backettrio
New member
Do we need to add any bacteria sources while using pellets? If yes why? What can be the benefits?
N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)
- Thread starter tntneon
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tntneon
SPSahollic
Hi larryfly ,
I think the pellets in combo with biodigest would be possible , however if i had brown algea (probably cyano ) then i would cut down on the zeovit additifs first.
If it won't go away after say 3 weeks , i even would stop dosing biodigest and only have the pellets in there .
Also i suggest to vacuum the brown algea away when you do a WC (weelkly 10%)
weekly cleaning of the collectioncup is also something not to forget .
I also used biodigest in combo with the pellets , it didn't harm but i don't use it anymore.
Less is sometimes more....
I use the pellets , and dose 2 times a week Reefplus from seachem and have an refugium to keep corals happy and algea away (besides glass cleaning ... every2 to 3 days)
greetingzz tntneon
Aquarist007
New member
I have a problem with the pellets I am using in my system. They continue to melt and clog up the return line from the reactor, at least I think it is the pellet? Is a very this mucous that I have to blow out of the line and heads of the reactor.
I am not having this problem with the other 4 systems I am trying the pellets on
I am not having this problem with the other 4 systems I am trying the pellets on
I'm pretty sure it's just bacterial snot. The stuff can get pretty nasty upon first introduction. Once the clades stabilize to the food source that will drop, as well. Just keep cleaning the lines out (PIA, I know) for a few weeks until things settle down. You might try kicking the flow up to see if you can get it to auto clear.
DJ
Aquarist007
New member
Bacterial Boogers:lol2: I like that DJ
If I crank up the flow through the reactor the media jams itself up at the top of the reactor---is that a problem as with gfo media where it needs to tumble slightly
Ralph ATL
Formerly mysterybox
I've been carbon dosing for 4-5 years now, just using vodka for the last year or so. My trates are <1.0 and phates are 0.024 using DD Merck. I am using 2 cups BRS bio-pellets in their reactor in a 90.
I'm thinking I should wait about 4 weeks before I slow down vodka? I currently dose 10 ml per day, Trigger Bursa Skimmer.
what do you think?
I'm thinking I should wait about 4 weeks before I slow down vodka? I currently dose 10 ml per day, Trigger Bursa Skimmer.
what do you think?
noobtothereef
New member
I got the clumping (buggers) as well when I first set up my pellets. It would collect at an area of my 6" reactor where the fluidized flow was not so good. I would have to shake the media and rinse with aquarium water every 3-4 days or so. I felt it was because their was not enough tumbling going on; and I also read that if there is not enough pellets they will clump more often. So I addressed both issues by:
1- adjusting the reactor to fluidize better; and
2- increased the amount of pellets.
I no longer have a problem with bacterial clumping inside of the reactor. :hammer:
If your pellets are clumping at the top maybe try shaking the reactor when it is just getting started so that the air-lift effect is dealt with and the pellets settle and fluidize. I always close off the exit valve at the top of my reactor when restarting and allow the pellets to fall back into the tumbling action. If the pellets are too close to the top of the reactor then I get a small amount of pellets collecting at the top boundary. I could easily avoid this if I decrease the quantity of pellets - but so far not causing a problem.
Regards,
Sheldon
scrubbers and all the media is a waste of money, run an airline outside for the skimmer, i went for 7.8-8.3 in less than a week, no need more hundreds of dollars of media and scrubbers...
all it needs is oxygen....
Outside air can help in some situations. Didn't help my system since houseair CO2 wasn't a big issue. A diy scrubber is easy to make for about a dollar and media costs are low if you shop for it . For a 550gallon system it costs about 10 cents to 15 cents a day and keeps the CO2 down/ ph up.
all it needs is oxygen....
Outside air can help in some situations. Didn't help my system since houseair CO2 wasn't a big issue. A diy scrubber is easy to make for about a dollar and media costs are low if you shop for it . For a 550gallon system it costs about 10 cents to 15 cents a day and keeps the CO2 down/ ph up.
Aquarist007
New member
since the pellets are producing bacteria themselves I don't think you need to add extra bacteria. You could cause a bacterial bloom and or cyano outbreak by doing so.
pecan2phat
Active member
I have been using NP-X Bio Pellets since 8/7/10 on what I would call a heavily stocked fish system of approx 300g though I do have hammers, frogspawns, torches, a few leathers and anemones in the system.
My goal with the Bio Pellets were to control No3 & Po4 for a fish only system. This system is about 3 years running and even with water changes, a sulfur denitrator and a ton of GFO, I could not keep the fore mentioned levels in check. My No3 at this point was 100ppm and Po4 was 2.58ppm.
