergency I can pull out and attach the inverter to and run the big pump on or a koralia
Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk
Please excuse my brevity. This was sent from my Android via Tapatalk
Tomoko Schum
New member
I attached an inverter and plugged in my pumps to my husband's boat battery last year 
. As soon as I did that, the power came back on 
.
. As soon as I did that, the power came back on .
poolkeeper1
New member
House Generator
House Generator
That's the way to go, Only thing is your neihbors hear that noise and see you have lights and get mad Hahahaha. But then you can invite them to check the news and they are happy again.
Bill
House Generator
That's the way to go, Only thing is your neihbors hear that noise and see you have lights and get mad Hahahaha. But then you can invite them to check the news and they are happy again.
Bill
Jennifier615
New member
So when we run ecobak if we experience a power outage for more than a couple hours we would need to rinse the pellets? In that case we would have to make some sort of switch to where if it kicks off it doesn't kick back on automatically huh.
NeveSSL
Got tubes?
They actually have some that run off of natural gas, so you never have to fill them up.
Brandon
NeedBiggerTank
Not Likely 2 Ever Grow Up
Propane too - for those that don't have access to natural gas hookup.
poolkeeper1
New member
Wise!
Wise!
If there is not always someone home it would be wise. I have a Ball Valve that can just be turned off and someone is alway's home, So it's simple to just turn the valve if i'm not there. My wife used to care for my reef for months at a time when I drove over the road for months at a time so she is familiar and can get one of the kids or Grandkids to close the valve.
If you have an Apex you can Program it to shut down until serviced or similiar statement to turn off that pump.
Bill
Wise!
If there is not always someone home it would be wise. I have a Ball Valve that can just be turned off and someone is alway's home, So it's simple to just turn the valve if i'm not there. My wife used to care for my reef for months at a time when I drove over the road for months at a time so she is familiar and can get one of the kids or Grandkids to close the valve.
If you have an Apex you can Program it to shut down until serviced or similiar statement to turn off that pump.
Bill
Tomoko Schum
New member
Gas and propane? Huh... I seem to be behind time.
That's why we need an UPS, battery, or generator. I've come home and found that everything was working, yet digital clocks were flashing everywhere, telling me that power's been off for a while.
I suppose that Apex and other controllers have good battery backup's...
That's why we need an UPS, battery, or generator. I've come home and found that everything was working, yet digital clocks were flashing everywhere, telling me that power's been off for a while.
I suppose that Apex and other controllers have good battery backup's...
josh_tn
Member
Does the Apex need to be on a battery backup to utilize this feature in the event of a power outage. I know that you can monitor the power status of the individual power modules and even use them to send email alerts but wouldn't the base unit need to be on UPS to make this work? I only ask because I noticed during the power outage this past week that even though my router is on UPS, the Apex was completely dead. I would have had no idea the power was out unless I had been home at the time. My Apex is powered via the USB connection from the EB8 modules. There is a separate power input that I am not using that I assume can be provided by a DC transformer for just this reason. If so, I would like to connect that to my UPS so that I could at least get notification in the event of an outage.
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