N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)

[bluereefs]

Thank you StarF
So you use small quantity of bp, have low nitrate level and still get bacterial bloom, at least we know now that bacterial bloom dont come because of to big amount of bio pellets and high nitrate combo.
Is such a strange that some get bacterial bloom and some not. No strings related betwen amount of bp and nitrates level.

Maybe to much flow but I dont think 600/700 liters/hour are to strong movement inside the reactor.

Very nice aquarium btw, please keep us updated regarding cloudines (bacterial boom) and aquarium condition.

 

[StarF]

Thank you StarF
So you use small quantity of bp, have low nitrate level and still get bacterial bloom, at least we know now that bacterial bloom dont come because of to big amount of bio pellets and high nitrate combo.
Is such a strange that some get bacterial bloom and some not. No strings related betwen amount of bp and nitrates level.

Maybe to much flow but I dont think 600/700 liters/hour are to strong movement inside the reactor.

Very nice aquarium btw, please keep us updated regarding cloudines (bacterial boom) and aquarium condition.

When i used the pump with Zeovit it gave around 640l/h but i guess it will be a bit heigher now, since the pellets arent so dense.. also the pellets dosent realy move like i see on some of youtube video´s people have posted..

tnx for the posetive words, althought i just 10 sps a few month ago, you can also see some that are half dead i am hoping will come around. So i am in the middle of getting the tank up and running stable again.

 

[thenewone]

ok guys i set mine up 3 days ago maybe its to early to say but my water seems a little clearer but i have seen alot of algea growed i would know the name of it but its bright green and is growing everywere

 

[bluereefs]

Green algae are usually Bryopsis, here is the link for more information regarding bryopsis algae http://www.ams-chicago.com/blog/post/2008/05/My-battle-with-the-dreaded-Bryopsise280a6.aspx

Never expirinced algae problem with bp so I can not help you there, hope that is not related, just coincidence

Personaly best sign if bp work or not are much stronger skimmer production, more gunk, more stabil and constant foam... and of course more stinky

 

[thenewone]

lets hope so bc i havent added anything in months

 

[DJREEF]

If it blew up quick then its probably blue green cyano.

DJ

 

[thenewone]

care to explain what that is plz thanks

 

[stevedola]

inorder to TRY and positively identify the strain of algea you have in your tank please provide a picture otherwise its a shot in the dark.

 

[cs12109]

I can't believe that the solid vodka method does not produce bacteria in teh aquarium itself and that this is a bad thing! After all, teh reason we use live sand and live rock is for the bacteria. Isn't this system just providing more food for more bacteria system wide? If so, I would think this makes much more sense than a localized colonization inside the reactor.

 

[tmz]

I can't believe that the solid vodka method does not produce bacteria in teh aquarium itself and that this is a bad thing! After all, teh reason we use live sand and live rock is for the bacteria. Isn't this system just providing more food for more bacteria system wide? If so, I would think this makes much more sense than a localized colonization inside the reactor.

I have been dosing vodka and vinegar for 18 months in moderate amounts with good results and no discernible adverse effects.

However, how much the additional bacteria supported by the dosing are planktonic( in the water column) or benthic( on surfaces) is unknown and probably varies from one system to another. Some of the extra bacterial activity could be harmful if it upsets the coral's bacteria balances for example. Organic carbon buildup can also be a problem.

Although the manufacturer's claim that the pelletized polymers keep the carbon source localized to the benefit of the system , I am skeptical about that given the reports of bacterial blooms etc. which suggest the polymer based carbon source may be more miscible and may spread throughout the water. Then I wonder if the polymer based carbon is more or less helpful/harmful on balance vs the more longstanding vodka/vinegar dosing methods. Time and further experience should hep us understand the relative benefits/risks more clearly.

 

[TandN]

so what is it now ???? alot of movement in the reactor or little movement ????????

 

[BFG]

Yes my tank cleared up but I removed bp reactor 2 day after the bacterial bloom. Then the tank cleared up. I washed the bp in freshwater and put him again on aquarium day or two ago, now my aquarium are again cloudy but not so much like in above picture. I do some experiment with various reactors in various aquariums and it look, a least for me and from my observation, that specific tumbling/flow throu reactor can cause bacterial bloom and situation like above. It also look that only this bacterial boom can decrease nitrate in short period of time, my nitrate drop from 50 mg/lit at 5 mg/lit in few days.

I can only get bacterial boom in my diy reactor (made from Octopus calcium reactor), in second original fluid reactor, also octopus, there is no bacterial explosion. Just for the notice, with this reactor (diy) I get similar situation in previous aquarium (150 gallons), so far I still experiment.
Dont realy understend why this reactor cause bacterial explosion in every aquarium I put him. I use bp in 3 diferent reactors for 6-7 months, only latelly when I made some changes in diy reactor bp explode with bacteria, for instance almost same quantity of bp in original fluid reactor dont cause bacterial boom at all for 6-7 months, also dont decrease the nitrate.

