N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)

[Tony Romano]

No ZS2 is same thing as pellets. (In theory you can run the ZS2 to save pellets) I don't due to cyno seems to love ZS2. If you are dosing ZS2 keep it the same for a week, the cut back to nothing over next week.

ZF may help a little, for me ZEOfood7 = CYNO! ZF7 seems to help my nonphotos or I think it does!

Do you have any ZEObac? That will jump it fast! MB7 also works very well, much cheaper than ZEO.

Are you running ZEOvites? (rocks)

Last - I strongly suggest running micron bags and going after detritus with vigor.

 

[larryfl1]

i just started mine about 2 weeks ago... nothing added and it seems to have really kicked in as my water is the clearest it has ever been....

i did have a bacteria bloom about 5-6 days after i started the system...

but it looks really good now...!!!!

 

[JeremyGelber]

Hi all, I've finally caught up on this entire thread (2 days intermittent reading, wow!) and got a fluidising reactor with about 850g of biopellets in it. I'm not sure if I've put too much in though, because I'm not getting any tumbling. I did initially but the pellets have all clumped together.

Initially I thought it was the pump, a small 800l/h but I just stuck on an Eheim 2000l/h pump and it's the same issue.

There is loads of room in the reactor when the pump is off so it's not overfilled (I think). And I got the bacterial bloom this morning so it's likely to be doing something. My pH is down a fair bit (7.95 from usual 8.4) which from the forum literature suggests an aerobic rather than anaerobic reaction which is good, sort of, but without the tumbling I'm not sure how much flow is getting to all the pellets.

Any ideas?

Oops, forgot to mention: tank is 2,000 litres mixed reef with a secondary tank connected to the same sump holding 4 hungry predators (so same water flowing through all, but enforced separation as the predators are very much non-reef-safe!).

 

[Moser]

Sometimes they clump when you first start. It tends to settle if the flow is good.
You can separate them by shaking the reactors or stopping the pump and letting htem fall and then restarting the pump.... eventually they clump less and less until they fluidise nicely. This may take several days!....

Mo

 

[tozzi]

I do have some zeo bac too, maybe i'll try that to jump start it.

My next ? All the talk about the reactors output pointed at the skimmers intake. Then people saaying that only some of the reactor water should go to skimmer and some to tank. This thread will really make your head spin! Well my skimmer is a deltec 902ap. I feed it right from my tanks overflow as deltec recommends, and its also nice this way cause its one less pump i need to run. So i have 2 choices. 1: i can run the reactor in the sump and point the output to my return pumps intake, then it will go directly to dt and then to skimmer. wich i dont see anyone doing. 2: I can plumb the output of reactor into my skimmer and have all the reactor water going directly into the skimmer then into tank.

If i go with #2, should i put a t in my skimmer supply line and hook up the reactor output to that. Or can i just run the output of reactor right through the head of my skimmer and down to the water level inside my skimmer neck? I dont know how bad or if it would effect performance like this?

Thanks-Nick

Oh 1 more ? The pellets i got today were npx bio beads. The guy gave me the new version? They're way smaller than the old ones for more surface area exposure. He said eventually this brand wont have the bigger ones anymore, they switched everything to the smaller ones. Anyone have any experience with these?

 

[tozzi]

Anyone?

 

[Moser]

I think there were issues with fluidisation with the larger pelllets in some settings, so the smaller ones should work for more people without having large pumps...

I think you should start slowly, which means say half your final volume of pellets to start and after a few days (if all well and no bloom) add another quarter and then the final after a further few days....

Adding zeobak may put you at risk of a bloom... I would go without for a few days and if ok, then add if you need to.

If you can't run a skimmer pump then add the T.... you will get some bacteria passing through the skimmer on first pass anyway.

I think the difference with Zeovit and these pellets (in terms of directing the flow into the tank or into the skimmer) is because the flow is much less in Zeovit, so less bacterioplankton get into the tank than with the massive flow with pellets. Therefore, you need to skim out most with teh pellets, but enough still get through.

Hope this helps..

Mo

 

[daveonbass]

I think if you have to add a suppliment to "kick start" the pellets, then the pellets are trash. They should just work. The manufacturers don't ever say they need to be seeded, so why should we have to try that to get them to work?

try running them without anything first...and go from there.

 

[tozzi]

Ok ill add the "T" to plumb the reactor in , and just the pellets. - Thanks

 

[jlinzmaier]

second: what? I'm just feeding my fish. Are you saying that feeding nori is any more pollutant than feeding any fishfood?. For me it's just another fish food. I put a sheet in for my foxface. When he's done (about a day) I put in another piece. Don't most people feed their herbavores nori from time to time?

There's a huge difference between occasionally feeding some nori to the herbivorous animals and keeping a sheet of nori continually floating in the tank and replacing it when it disappears.

Are you saying that feeding nori is any more pollutant than feeding any fishfood?.

