N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)
- Thread starter tntneon
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sandgoby
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sandgoby
New member
Ah what the heck I got bored and got out the camera, I have a few pics of the setup below. Forgive the not so great quality. I'll have to get the good camera back from my daughter:worried2:.
The first is an almost full sump shot.
The 2nd and 3rd are shots of the cryptic fuge. I am surprised with the all the different sponges that have grown.
The 4th pic is of the stand alone fuge. It's hard to see from the pic but the feather duster worms have really taken off.
S:thumbsup:
The one thing I forgot to add, I think I'll start a thread on it but I am debating on adding a DSB to the Cryptic Fuge.
The first is an almost full sump shot.
The 2nd and 3rd are shots of the cryptic fuge. I am surprised with the all the different sponges that have grown.
The 4th pic is of the stand alone fuge. It's hard to see from the pic but the feather duster worms have really taken off.
S:thumbsup:
The one thing I forgot to add, I think I'll start a thread on it but I am debating on adding a DSB to the Cryptic Fuge.
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alessandro
New member
Hello,-I run the BP`s w/o GFO , i do still have a little carbon reactor (which i don`t take offline).
you will skim phosphates , i measured my skimmate few times on phosphates
and i always (i do wet skimming) produce about 2 l /week with around 2 - 3 ppm PO4 and 200 ppm NO3 in a system of 35 g.
Display reads 0.1 -0.2 ppm NO3 and PO4 always zero.
greetingzz tntneon
Some of you dutch guys tried to use biopellets together with zeolites? experiences?
stormrider27
Member
Thanks for posting the pics!
montrealreef
Member
am I the only one who has not had good results with these?
It's been almost 8 weeks and the only thing I've noticed is that my pH now runs at 7.6-7.8 instead of 8.0 to 8.2 (and yes the output is right next to my skimmers intake) so hopefully that means that there are bacteria growing on them ( either that or the pellets are dissolving and releasing acid into the water). I still need the same dose of vodka. Whenever I try to decrease the vodka dosing a little bit, my nitrate and phosphate spike and I get tons of cyanobacteria.
I'm going to give them another 2 weeks. If no appreciable benefit by then, I will toss them in the garbage. I think that I have just wasted 130 dollars... wish I had bought a doser instead.
It's been almost 8 weeks and the only thing I've noticed is that my pH now runs at 7.6-7.8 instead of 8.0 to 8.2 (and yes the output is right next to my skimmers intake) so hopefully that means that there are bacteria growing on them ( either that or the pellets are dissolving and releasing acid into the water). I still need the same dose of vodka. Whenever I try to decrease the vodka dosing a little bit, my nitrate and phosphate spike and I get tons of cyanobacteria.
I'm going to give them another 2 weeks. If no appreciable benefit by then, I will toss them in the garbage. I think that I have just wasted 130 dollars... wish I had bought a doser instead.
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Anyone care to guesstimate how many liters of pellets equal a daily dose 500cc vinegar w/ 1tsp sugar? (Can't say no to the hungry fish.)
It'd be nice to get the red/black stuff off the rocks in the aquarium.
I don't think it works like that, you cannot overdose the pellets so it would be however many liters of pellets to total system volume, and some people still choose to do other carbon dosing on top of it
tntneon
SPSahollic
-I`m sad to hear that montrealreef
How was the situation before you got started with BP`s, did you have high nitrates, did it decrease or not ?
At first i also saw cyano taking over the GHA who was already present , then slowly starting to move out with the GHA as well .
But i have to say i`m starting to have a little bit of cyano again , maybe i already have to replace half of them (i`m already using them for 5 to 6 month`s).
I don`t see any spikes in nitrates or phophates.
greetingzz tntneon
tntneon
SPSahollic
-That`s a real improvement :thumbsup:
I also notice a increasing number of feather dusters just above the level of the pellets in my sump
greetingzz tntneon
sandgoby
New member
Hey Montrealreef,
Could we get a little more info and recent history on your setup? No experience here with carbon dosing but I don't believe that running the bio pellets and dosing at the same time is a good idea. I have read that some have noticed a spike in Nitrates after the initial switch to the pellets and then it drops. But more info I believe would help here.