I dont see livestock afeceted at all, not even fishes, they swim and eat without problem.

Could it be that the open top container expose the bacteria effluent to the air when the tank water go through the biopellet and up above the container opening and down through the side? Would that be a positive reaction? A normal reactor do not cause that to happen as the plumbing would not expose the effluent to the air but kept that treated water sealed through the journey. In another word, a normal reactor is missing the exposure to air part which cause the bacteria bloom.

Just a theory.

I pasted this here as there is another thread about n/p biopellet.

 

[bluereefs]

Thank you BFG, could be in my situation, still all of my friends who have/had bacterial boom as well as other reefer here who get bacterial boom have closed/standard fluidized filters.

so what is it now ???? alot of movement in the reactor or little movement ????????

I dont know, lol, right now last 3-4 days are slowed the flow considerably in octopus fluid reactor to test the efect of very slow flow through reactor.

 

[StarF]

My tank isent clouded any more, clear as ever. NO3 went from 5-10 to a 1,5-2,5 in 3-4 days.

 

[bluereefs]

Thank you for update StarF, hopefully your sps will recover. You had short cloudiness, probably/maybe due to low nitrate level.

My experimental tank also cleared today, nitrates drop from 50 mg/lit to 0,2 mg lit, cloudines/bacterial bloom lasted for 14 days, I do not made water change nor I use activated carbon, I wonted to see how long will last bacterial bloom, my skimmer still work heavily but not as near close when was bacterial bloom, also reactor and bp are much more cleared, there was no bacterial string in or outside the reactor. I had caulerpa in the tank and 90 % of caulerpa desintegrate/vanish as are some algae on the plastic pipes and wall. Livestock are ok, no loses except some acro frags.

In my first aquarium where I have first bacterial bloom, where the nitrates drop from the 100 mg/lit to 0,2 mg/lit , nitrates start to rise again (there are no more bp there, was moved to experimental aquarium) also there are small patch of ciano and few bryopsis who start to grow few days after the bp removal. Nitrates are again to 50 mg/lit.

In my third aquarium I slow the flow throu octopus reactor considerably and I think bacteria start to rise more there, no bacterial bloom, no nitrates drop jet. Nitrate are 25 mg/lit. That aquarium had bp last 4 months but they do not do nothing and nitrates rised. I experiment with very slow flow throu fluid reactor to see will there be some changes.

 

[cs12109]

I am running an MRC fluidized bed reactor with the NP bio-pellets. I am running the reactor like a normal fluidized bed reactor with some motion of the pellets on top but not motion throughout all the media. I'm hoping that as long as the media is suspended with minimal media movement, the bacteria will stay in the reactor to the maximum extent possible. It seems to me with more than a "fluidized bed" flow-rate that the bacteria would more likely tend to be washed off of the pellets and enter the rest of my system.

 

[anen]

This is something I've been thinking about the past few days. Many of you have mentioned that because the bacteria will take up nitrates and phosphates in a fixed ratio, that X amount of bacteria cannot consume more phosphates than the fixed ratio. If the amount of nitrates can be raised so that the nitrates will be in the proper ratio with phosphates for them to both be completely eliminated then it would only be a matter of upping the amount of bacteria, or the amount of biopellets.

It has also been said that bioballs are extremely good at the denitrification process, but that in the end, they create large amounts of nitrates.

Theoretically, can we up the nitrates through the use of bioballs to the point where nitrates and phosphates are in a ratio that can be taken up by the biopellets?

Anyone care to comment on my logic?

 

[DJREEF]

This is something I've been thinking about the past few days. Many of you have mentioned that because the bacteria will take up nitrates and phosphates in a fixed ratio, that X amount of bacteria cannot consume more phosphates than the fixed ratio. If the amount of nitrates can be raised so that the nitrates will be in the proper ratio with phosphates for them to both be completely eliminated then it would only be a matter of upping the amount of bacteria, or the amount of biopellets.

It has also been said that bioballs are extremely good at the denitrification process, but that in the end, they create large amounts of nitrates.

Theoretically, can we up the nitrates through the use of bioballs to the point where nitrates and phosphates are in a ratio that can be taken up by the biopellets?

Anyone care to comment on my logic?

Wow! Theory based on a theory. Now we're really treading on dangerous ground.

DJ

 

[bluereefs]

FWIW my nitrates was high, in same time phosphates was 0 in Salifert nitrate test. Personally I would avoid bio balls or any other nitrification filter because he will clog/load with bacteria and detritus and damage seriously water quality.

 

[bertoni]

Yes, it's possible that adding bio-balls might add enough nitrate to the water column to help keep the ratio more balanced. I know people who claim to have done this.