N P Biopellets and SPS tanks

[slin1977]

Hello,

I was trying to guage how many people were using NP pellet reactors on their SPS tanks and any success or feedback.

Thanks
Slin1977

 

[dvanacker]

a poll might work better.

 

[slin1977]

Maybe a poll would work better, but for now I think opinions and feedback will be enough.
There are a lot of reefers running biopellets in Australia and I am interested in doing so too. I have ordered a pellet reactor and I plan to run the system with the addition of Prodibio.

My new tank will be struck up in about 3 weeks, the sump will house a skimmer, calc reactor ,pellet reactor and return pump only the main tank will be BB.
Look forward to comments

 

[dvanacker]

Ok. I use biopellets...they seem to work great and the tank is very healthy.

If you do mix biopellets and prodibio you should consider leaving out the carbon source (forget the product name) from prodibio.

 

[batt600]

Theres going to be mixed reviews. I had pellets but thay almost crashed my tank . To me there not stable at all . If you do a search on here you will find more horrer stories then good with pellets . It works for some but not for all. Good luck.

 

[anthony27]

+++++ 1

theres going to be mixed reviews. I had pellets but thay almost crashed my tank . To me there not stable at all . If you do a search on here you will find more horrer stories then good with pellets . It works for some but not for all. Good luck.

 

[stevedola]

if the tank is healthy then dont even bother with pellets. not worth the headaches imo

 

[mutateddogbone]

i think the problem is that people plunge into NP pellets before doing research, and seeing if they are actually necessary. I've been on them for over 8 months, and have seen growth in acros that just put putted along before pellets. I do think that the manufacturers recommended dose is a gross overstatement of the actual need for the individual system. In my tank, i run a 75g display, with 40g frag system and 30g sump, and I only run 250ml of pellets... almost 1/3 recommended for my system.

but as others have said, and the old saying goes...
IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT!!!!

 

[slin1977]

Thank you for the comments so far.
I have been planning this tank for months now and its built, the stand needs a few more coats of paint...

My current tank has Zoas Acans and a clam.
I recently went Prodibio on this tank and its going along the best its ever been.

It gets to that stage in the build when you get to start making firm choices that lead you down certain roads...

 

[M007]

i think the problem is that people plunge into NP pellets before doing research, and seeing if they are actually necessary. I've been on them for over 8 months, and have seen growth in acros that just put putted along before pellets. I do think that the manufacturers recommended dose is a gross overstatement of the actual need for the individual system. In my tank, i run a 75g display, with 40g frag system and 30g sump, and I only run 250ml of pellets... almost 1/3 recommended for my system.

but as others have said, and the old saying goes...
IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT!!!!

+1, always start with 1/2 or less than the recommended amount.

 

[Finland]

I have been using them for 9 months now and am very happy with the results. I did learn I do have to feed the tank more, otherwise corals fade. I have heard that people with high nitrates and PO4 had issues with bacteria blumes and stripping the water of nutrients too fast, leading to problems.

 

[stevedola]

I tried them on 2 different tanks. A 90g softy lps with high trates and a hair algea problem and a 60 cube mixed reef with low (2-3ppm) trates and no algea to speak of. The high trates tank did fine for 5-6 months and cleared that algea out so there was NOTHING left. Corals seemed good but LPS arent the most difficult to keep. The mixed sps-lps tank on the other hand had poor results...bleached acros receeded lps after almost 3 mths I ditched them. I dont know why I bothered with them on the 60 because it was healthy in the first place but maybe I thought the colors could be better and after seem some carbon dosed tanks thought it was a good idea. I was wrong. Maybe if I overfed the tank and tried to keep up with the bacteria by over feeding the tank would have been better but IDK. The same problem started to occur in the 90 after about 6mths the softies were shrinking and lps lost some heads...I think the water was just to sterile and the bacteria was out competing the corals for food and in that tank theres a ton of fish and it gets fed 2xdaily. In the end, I have to thank NPs for saving my tank from HA which was hugely frustrating and had us at the point of no return but also hate on them alittle because I dont think theres a reason for them beyond laziness of not wanting to do waterchanges and proper maintenance and being too cheap to have a decent skimmer.

 

[mark54321]

I use NP pellets for 12 months now,I have great results,corals grow fast and colors are amazing.You will need to feed your tank more often,because pellets will strip your water of nutrients very fast.Start with half of recommended dosage and slowly add more every month until you're where you need to be.Keep monitoring your nitrates and phosphates,when down to zero ,don't add anymore pellets. I have them in reactor with almost no tumble at all,it works for me.Good luck and again go slow.

 

[bboudreaux]

my experience with them has been that they work. (maybe too well) i have not had any issues that other people have complained about. i mean i can feed as much as i want and not any measurable nitrate or phosphate. its crazy but i don't even rinse the frozen cubes anymore. i mean i still feel weird, even after 9 mos. of perfect water, when i see all that funky water go into the tank. sometimes i even have to break out the test kit and dissuade my fears. i only used to do water changes b/c of nitrate. i haven't done a water change in 3 mos. all parameters are rock solid.

 

[mark54321]

my experience with them has been that they work. (maybe too well) i have not had any issues that other people have complained about. i mean i can feed as much as i want and not any measurable nitrate or phosphate. its crazy but i don't even rinse the frozen cubes anymore. i mean i still feel weird, even after 9 mos. of perfect water, when i see all that funky water go into the tank. sometimes i even have to break out the test kit and dissuade my fears. i only used to do water changes b/c of nitrate. i haven't done a water change in 3 mos. all parameters are rock solid.

+1 ,I have the same experience.

 

[SeabassSA]

Don't use pellets and Prodibio Bioptim together, they do the same thing, you will be overdoing it. I started by using 250 grams on my 140 gallon setup. But cut back to 100 grams only.

 

[thebanker]

I've been running biopellets since October 1st 2010. I'm very happy with the results.

I'm running a full bag of Vertex pellets on my 56 gallon tank, in a modded TLF 150 reactor. I think they could be better, so I'm thinking about going with the TLF branded pellets when I refill my reactor (going to happen soon, since my pellet volume has decreased significantly).

 

[NyReefNoob]

10+ months of using them, i dont use carbon or phosban either, tank is 90% sps, having a good skimmer makes a differance also, and i had wrote something somewhere on here in reguards to the amount of pellets, i dont think water volume matters with the amount of pellets as much as the amount of stock in the tank, and amount of lr

 

[batt600]

i think the problem is that people plunge into NP pellets before doing research, and seeing if they are actually necessary. I've been on them for over 8 months, and have seen growth in acros that just put putted along before pellets. I do think that the manufacturers recommended dose is a gross overstatement of the actual need for the individual system. In my tank, i run a 75g display, with 40g frag system and 30g sump, and I only run 250ml of pellets... almost 1/3 recommended for my system.

but as others have said, and the old saying goes...
IF IT AINT BROKE, DONT FIX IT!!!!

Did plenty of research and started with very little pellets then up it a few months later . The problem I had it droped my alk so fast all my sps bleached. Never had this happen so I removed the pellets and it never happened again

 

[finch6013]

I've used pellets with good results. I think one thing most don't take into account is that bp's will drop your N and P low enough to strip the water of nutrients just like zeo or vodka can do. You need to feed the tank more to make up for that drop in nutrients otherwise you end up with bleached dead coral.