N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)

[fat walrus]

Hey walrus, tell us a little about your reactor set up. Or post pictures. I doubt that anyone would have to resort to marbles to get their pellets to tumble correctly. Glass is so much denser, I doubt that would work as intended.

I've run my pellets in a slightly modded TLF 150 reactor, and have had the issue you're having about the pellets only moving on one side.

are you still running the black filters in the reactor?

1) It was a 2LF Phosban 150. I did have the black filters and initially tried to use the bag of 2LF pellets. All the pellets was pushed up against the top and packed together without any tumbling.

2) Removed black sponge filters. The pellets separated into two halves. The top half packed against the top, the bottom half tumbled only on one side.

3) Decided the MJ400 recommended by most was too weak and got MJ1200. No improvement after spending much time fiddling with ballvalve.

4) Gave up and removed 75% of pellets. It tumbled for a week. Skimmer goes bonkers! Fantastic.

5) Add one more spoon of pellet and next day, tumbling is only on one side.
6) After cleaning it everyday for a week and starting over, got 2LF Phosban 550 Reactor. Same. Tumble good, next day, only on one side. :deadhorse:

Here is a link for the foam filter replacements

http://www.aquariumsupplies.ca/phosban-reactor-screen-p-6108.html

Thanks. Will get that ASAP.

What's a few more dollars? :uzi:

 

[Eric The Red]

My clumping stopped as soon as I replaced the foam sponges with the mesh. I also use a TLF 150 and originally used a 200gph pump. I replaced it with a 300gph pump and haven't had to shake or stir my pellets since.

 

[gibbus123]

Has anybody tried to tumble them in the drain section of the sump? I'm thinking of placing them there and placing a mesh at the exit end. Would this work?

 

[Eric The Red]

Has anybody tried to tumble them in the drain section of the sump? I'm thinking of placing them there and placing a mesh at the exit end. Would this work?

I haven't tried it, but suppose it would work, in theory.

 

[Rhodes19]

I believe that skimmer is good for up to 250 gals? What size of tank are you running it on.
That line of skimmers is excellent but I it takes alot of tweaking on them to get them running 100 per cent effeciently. I installed alot of them and in hindsight wish I didn't from a maintenance stand point. They are constantly losing their prime which might be the case in yours?

Hi capn_hylinur,

I'm sorry for the delay, my wife had surgery and I just haven't had time to get back on.

My tank is a 180 with a 55 as a sump (about 40g water). I've heard good things about the skimmer but mine just isn't working. Most of the time I can't collect any skimmate and if I mess with the adjusting tube, I flood the collecting cup. And that's after adding silicone grease to make it move better. There just isn't any happy middle. The majority of times when I turn the pump off for a wc, I have to take the pump almost all the way off to get it started again. I'm having a lot of algae and cyano problems and based on a friend's advice, I took my bio pellet reactor off line and am not using it. He thinks because my skimmer really isn't doing anything, the mulm is just going back into the tank and adding to the increased nutrient load and causing my algae cyano problems. I think the plan now is to mod the skimmer and make it work, or just throw it away and buy an better skimmer. The mod may be replacing the adjusting tube with a gate valve so I can actually control the water level and place a Bubble Blaster HY 3000 on it for better bubbles. My concern about the BB is rated at 400 gph where the psk 2500 is rated at 660 gph. The other option is to put a gate valve in and replace the psk with a Becket injector and a stronger pump.

 

[Aquarist007]

Hi capn_hylinur,

I'm sorry for the delay, my wife had surgery and I just haven't had time to get back on.