S:thumbsup:
BradR
New member
I see. Thanks!
solos2
New member
Update:
After adding agaronite sand (50-100g suger grain sized and 50g 2-3mm pellet sized) to the NPBP reactor, everything seems to be in working order. NO3/PO4 continues to be zero but it may take a while before I can identify if adding aragonite sand will actually improve its performance.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOfbenfUGog
After adding agaronite sand (50-100g suger grain sized and 50g 2-3mm pellet sized) to the NPBP reactor, everything seems to be in working order. NO3/PO4 continues to be zero but it may take a while before I can identify if adding aragonite sand will actually improve its performance.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOfbenfUGog
tntneon
SPSahollic
Update:
After adding agaronite sand (50-100g suger grain sized and 50g 2-3mm pellet sized) to the NPBP reactor, everything seems to be in working order. NO3/PO4 continues to be zero but it may take a while before I can identify if adding aragonite sand will actually improve its performance.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOfbenfUGog
-Nice set-up you have
Do you already use a calciumreactor ,to maitain Ca and carbonates ?
If not , do you measure any difference in the Ca and alkinity levels after adding the aragonite ?
Something i`m very curious at
If you see any increassement in Ca or alkinity , i think i`m gonna try it to.
Now i have to dose sometimes 2 times a day (liquid) Ca and alkinity to maintain the propper levels , would be nice if i could easely reduce that a littlle bit
greetingzz tntneon
solos2
New member
I'm dosing kalkwasser to maintain ca/kh right now, and I really doubt the calcium from the dissolved aragonite is gonna be significant or detectable, I did notice some sand have gone missing after a few days, but I cannot conclude if they're really dissolved or simply blown out of the reactor by the water flow.
I did notice a stronger smell from the reactor, however, perhaps the bacteria population inside the reactor indeed increased a lot, but I'll need more time to observe the tank to identify if there's really a difference.
<finger crossed>
I did notice a stronger smell from the reactor, however, perhaps the bacteria population inside the reactor indeed increased a lot, but I'll need more time to observe the tank to identify if there's really a difference.
<finger crossed>
Send them to me, I'll gladly pay shipping charges. Best thing I've done for my reef in a long time. I'll be putting them on my small tank when I get the chance.
It has been a long time since my previous "report" so here goes
I updated the amount of NPBs to 5 liters (!) and results have been excellent. Nitrates are dropping close to zero (first time since starting this tank) and water is crystal clear. Without NPBs or DOC dosing nitrate raises quickly to 25+ ppm.
The amount of nuisance algae is also clearly dropping, despite iron dosing. I still use GFO but the amount needed has decreased significantly (from 2000 to less than 500 ml). It also seems that NBPs are able to reduce CDOM as the frequency I need to replace GAC is reduced.
I continue to use open canister setup with relatively slow water velocity. This setup seems to work better than fluidizing filter in my case. My "reactor" is simply an old 10 liter GAC bucket:
Overall I'm very happy with NP-Biopellets and will continue to use them. Initially I thought they might be bit too expensive but after making some calculations it became clear that they are a lot cheaper than running a refugium.
I updated the amount of NPBs to 5 liters (!) and results have been excellent. Nitrates are dropping close to zero (first time since starting this tank) and water is crystal clear. Without NPBs or DOC dosing nitrate raises quickly to 25+ ppm.
The amount of nuisance algae is also clearly dropping, despite iron dosing. I still use GFO but the amount needed has decreased significantly (from 2000 to less than 500 ml). It also seems that NBPs are able to reduce CDOM as the frequency I need to replace GAC is reduced.
I continue to use open canister setup with relatively slow water velocity. This setup seems to work better than fluidizing filter in my case. My "reactor" is simply an old 10 liter GAC bucket:
Overall I'm very happy with NP-Biopellets and will continue to use them. Initially I thought they might be bit too expensive but after making some calculations it became clear that they are a lot cheaper than running a refugium.
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