N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)

[lunar]

Hi,

My tank is already pretty low Nutrients but wanting the try the pellets instead of manual vodka. how much should i start with for a 150G DT ( 190G total water volume)?

Do i just need to top up the desolved pellets or completly replace then after a certain amount of time? roughly have often to they need topping up, and how much?

thanks heaps

Aaron

Snaza, welcome to the club. :wave: It seems to be a great idea.
It's assumed 50-200 ml of BP for 100 l water. Then after 3-6-12 months, depending on the feeding regime, you top up the dissolved BP. I used 1,5 l in my 750 l tank.
Everything looks fine and I'm happy. :thumbsup:

Good luck,
Krzysztof

 

[SimonSKL]

I am into my 3rd month of using 1500ml of the pellets and on my second reactor and third pump and still no tumbling of the pellets?

Did you check the output of your effluent? Does it look like the output from a Mag 8 pump? If not, something is blocking the flow. Did you remove the original mesh, which clogs up very quickly? May be you do have too much BP.

 

[teesquare]

Anybody getting a brown bacterial type slime/snot after starting these? I am 4 weeks in and its not getting any better. PO4 .02 on the real deal hanna not the pocket rocket lol..

Do you have a model number for the unit you are using? All the info I can find says the Hanna ( all models I think) have a variance of .4... So could your reading be .00 or.60..?

 

[jason2459]

Do you have a model number for the unit you are using? All the info I can find says the Hanna ( all models I think) have a variance of .4... So could your reading be .00 or.60..?

I believe its a variance of 0.04 not .4

 

[teesquare]

You are correct Jason....that darned dyslexic strikes again!

Still - I want to know WHICH meter nanotank is using, and whether it is more accurate than others.
Thanks,
T

 

[nanotank]

its accurate to .04. I have used it on my bac systems for 4 yrs.

 

[nanotank]

You are correct Jason....that darned dyslexic strikes again!

Still - I want to know WHICH meter nanotank is using, and whether it is more accurate than others.
Thanks,
T

Its the one that started the po4 rage. I started using it long ago and all other tests r a joke..

http://www.eseasongear.com/hahiphphme93.html

 

[teesquare]

I thought that model IS the basic "pocket rocket"....
Well - I was hoping you had something new and improved - sorry for the trouble. Every model that I have researched offers the same .04 variance/accuracy.
Thanks,
T

 

[Daniel Reef]

If the newer pellets crash folks skimmers then there is no real benefit, as you're taking export out of the equation.

DJ

Although I have never used the NP pellets, I have been monitoring this thread since the beginning and from what I have read, it is standard procedure for the skimmer not to work for a couple of days and then start working again. If this is true, then there is no difference from the newer square pellets to the older oval pellets because they both temporary prevent the skimmer from working. Can anyone address this? TIA.

 

[soulsigma]

Is it possible that 1500ml is just too much for the reactor? From my understanding they should be tumbling to be working properly. I would turn off the pump, take off the top of the reactor and get a long stick of some sort to stir them up good - then close it up and turn your pump back on.

When you do this, do the pellets get pushed up as a whole? Or just sit there as if nothing has happened? If it's the latter, my guess is that you'll need a stronger pump Every reactor acts differently to different types of flow.. But the general consensus seems to be that around 300gph/500ml works pretty well. I think you said you're pushing a 800gph pump through 1500ml, which actually may be a little underkill - still strange you aren't getting any tumbling at all though..

Also, how much room is there between the top of the reactor and the top of the pellets?

There's 4" + of space between the pellets and the top of the reactor and I apologize for giving you the wrong pump model I am actually using a mag drive 12 which is 1200gph. In the begining they had a very nice slow tumble and the a week later it all stop:sad1::sad1: I even tried running it without the sponge filter and still nothing.

 

[soulsigma]

Did you check the output of your effluent? Does it look like the output from a Mag 8 pump? If not, something is blocking the flow. Did you remove the original mesh, which clogs up very quickly? May be you do have too much BP.

I have a mag drive 12 which pumps 1200gph and yes the output defiantly looks like a mag. Yes the original mesh (sponge) was removed and still nothing.

 

[lunar]

Although I have never used the NP pellets, I have been monitoring this thread since the beginning and from what I have read, it is standard procedure for the skimmer not to work for a couple of days and then start working again. If this is true, then there is no difference from the newer square pellets to the older oval pellets because they both temporary prevent the skimmer from working. Can anyone address this? TIA.

Sorry, but these both statements are misleading. The square pellets are an older version and they are responsible for malfunction of skimmers, because they contain more lipids. I have them, they also work, they keep my NO3 and PO4 levels low and there are no evidence that something's wrong, although my skimmer is still "rebellious". If you have a bag with mixed pellets and take the square pellets out, your skimmer works properly again. So, these square pellets are "bad guys". Generally, the both pellets interrupt the work of a skimmer, but the oval pellets do that only for about 2-3 days. The older version made a tank skimmerless for even 6 weeks.