Recommended quantity of NP-X was 550ml per 75g so I started with 1100ml on 8/7/10. I experienced a full bacterial bloom about 3 days later which cleared up on the 5th day. I added another 550ml on 8/13/10 and experienced another bacterial bloom 4 days later but it was not nearly as cloudy as the first bloom. On 8/27/10, I added the final 550ml for a total of 2200ml of Bio Pellets.
So I tested No3 & Po4 about every 7 days and No3 hovered about the same, maybe less 20ppm but this could be due to my regular water changes. Po4 stayed about the same also.
Fast forward to 11/8/10 and my No3 tested at 10ppm but the Po4 actually got higher at 2.69ppm. I also noticed that approx. 600ml of the Bio Pellets had dissolved since I made some marks on the reactor every time I added. I'm guessing that the disolving rate is based on each individuals tank parameters.
So my concensus is that the Bio Pellets does reduce No3 but not Po4. The only corals that I do have in the system that did not fare well after the induction of the Bio Pellets were two different Leather corals. One melted away and the other shriveled to the point that I took it out and placed into another system. I also noticed that I have a constant white film on the glass all the time now which is bearable if the results are acceptable No3 levels. I still have my sulfur denitrator on line since but removed the GFO at startup. Carbon is still on line. I added another 550ml of Bio Pellets to bring the total back up to approx 2100ml in the reactor and will see what the longer effects will take this system to.
My goal with the Bio Pellets were to control No3 & Po4 for a fish only system. This system is about 3 years running and even with water changes, a sulfur denitrator and a ton of GFO, I could not keep the fore mentioned levels in check. My No3 at this point was 100ppm and Po4 was 2.58ppm.
Recommended quantity of NP-X was 550ml per 75g so I started with 1100ml on 8/7/10. I experienced a full bacterial bloom about 3 days later which cleared up on the 5th day. I added another 550ml on 8/13/10 and experienced another bacterial bloom 4 days later but it was not nearly as cloudy as the first bloom. On 8/27/10, I added the final 550ml for a total of 2200ml of Bio Pellets.
So I tested No3 & Po4 about every 7 days and No3 hovered about the same, maybe less 20ppm but this could be due to my regular water changes. Po4 stayed about the same also.
Fast forward to 11/8/10 and my No3 tested at 10ppm but the Po4 actually got higher at 2.69ppm. I also noticed that approx. 600ml of the Bio Pellets had dissolved since I made some marks on the reactor every time I added. I'm guessing that the disolving rate is based on each individuals tank parameters.
So my concensus is that the Bio Pellets does reduce No3 but not Po4. The only corals that I do have in the system that did not fare well after the induction of the Bio Pellets were two different Leather corals. One melted away and the other shriveled to the point that I took it out and placed into another system. I also noticed that I have a constant white film on the glass all the time now which is bearable if the results are acceptable No3 levels. I still have my sulfur denitrator on line since but removed the GFO at startup. Carbon is still on line. I added another 550ml of Bio Pellets to bring the total back up to approx 2100ml in the reactor and will see what the longer effects will take this system to.
staggeringwade
New member
Okay. I started EcoBak six + weeks ago on my 120 gallon reef tank plus 60 gallon sump. I'm currently using 1000ml of product. The recommended amount is 750 ml, which I tried for 4 weeks and nothing was happening so I added the other 250 ml 2 weeks ago and nothing is happening yet.
To summarize as quickly as possible my parameters are as follows.
I do not dose carbon and never have.
Roughly 6" dsb. My nitrates are undetectable thanks to 6-7" sand bed.
I never really knew what my phosphates have been because the drip tests are junk although according to the drip test they were zero (which was likely inaccurate).
I had used a DIY Turf Alage Scrubber for 2 years and I took it off line because they are kind of a PIA to maintain. Plus I had just switched to a new DIY Cree Led light array and It seemed silly to install more energy efficient lighting over the reef aquarium, but run 160+ watts of compact fluorescence to grow algae 24/7.
I recently purchased a hanna phosphate checker and my phosphates were zero before I took the TAS offline.
Now after running the ecobak for 6+ weeks and no turf algae scrubber, my nitrates were zero last week, but my phosphates are now .04 ppm.
I know have a hair algae outbreak from hell.
I am still running GFO and Carbon.
MY alk is 9.8, magnesium is 1200, calcium is 420ish, ph has dropped from 8.2 to 7.9. I think the ph drop was from discontinuing the TAS, because a cooling fan was used to suck heat out of the unit which caused evaporation which was replaced with Kalkwasser. I will add some sort of fan again soon to help raise the PH- was not sure if depressed PH was from biopellets.
I am running a nice euro-reef skimmer with the output of the Next SMR1 biopellet reactor plumbed right into the front of the skimmer input. (I actually used a 1" tee on the front of the skimmer intake and just dropped the biopellet out put tubing down the top of the tee). The BP reactor is ran with a MJ 1200 and the pellets are gently tumbling.
