N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)

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SimonSKL said:
From an oversea forum a fellow reefer posted an email from Dennis van Houten, exporter of NP Biopellets from The Netherlands about the replacement as below last week.

"The replacement bags are scheduled to ship this week to Hong Kong. We will ship the brand new formula that contains only 100% pure active product, no fillers."

I assume the replacement bags are the new smaller version. Not sure if the exporter implied the problem batch or old version contained fillers. Since the new version is smaller and more easy to fluidize, does it mean the original recommended flow rate (i.e. ~300GPH) is not adequate for the old version and thus explains many of the inconsistent results reported. What is the recommended flow rate for the new version?
Click to expand...

Well, they kinda had to do something. There are 3 new products scheduled to hit the shelves at local suppliers in the next couple of months that are all pure product - not cut with corn based fillers. I really want to check the new Warner stuff out.

DJ
 
so are the old NP pellets full of cornbased filler?
anybody see any recommendations on wether mixing old and new is okay or not recommended?
 
DJREEF said:
Well, they kinda had to do something. There are 3 new products scheduled to hit the shelves at local suppliers in the next couple of months that are all pure product - not cut with corn based fillers. I really want to check the new Warner stuff out.

DJ
Click to expand...

Good info DJ!

OFF TOPIC - I am in Sugar Land, where in Houston do you live?
 
So Dj, am I correct that you went from skeptic to fan? That would mean something to me as you've been pretty unbiased through much of this conversation....
 
I have been following this thread for quite some time, and I am seriously considering giving this a shot, one of the things I have been thinking about and wondering, is if the tank at some point will become dependant on these pellets for filtration. Basically if they are removed at some point, would the potential for a serious tank crash be a realistic possiblity?
 
Greg I would think it depends on how much you rely on the pellets for filtration. Massice amounts of rock and sand with a little bit of pellets might not make as huge of an impact if the pellets are removed as a smaller amount of rock and sand with lots of pellets? Perhaps removing them in stages would be best.
 
CorkPullerPHL said:
So Dj, am I correct that you went from skeptic to fan? That would mean something to me as you've been pretty unbiased through much of this conversation....
Click to expand...

I'll b a fan when I actually start seeing the numbers come down. I'll test this weekend when I have a spare 10 minutes. Until then, at the very least, I'm happy with output from my skimmers.

DJ
 
well I've removed about half of the pellets. Gone from 500 to 250ml.

the pellets I took out seem to be the same as when I put them in months ago. There was no slime of any kind on them either. They are more or less the same size as well.

the reactor is also interesting. At full flow it seems to tumble less than it did with more pellets. That seems a little odd.

I was wondering what anyone thought of about me "grinding up some of the pellets and adding it to the tank or to the reactor to see if it could speed up "seeding" the pellets. Dose this seem like an option?
 
Why don't you get some MB7 or other bacterial supplement to help seed the pellets. Not so sure about the grinding of the pellets, not sure if that would be beneficial.

daveonbass said:
well I've removed about half of the pellets. Gone from 500 to 250ml.

the pellets I took out seem to be the same as when I put them in months ago. There was no slime of any kind on them either. They are more or less the same size as well.

the reactor is also interesting. At full flow it seems to tumble less than it did with more pellets. That seems a little odd.

I was wondering what anyone thought of about me "grinding up some of the pellets and adding it to the tank or to the reactor to see if it could speed up "seeding" the pellets. Dose this seem like an option?
Click to expand...
 
HAHA! I know it's late (really early 5:50am) where I am but I literally got informed about your reply to me AS I was reading what MB7 is/does. I really do agree that the tanks that work and have dosed MB7 or similar products must give at least partial credit to the addative. It sounds great. Plus I've gone months with adding NOTHING else and have had zero effectiveness from my pellets. I hate that I can't order the MB7 due to lack of money, but it sucks worse that there is no where local (closer than two hours) that "might" carry this stuff. The only (new) LFS guy I know thinks that the new ORA captive breed mandarins (the ones that eat in captivity and live) is just a gimmik to make more money, and that no one will ever buy one...and that WC are more or less a waste of time and money (why add more salt when it's already in there, just add more fresh water).

so in short...we won't be getting any here....LAME-SKEEZ.

But yes I do want MB7 now to seed my pellets with. Obviously it's something (bacteria I need) that my tank lacks.
 
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Anyone ever thought that we can produce the same process by using raw white rice instead of these starch polymers pellets. Rice is only about $1 a lb. You can use small amount of each time since I expect rice to decompose much faster and release it's carbon more rapidly then these polymers. I've started with a cup of rice in my overflow sock 2-3 weeks ago and I'm getting the same skim that I get from dosing alcohol. The rice form a nice brown bacteria coating after only 4-5 days and does not disintergrate or dissolve at all. The grains are small therefore, I also expect more surface area to denitrification.
 
aurora, Do have any links? Wouldn't the rice already have N and P associated with the carbon? I would think it would not take up the N and P from the water. I thought N, P and C were it a somewhat defined ratio. But maybe that is different for plants vs bacteria or water vs land.
 
I would expect raw rice to have some N and P in it but the ratio should be minimal compared to the carbohydrate or C component. I would expect any N and P in raw rice to be quickly used up by bacteria growing on the rice and removed with the rest of the skimmate. I don't have a link and don't think anyone else has tried using rice as a solid carbon source. We'll see how my experiment is going.
 
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