My EcoBak Solid Carbon Source Journey
- Thread starter sedor
- Start date
Now that I know Michaels does indeed have it, if I can;t find it this week around here, I'll be blocks away from one in Oakland this coming weekend.
Toadally
New member
Update... It absolutely makes a difference where you place the outlet from the reactor. I had mine on the other end of the sump going directly into the return pump area. My PH usually stays around 8.2 - 8.25 during the day and I noticed that it was 8.03 a few minutes ago. I moved the outlet into the skmmier area in front of the intake and could actually watch my PH start to climb. It's now up to 8.13 right now. More than likely oxygen being stripped away by the bacteria and the water being pumped back into the tank. I just hope it doesn't climb too fast. I'll probably start getting more skimmate now (excess bacteria going into the skimmer). I know that the manufacturer gives directions where to place the return, but I didn't listen. :hammer::hammer::hammer:
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kikireef
Active member
Ok so I have been running EcoBak for about a month now but I have a small problem. I have red bugs and I have interceptor which I am planning on using, however, I don't know what affect this will have on the EcoBak if any. Do you know? Will interceptor kill the bacteria thriving on the EcoBak? Hopefully I can get some feedback quickly as I planned on dosing interceptor tonight. I'm not trying to hijack the thread but I thought this info may be useful to others.
gcarroll
Active member
Keith it will have no effect on the bacteria.
sedor
New member
Thanks for bringing that up kiki, hopefully that helps someone in the future dealing with the same situation.
As for an update on my particular tank...I have been running about 3 weeks now and today was the last day of vodka dosing. I have slowly cut the dosage in half over the period of 3 weeks and tomorrow my tank goes from 4ml to nothing. I'm excited to see the results, but so far I have noticed no increase in NO3 and the bacteria that used to grow on the sides of the glass and in the plumbing, and everywhere for that matter is being cut back drastically. Skimmate production seems to have slowed down just slightly but i'm assuming that will pick up as the pellets take over. Otherwise, the real news of this whole experiment should start making itself obvious over the next couple weeks.
Just a recap, I am replacing vodka dosing with the EcoBak pellets by warner marine. I have been experiencing a browning of my SPS, and was finding that I was having to add way to much vodka to compete with the PO4 in my system. I am hoping that the pellets will not only take over the vodka's original role and keep the NO3 in bay, but I am also hoping to find that they are effective against PO4. At least more so than vodka.
As for an update on my particular tank...I have been running about 3 weeks now and today was the last day of vodka dosing. I have slowly cut the dosage in half over the period of 3 weeks and tomorrow my tank goes from 4ml to nothing. I'm excited to see the results, but so far I have noticed no increase in NO3 and the bacteria that used to grow on the sides of the glass and in the plumbing, and everywhere for that matter is being cut back drastically. Skimmate production seems to have slowed down just slightly but i'm assuming that will pick up as the pellets take over. Otherwise, the real news of this whole experiment should start making itself obvious over the next couple weeks.
Just a recap, I am replacing vodka dosing with the EcoBak pellets by warner marine. I have been experiencing a browning of my SPS, and was finding that I was having to add way to much vodka to compete with the PO4 in my system. I am hoping that the pellets will not only take over the vodka's original role and keep the NO3 in bay, but I am also hoping to find that they are effective against PO4. At least more so than vodka.
sedor
New member
So its been about a week of no vodka dosing and just as expected, the bio-pellets seem to have picked all the slack. The skimmer is actually pulling thicker, greener muck out of the water than 20ml per day of vodka ever did and my brown corals are starting to get hints of green in them. Seems to me that a small amount of bio-pellets are able to handle the same load as a considerable vodka dosage and they are actually more effective against PO4. Let's keep our fingers crossed another week while hopefully i'm watching bright pastel colors come flooding back into my corals.
Sang scroll up, Sedor posted a picture of the product he used
This is what they used.
sedor, the pellets may just require less flow if they are smaller than the current competition. Having the nice tumbling effect helps keep the need for stirring every few days. Also, with the smaller size you will provide more surface area and may require less in a reactor (which would also reduce the need for flow).
drtrash
New member
On week 4, P03 is now zero (clear color on salifert) & N is still in the 10ppm range but patches of dead /dieing algea on back wall is getting larger. No cyano on gravel anymore just alittle on backside of a few rocks. Never had this progress with vodka, GFO. No big changes in SPS yet. Running slow tumble (<100gph) in TLF reactor.
Rizup
New member
Sounds like you are getting some results. I am on week 4 as of today and will run some tests when I get home. My phosphates have been low, but my nitrates are 10-20. Has anyone measured a drop in nitrates and if so, how long had you been running the pellets?
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