I had read all of Dave On Bass inputs to the biopellet forum and decided to give sugar a try tonight. I will try 4 TBL spoons and see what happens.
FYI-I have a refugium, but macro would never live because of the TAS's ability to clean the water of nutrients so well.
After removal of the TAS I have some macro starting to grow now.
I use RO/DI water.
Sorry this is so long but I was hoping to give a complete detail of my situation so somebody could give me any Idea why the bio pellets are not working for me.
FYI- I never did have a bacterial bloom as happens to nearly everybody else. I had assumed I didn't get a bacterial bloom because my no3 and po4 was both zero when I began.
The reason for wanting to go with biopellets is because the simplicity of pellet carbon dosing, losing the bi-weekly chore of cleaning the TAS screens and saving energy.
I have reduced my energy use from over 1500 watts to less than 400.
Wade
To summarize as quickly as possible my parameters are as follows.
I do not dose carbon and never have.
Roughly 6" dsb. My nitrates are undetectable thanks to 6-7" sand bed.
I never really knew what my phosphates have been because the drip tests are junk although according to the drip test they were zero (which was likely inaccurate).
I had used a DIY Turf Alage Scrubber for 2 years and I took it off line because they are kind of a PIA to maintain. Plus I had just switched to a new DIY Cree Led light array and It seemed silly to install more energy efficient lighting over the reef aquarium, but run 160+ watts of compact fluorescence to grow algae 24/7.
I recently purchased a hanna phosphate checker and my phosphates were zero before I took the TAS offline.
Now after running the ecobak for 6+ weeks and no turf algae scrubber, my nitrates were zero last week, but my phosphates are now .04 ppm.
I know have a hair algae outbreak from hell.
I am still running GFO and Carbon.
MY alk is 9.8, magnesium is 1200, calcium is 420ish, ph has dropped from 8.2 to 7.9. I think the ph drop was from discontinuing the TAS, because a cooling fan was used to suck heat out of the unit which caused evaporation which was replaced with Kalkwasser. I will add some sort of fan again soon to help raise the PH- was not sure if depressed PH was from biopellets.
I am running a nice euro-reef skimmer with the output of the Next SMR1 biopellet reactor plumbed right into the front of the skimmer input. (I actually used a 1" tee on the front of the skimmer intake and just dropped the biopellet out put tubing down the top of the tee). The BP reactor is ran with a MJ 1200 and the pellets are gently tumbling.
I had read all of Dave On Bass inputs to the biopellet forum and decided to give sugar a try tonight. I will try 4 TBL spoons and see what happens.
FYI-I have a refugium, but macro would never live because of the TAS's ability to clean the water of nutrients so well.
After removal of the TAS I have some macro starting to grow now.
I use RO/DI water.
Sorry this is so long but I was hoping to give a complete detail of my situation so somebody could give me any Idea why the bio pellets are not working for me.
FYI- I never did have a bacterial bloom as happens to nearly everybody else. I had assumed I didn't get a bacterial bloom because my no3 and po4 was both zero when I began.
The reason for wanting to go with biopellets is because the simplicity of pellet carbon dosing, losing the bi-weekly chore of cleaning the TAS screens and saving energy.
I have reduced my energy use from over 1500 watts to less than 400.
Wade
daveonbass
New member
hmm...you didn't tell me all that before. I would say that they are not working due to lack of nutrients.
I'm a little puzzled as to what you expect the bacteria to "eat" if you still have zero NO3. Your PO4 is also within reason...so there is not much need for the pellets yet.
I would guess that you may get a bloom if you dose that much sugar...but don't quote me on that. Also I would think that it will simply take longer for you to see results since the bacteria don't have any "food" in what appears to sound like a clean tank.
as for the hair algae...I wish I could help more...but I would guess that all the changes are responsible for that.
I'm a little puzzled as to what you expect the bacteria to "eat" if you still have zero NO3. Your PO4 is also within reason...so there is not much need for the pellets yet.
I would guess that you may get a bloom if you dose that much sugar...but don't quote me on that. Also I would think that it will simply take longer for you to see results since the bacteria don't have any "food" in what appears to sound like a clean tank.
as for the hair algae...I wish I could help more...but I would guess that all the changes are responsible for that.
staggeringwade
New member
One of the reasons I liked your test of the biopellets is that you didn't deviate
from the testing plan.
I have added/changed so many things in the last 3 months that there could be a multitude of reasons for the GHA outbreak.
Oh I'm pretty sure the pellets did not working right off the bat because the lack of nutrients, however my po4 has climbed and I will check my no3 tonight to see if it has climbed any since last week. I was considering adding more fish to help with raising nitrates a little bit, but I was afraid of fueling more GHA growth.
I think that taking the Turf algae scrubber offline will make the pellets work as planned once there is enough nitrates in the water for bacteria to feed upon.
Wade
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