N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)

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Started Pellets Monday Jan 4th on my 90 gal display, 55 gal sump, (approx 100 gal net water volume). ATM it's in a DIY reactor made from an old humidifier water tank, but I have ordered a BRS reactor for them. BP reactor outlet is near the skimmer inlet. It is a new build with new stock.

-Current stock-
Fish: Yel tang, Royal Gramma, 2 clowns, 1 blue chromis
Corals: couple acans, some zoa's, mushrooms, candy canes, and a wack of new sps frags.

-Feeding-
daily: flakes and/or pellets for fish
occasional: seaweed for the tang, gut loaded mysis/brine shrimp for LPS.

-Water tests pre-pellets (vodka dosing / MB7 / was getting TONS of brown bacteria film on rocks & substrate)-
0 Nitrates (API / Hagen)
0 Phos (on conventional test kits, API / Hagen)

-End of week 1 (cutting Vodka in half, have stopped MB7 due to brown bacteria outbreak.)-
0 Nitrates (API / Hagen)
0 Phos (on conventional test kits, API / Hagen)

-Noticed changes-
increased polyp extention, especially in SPS.
less brown bacteria on rocks/sand bed.

I also need more CUC. Getting some today.
 
recife111 said:
Been using the bio pellets for 6 weeks. nitrates are still zero, but i seem to be losing colours in my acropora,
Po4 is still zero, but tank does seem top have more nutrients since i stopped using Fauna Marin bacterial products.
Click to expand...

i had a similar problem i started dosing AAs now all is good.
 
Rickyrooz1 said:
I am testing out the NP Biopellets to try and reduce my phosphate levels to 0.00 ppm, they are currently at 0.07 ppm according to the Hanna Phosphate Photometer and I still have hair algae growing on the overflow and on my frag rack. I added 500mL of the Biopellets in a Phosban 550 reactor powered by a Maxijet 900. The pellets look like vanilla chocolate chips and sink when placed in water. I will add 10 drops of Brightwell MB7 in front of the maxijet daily to help cultivate a bacteria population on the biopellets. I am starting with 500mL of Biopellets but in three to six months I will run a total of 1L of Biopellets.

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Doesn't the aquarium require some trace amounts of PO4 for coral growth and coloration???

I think this will be a mistake, you need to locate the source for your excess nutrients that the hair is eating.
 
Mike O'Brien said:
When your goal is around 0.03 ppm and the device you're using has an error of 0.04 ppm, 0 might not be a bad goal.
Click to expand...

:spin1
The hannah low range PO4 monitor is rated for accuracy at .04ppm ; +/- 1 % . Some note this means it is accurate to +/- 1% of the reading to a maximum of .04ppm variation even at numbers higher than 1.0 ppm The other position is that the noted accuracy range means whichever is more, allowing for .04 variation in all cases even very low readings.

I've used it over 200 times . Anecdotaly,my experience, leads me to think the former. I can track reductions in PO4 as low as .03 ppm(.06 to .03ppm fpor example) which correspond well to the expected reduction for the amount dose. Don't have the ability to test it.
 
DeepReefExotics said:
I got my pellets in about 2 days ago and dosed the tank with some probido bio digest. Should i be watching out for something in specific?
Click to expand...

Lower pH....the bacterial life on the pellets do consume O2. Simply putting the pellets upstream from the skimmer or running the skimmer line outside will probably remedy any situation that may occur.
 
just ordered 2l for my tank, will see how that goes

just ordered 2l for my tank, will see how that goes

have some GHA thats fading, still a new tank (6month old), hope these pellets will promote stability and provide some extra food for the reef.
 
I have been running 500 ml of these biopellets in my 100G SPS dominated tank since December 14th (4 weeks now). I continued to dose vodka at my usual dosage of 10 cc/day for the first 3 weeks and then decreased the dose of Vodka to 5 cc/day for the past week in hopes of decreasing the cyanobacteria that seems to be fuelled by the vodka... this am there is TONS of cyanobacteria everywhere!

my phosphate and nitrate levels were undetectable by salifert test kits before I started the biopellets (I have been dosing vodka for 2 years)

This am they are :

Nitrate : 5
phosphate :0.1

Conclusion: unimpressed!

I realize that 500ml is not the full recommended dosage for my tank but I was only hoping to decrease the vodka requirements... I guess it doesn't work that way... I will try to add another 500 ml and see what happens...
 
montrealreef said:
I have been running 500 ml of these biopellets in my 100G SPS dominated tank since December 14th (4 weeks now). I continued to dose vodka at my usual dosage of 10 cc/day for the first 3 weeks and then decreased the dose of Vodka to 5 cc/day for the past week in hopes of decreasing the cyanobacteria that seems to be fuelled by the vodka... this am there is TONS of cyanobacteria everywhere!

my phosphate and nitrate levels were undetectable by salifert test kits before I started the biopellets (I have been dosing vodka for 2 years)

This am they are :

Nitrate : 5
phosphate :0.1

Conclusion: unimpressed!

I realize that 500ml is not the full recommended dosage for my tank but I was only hoping to decrease the vodka requirements... I guess it doesn't work that way... I will try to add another 500 ml and see what happens...
Click to expand...

OMG, I'm experiencing the same thing other than mine is dino not cyano. My tank is 60 gallon and I started with 500ml of biopellets in a TLF reactor. That's a little more than the recommended amount.

Prior to biopellets, my dino problem was very minor, only small patches on the sand in two of the corners and on some of my zoas. I've been dosing VC and Prodibio digest since the tank was set up and my nitrate always reads 0 per salifert test kit. After I hooked up the biopellets, the dino spread onto other areas of the substrate and started taking off. I took out half of the biopellets after 1.5 weeks of 500ml and nothing's improved during the week of half amount. My nitrate tests 1 now.