Krzysztof

 

[lunar]

Although I have never used the NP pellets, I have been monitoring this thread since the beginning and from what I have read, it is standard procedure for the skimmer not to work for a couple of days and then start working again. If this is true, then there is no difference from the newer square pellets to the older oval pellets because they both temporary prevent the skimmer from working. Can anyone address this? TIA.

Sorry, but you're wrong.The square pellets are an older version and they are responsible for malfunction of skimmers, because they contain more lipids. I have them, they also work, they keep my NO3 and PO4 levels low and there are no evidence that something's wrong, although my skimmer is still "rebellious". If you have a bag with mixed pellets and take the square pellets out, your skimmer works properly again. So, these square pellets are "bad guys". Generally, the both pellets interrupt the work of a skimmer, but the oval pellets do that only for about 2-3 days. The older version made a tank skimmerless for even 6 weeks.

Krzysztof

 

[lunar]

Although I have never used the NP pellets, I have been monitoring this thread since the beginning and from what I have read, it is standard procedure for the skimmer not to work for a couple of days and then start working again. If this is true, then there is no difference from the newer square pellets to the older oval pellets because they both temporary prevent the skimmer from working. Can anyone address this? TIA.

Sorry, but you're wrong.The square pellets are an older version and they are responsible for malfunction of skimmers, because they contain more lipids. I have them, they also work, they keep my NO3 and PO4 levels low and there are no evidence that something's wrong, although my skimmer is still "rebellious". If you have a bag with mixed pellets and take the square pellets out, your skimmer works properly again. So, these square pellets are "bad guys". Generally, the both pellets interrupt the work of a skimmer, but the oval pellets do that only for about 2-3 days. The older version made a tank skimmerless for even 6 weeks.

Krzysztof

 

[tntneon]

Although I have never used the NP pellets, I have been monitoring this thread since the beginning and from what I have read, it is standard procedure for the skimmer not to work for a couple of days and then start working again. If this is true, then there is no difference from the newer square pellets to the older oval pellets because they both temporary prevent the skimmer from working. Can anyone address this? TIA.

-I didn`t had any loss of skimmer production when introduced the pellets , but i do rinse my pellets before adding into my reactor chamber .
If you don`t do this and some of the pellet-dust comes into the system i can imagine that the foam of the skimmer collapses then for a couple of hours.

BTW my pellets are very old ones , who too are round cilindrical ones but don`t burn when you light them , so judging them only on shape is a little bit too simple.

greetingzz tntneon

 

[jptenklooster]

JP, is it my understanding from your post that this is just a "problem batch" as one poster put it or is this a newer product that your are manufacturing? If a new product, what is the advantage of increasing lipids? Will the consumer have the option of purchasing both the newer square pellets and the older round pellets in separate containers or will you be manufacturing only the newer pellets? I realize that you may not want to discuss these issues at this time, but I was still hoping that you might be able to answer these questions.

It is clearly a problem batch and although problems have been solved it will take some time for us to replace all the wrong bags. We were able to locate most of them and will replace them with new pellets as soon as possible. Updates will be presented on the website (see previous command and link).

 

[daveonbass]

I just joined the club...

I got my pellets a week ago and tried to bash/DIY an old CO2 reactor to work with these. But I ended up just buying a phosban 550 reactor. It arrived today, so it's up and running tonite. No tumbleing yet. The water is fed with a maxjet 1200 and then goed directly to the skimmer. The 1200 was already in use for the skimer...so I just pluged the 550 inline to it first. UT, now the skimmer doesn't have enough flow. I DO still have the sponges...but only because I haven't had time to get mesh for modding yet. Though I will tomorrow. I would love to see results from this product...it just sounds too good to be true. We will see.

all my test kits are API. I'm not as concerned with absolute zeros...i just want my nitrates to be lower.

paramas as of starting: phos reads 0, and nitrates reads 80 ppm. I don't know why N is soooo much higher and P is not even registering, but there it is.

I'll keep it updated.

 

[stormrider27]

Would it be advisable or advantageous to us BP during the cycling phase?

 

[nanotank]

Back to my question. Has anyone else noticed bacterial snot/slime strands since adding them and if so how long until they went away?

 

[Lemeshianos]

Would it be advisable or advantageous to us BP during the cycling phase?

BP reduce nitrates/phosphates.

During cycle you want to develop aerobic bacteria colonies on live rock that break down ammonia and nitrites. I believe that even though some bacteria colonies will develop on the BP, since the flow is slow and promotes anaerobic bacteria, the aerobic bacteria on the live rock will be able to develop just fine.