My tank is a 180 with a 55 as a sump (about 40g water). I've heard good things about the skimmer but mine just isn't working. Most of the time I can't collect any skimmate and if I mess with the adjusting tube, I flood the collecting cup. And that's after adding silicone grease to make it move better. There just isn't any happy middle. The majority of times when I turn the pump off for a wc, I have to take the pump almost all the way off to get it started again. I'm having a lot of algae and cyano problems and based on a friend's advice, I took my bio pellet reactor off line and am not using it. He thinks because my skimmer really isn't doing anything, the mulm is just going back into the tank and adding to the increased nutrient load and causing my algae cyano problems. I think the plan now is to mod the skimmer and make it work, or just throw it away and buy an better skimmer. The mod may be replacing the adjusting tube with a gate valve so I can actually control the water level and place a Bubble Blaster HY 3000 on it for better bubbles. My concern about the BB is rated at 400 gph where the psk 2500 is rated at 660 gph. The other option is to put a gate valve in and replace the psk with a Becket injector and a stronger pump.

I hope the surgery went well and your wife is recovering

I found with that skimmer that the way to adjust it is to first turn the air intake completely off and then turn the external tube so you are letting in as much water into the body as you can. Now gradually open the air intake until you get the required level in the body to produce the kind of skimmate you want.
That skimmer has a preferred range I believe of about 8 inches of water in the sump.

 

[Rhodes19]

I hope the surgery went well and your wife is recovering

I found with that skimmer that the way to adjust it is to first turn the air intake completely off and then turn the external tube so you are letting in as much water into the body as you can. Now gradually open the air intake until you get the required level in the body to produce the kind of skimmate you want.
That skimmer has a preferred range I believe of about 8 inches of water in the sump.

Hi capn_hylinur,

Thanks, it went a little longer than expected but she's doing a lot better.

I'll give it a try. Right now, I have the air wide open and I restrict the amount of water leaving to regulate the water/skimmate level. Yeah, the rep said the depth is 8-10" but I found it does better sitting at 8". I'll have to play with it when I get home tonight. Thanks.

 

[thebanker]

1) It was a 2LF Phosban 150. I did have the black filters and initially tried to use the bag of 2LF pellets. All the pellets was pushed up against the top and packed together without any tumbling.

2) Removed black sponge filters. The pellets separated into two halves. The top half packed against the top, the bottom half tumbled only on one side.

3) Decided the MJ400 recommended by most was too weak and got MJ1200. No improvement after spending much time fiddling with ballvalve.

4) Gave up and removed 75% of pellets. It tumbled for a week. Skimmer goes bonkers! Fantastic.

5) Add one more spoon of pellet and next day, tumbling is only on one side.
6) After cleaning it everyday for a week and starting over, got 2LF Phosban 550 Reactor. Same. Tumble good, next day, only on one side. :deadhorse:


Thanks. Will get that ASAP.

What's a few more dollars? :uzi:

Walrus, you may not need to buy those mods, although the screen will help keep any loose pellets from blowing out of the top of the reactor. You can make that yourself with a $2 piece of needlepoint mesh from Michael's or Joann Fabrics. It's not hard. Try using a Maxi-jet 1200 to drive the pump, if you can find an old-school one. I don't know if the new MJ1150's will still fit the 1/2 inch ID tubing the TLF 150 reactor uses, since the pump and its output tube look much larger.

I've tried it so many different ways with biopellets in this reactor, it seems to work best without the red diffusion plate on the bottom.

 

[rguyler]

I have a TLF550 that I tried to run my pellets (Vertex) in and had a similar experience. I just couldn't push enough water in there to really expand the column of pellets. I don't use a powerhead but use a feed of the main pump so I push a lot more water than one of the MJs. I finally had success with a Vertex reactor. It was around twice the price as the TLF550 but it's been totally worry-free with the pellets and it holds a ton more.

As for the TLF550, I just removed the sponges and the bottom mesh and dumped BRS GFO back in. This reactor has never been better. Before with the bottom mesh the GFO did the same thing...flow on one side but not the other and believe me, it's dead level. I didn't try this with the pellets but I bet the bottom mesh might be a problem with them too so maybe try pulling it and see (assuming the 150 is the same but smaller as a 550). Definitely leave the top mesh or something in there to keep the pellets from blowing out.