Yesterday I noticed the biopellets looked pink so I took it out, washed it with diluted vinegar and let it dry. The pink color didn't come off after the wash but today most of the dino disappeared.

I'm not sure if I'll ever use the biopellets again in the future but I'm sure this is not just coincidence.
And yes, I directed the outlet of the reactor to the intake of my skimmer.
 
montraelreef, stevensun: Maybe it has something to do with the amount of carbon available in your system now. Both of those problems (dino's and cyano) are challenges of too much carbon, and/or too much of one kind of bacteria (as I've been reading). The label on the BP says you'll see them starting to work in 2 - 4 weeks. So why dose the same amount as you would before the BP with the BP? You may get a rise in N or P before the BP are fully working I'd imagine, I've been watching for it, but have not seen one yet. N and P still reading 0.

I've had mine in 2.5 weeks now and am starting to get some fantastic results. 100gal sps system. I had really bad dino's, brown film, bacteria strings, and often cloudy water while dosing Vodka/MB7....now that's all going away.....almost gone in fact. Things are looking great.

But I've instigated my BP's a lot different than you guys. As soon as I got the BP in I cut my Carbon Dosing in half, but not daily half. I went like this...
Day 1: vodka (maintenance dose)
Day 2: MB7 (maintenance dose)
Day 3: Vinegar (maintenance dose)
Day 4: MB7 (maintenance dose)
Day 5: Vodka (maintenance dose)
Day 6: MB7 (maintenance dose)
and so on...

In week three and I'll be changing to:
Day 15: Vodka (maintenance dose)
Day 16: MB7 (maintenance dose)
Day 17: MB7 (maintenance dose)
Day 18: Vinegar (maintenance dose)
Day 19: MB7 (maintenance dose)
Day 20: MB7 (maintenance dose)
Day 21: Vodka (maintenance dose)
I want the BP to do the work, not the manual dosing....1 job = 1 worker...unless it's union work :P

Week 4 I plan on taking out the carbon dosing and just do maintenance dose of MB7. I hope to also add probio to add different types of bacteria instead of just MB7. I'm also going to start adding a small amount of phosphate remover to my GAC reactor. So hopefully between the two reactors I'll have my N and P and toxins management. Then just dose the big three weekly as needed, eventually setup MB7/Cal/Alk/Mg on dosing pumps......automated H2O management if all things work out :)
 
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I see your point Bzar,

The reason I continued with the same dose of vodka for the first 3 weeks is that I wanted to give adequate time for the bacteria to colonize the biopellets before attempting to decrease the dose of vodka. I do not think that my current Nitrate and phosphate readings are due to excess carbon. My tank was stable on vodka for 2 years (except for a few patches of cyanobacteria in low flow areas) and my nitrate and phosphate were always zero (except when i tried to decrease the dose of vodka)

I honestly do not feel that the biopellets are doing anything (neither positive nor negative). I think the sudden increase in nutrient levels is due to me decreasing the dosage of vodka.
 
montrealreef: hmmm Good point. Perhaps then it is a case of either you go with BP system or Dosing system......the two might not mix well, or at least not easily balanced. So perhaps either needing more BP's for your volume, or scrapping the BP's and sticking to dosing. Good info there, thanks for sharing, I may have to add more BP's to my system soon if this is the case. I also currently have 500ml in my 100gal system, but my system is newish and lightly stocked.

Good luck with the alterations to the system.
 
I completely phased out the carbon dosing within the first few days after biopellets being used. In fact, I've been reducing my carbon source dosing since the dino problem was identified. I believe the biopellets do leak nutrients into the tank and both good and bad bacteria can colonize it.

Bzar, did you add biopellets when dino was present?
 
I've kinda been thinking about all of this, the history of it, and how it feels like a fairly recent phenomena. I'm wondering if maybe Marc Weiss' Coral Vital might have been the grandfather to all of these carbon dosing schemes. I used this stuff back in the late 90's. Same results, similar side effects, smelled like alcohol, syrupy, and no one ever really knew what was in it. Just wondering :rolleye1:.

DJ
 
DJREEF said:
I've kinda been thinking about all of this, the history of it, and how it feels like a fairly recent phenomena. I'm wondering if maybe Marc Weiss' Coral Vital might have been the grandfather to all of these carbon dosing schemes. I used this stuff back in the late 90's. Same results, similar side effects, smelled like alcohol, syrupy, and no one ever really knew what was in it. Just wondering :rolleye1:.

DJ
Click to expand...


It does have "cane molasses" in it so some sugar/carbon dosing. Have no idea how much in it.

Here is the ingredients:
"INGREDIENTS:
Vitamins: Vitamin A, Vitamin D3, Vitamin E
Trace Minerals: Calcium, Cobalt, Copper, Extract, Fluorine, Iodine, Iron, Magnesium, Manganese, NaCl, Phosphorus, Potassium, Selenium, Sulfur, Zinc
Derived from ferment of: Biotin, Calcium carbonate, Calcium Iodate, Calcium Pantothenate, Cobalt Proteinate, Cobalt Sulphate, Copper Proteinate, Copper Sulfate, DiCalcium Phosphate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Folic Acid, Iron Sulfate, Magnesium Oxide, Manganese Proteinate, Manganous Oxide, Menadione Sodium B, Monocalcium Phosphate, Niacin, Cohline Chloride, Potassium Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Selenium Yeast, Sodium Selenite, Sulfite Complex, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Zinc Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate
Bio-catalysts: Aloe Vera, Cane molasses, Citric Acid
Inert Carriers: Crude Fiber Extract, Crude Protein"
 
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