 

[doug21]

What is the TLF factory mod? I'm running a 150 with just enough pellets to cover the bottom of the mesh on my 24gal nano. It's hooked up to a Maxi-Jet 1200 but only some of the pellets are tumbling.:hmm2: i'm running the reactor wide open, too!!!

 

[pecan2phat]

So I've been running my bio-pellets for a year now and have had to add pellets 3x since due to pellets dissolving. Each time I add replacement pellets, the reactor goes through the whole clumping scenerio, excesive mulm and clogging filter socks all over again, is this normal?

 

[Moser]

It can be. It depends how many nutrients there are to process.
I just did a 1.5L top up in mine. The pellets clump, but no surge of mulm. If you get really good flow through the rector, the mulm just blows off, so you don't really notice it. I have run 11L of pellets for a year.

A small proportion of pellets always clump initially, but I find they tend to fall back into the column after a while.

Mo

 

[timvdb]

Just opened my bp reactor and the smell was foul, nauseous even. Clear indication of H2S. However the pellets were tumbling well and pH was 8.2, sign of proper oxygenation of the water. Anybody else faced with the same issue?


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=48.143446,11.537360

 

[Eric The Red]

Just opened my bp reactor and the smell was foul, nauseous even. Clear indication of H2S. However the pellets were tumbling well and pH was 8.2, sign of proper oxygenation of the water. Anybody else faced with the same issue?

Even in the beginning when my pellets used to clump I never had a smell that you're describing. Sorry, can't help.
However, if I may ask, can you elaborate on the pH? Is there a relationship to pH and running pellets? I've heard about pH maybe being lower when running pellets. Does this happen?
Unfortunately I didn't get a digital pH meter until after I ran pellets so I really can't say if thhe pellets lowered my pH. Right now I avergae 7.9 in the am and 8.15 by the end of the day. I see a noticable difference in coral extension when my pH is 8.2+. My dkh is 11 so I really can't add anything to raise the ph.
Anyone have any thoughts or insight?

 

[tmz]

Organic carbon dosing will lower ph some overtime. CO2 is produced by bacterial activity.
Raising ph with any alkalinity supplement( buffer) is not a good strategy as it leaves you with high alkalinity and the ph drops back down as CO2 is produced or enters from the air. Shifts in alk are harmful; ph swings that stay above 7.8 are ok.

To raise ph: more air exchange with fresh air via surface agitation , an outside airline to the skimmer or a CO2 reactor may help.

 

[tntneon]

hi reefers ,

I'm working at a chemical plant that makes polymers for the food packaging applications (EVOH) .
It came to my ear that the company directors are planning to build a waste water treatment plant on site , using state of the art technology including some sort of bio pellets (for waste water) :spin3: :beer:
I almost [profanity] when i hearded it , hopefully i can examine and learn more about it , having the tools to measure more and more accurated.
I'm very exited about it , almost pellet - destiny......


greetingzz tntneon

 

[thebanker]

Just an update. I added half a bag of TLF NPX pellets to my reactor to top it off. The shape of the pellets is perfect, they are little oblong spheres that tumble very easily. My reactor is completely full, and they mix perfectly with my existing Vertex pellets.

So far so good!

 

[coltrref]

I share them what me to events with the BP up to today.

we know as all when there is no circulation or movement in the water bed there are zones of dark color, possibly black.

on the other hand, in the use of the in his case desnitratador when the flow is minor that the required thing creates to itself the acid sulfhídrico (rotten egg)

in my case there go already two times that I detect it in the glass recolectora of skimmer:

the 'accumulation' of bacteria or saying of another form: organic matter in decomposition.

to whom more him to events?

 

[tmz]

When there is no more nitrate or oxygen in the water around the pellets, sulfur reducing bacteria take over in the anoxic water and use the oxygen from sulfate(SO4)which is abundant in saltwater. This creates hydrogen sufide( sewer gas) as a by product. It smells like rotten eggs and is toxic. As it gets a little oxygen it precipitates sufides ,the balck stuff. The areas where this occurs need more flow.

 

[Biggar]

Hmm... fuge or biopellets?