Feeding any sort of fish food constantly and allowing it to continually float throughout the tank to be eaten or decompose will contribute to total organic load. I didn't indicate nori was better or worse than any other fish food, but if you think the increase in nori feeding won't contribute to your already high nitrates then your mistaken. Nitrates and phosphates are easy to test for in a tank. The point I was trying to make is that there should be some concern for other organic compounds (that we cannot easily test for) that can build up from excessive feeding of "any" fish food.

It will be interseting to hear your results. I'm not trying to shoot your hopes down, just merely offering a bit of caution. For your sake, I sure hope this works. I'm sure the foxface is happy.

Jeremy

 

[pecan2phat]

I think if you have to add a suppliment to "kick start" the pellets, then the pellets are trash. They should just work. The manufacturers don't ever say they need to be seeded, so why should we have to try that to get them to work?

try running them without anything first...and go from there.

Dave,
The Np-X brand states that adding a commercial bacteria culture may speed up the process of maturing and also help orevent monocultures.

 

[pecan2phat]

I started my Np-X bio beads last Saturday with half of the intended amount (1100 ml). On the 3rd day, sloughing was apparent and the water column started to cloud up. On the the 5th day, bacterial bloom subsided after my skimmer worked overtime. I added another 550 ml this morning and have a slight bacterial bloom but not as cloudy as the initial one. Once this one clears, I'll add the final 550 ml.

Can someone tell me approx. how long before No3 & hopefully Po4 starts to decrease?

 

[jlinzmaier]

Dave,
The Np-X brand states that adding a commercial bacteria culture may speed up the process of maturing and also help orevent monocultures.

Can you link to that literature by the manufacturer is indicating a monoculuture may occur?? If there is a manufacturer indicating that a monoculture can occur in a reef tank I wouldn't spend a penny on a single one of their products because they clearly have no idea what they are talking about. There are thousands of species of bacteria throughout our reef tanks coming from the fish, the inverts, and everything else alive in the tank. It's impossible to create a monoculture in a reef tank. It's possible to increase the growth of unwanted bacteria but impossible to induce the overgrowth of any one species of bacteria which would prevent any other bacterial species from growing. A monoculture in a reef tank would mean a completely dead reef tank because of the necessity of obligate and facultative symbiotic relationships required between our reef tank animals and the associated bacteria.


I personally believe a bacterial supplement, consisting of nitrifying bacteria, may speed up colonization of the BP's (if dosed right onto the BP's and the flow is off for a little while to prevent it all from being washed away), however, there is more than enough bacteria in the water column to get the BP's effectively colonized in little to no time.

Jeremy

 

[tozzi]

I got the large next reef reactor and im going to run 1.5-2 liters of npx-beads in it. Can anyone recommend a flow rate? Its 5/8 plumbing in and out. They suggest 300gph but im curious to what others are actually running and having luck with

 

[tmz]

Monocultures. Certain carbon sources favor certain bacterial strains and may give them a dominant role but not to the point of monoculture ,in my opinion. I do not think bacterial supplements are necessary and have not heard a plausible argument as to how they would encourage more than a short term boost in bacterial activity .If they could compete more effectively than the bacteria in the tank for available nutrients then continuous dosing of the bacteria as most do wouldn't be necessary.If bacterial diversity is a goal and I'm not sure it should or shouldn't be then varying/mixing the carbon source ( polymers, vodka, vinegar, etc) to encourage growth by bacteria in the aquarium seems a more effective strategy than using bacterial concoctions.

 

[rutz81]

Hello everyopne. Just got back from vacation and was checking everything over. I realized that I left my BioPellets reactor off over my trip(9 days). I didn't just put them back online, because I am afraid they're might be bacteria die-off in the canister that I probably wouldn't want in my tank. Shouold I get new ones or just rinse/re-use these?

 

[mistacheese]

rutz81, I am not an expert, but I would recommend soaking in RO water for 24hrs and try and keep them stirred or aggitated if possible. Then rinse in more RO and I would ASSUME you would be ok. I hope someone with better knowledge responds for you.

 

[BosseDK]

Should I continue to have a bag of active carbon in my filtering system while using pellets?

 

[pecan2phat]

Can you link to that literature by the manufacturer is indicating a monoculuture may occur?? If there is a manufacturer indicating that a monoculture can occur in a reef tank I wouldn't spend a penny on a single one of their products because they clearly have no idea what they are talking about. There are thousands of species of bacteria throughout our reef tanks coming from the fish, the inverts, and everything else alive in the tank. It's impossible to create a monoculture in a reef tank. It's possible to increase the growth of unwanted bacteria but impossible to induce the overgrowth of any one species of bacteria which would prevent any other bacterial species from growing. A monoculture in a reef tank would mean a completely dead reef tank because of the necessity of obligate and facultative symbiotic relationships required between our reef tank animals and the associated bacteria.


I personally believe a bacterial supplement, consisting of nitrifying bacteria, may speed up colonization of the BP's (if dosed right onto the BP's and the flow is off for a little while to prevent it all from being washed away), however, there is more than enough bacteria in the water column to get the BP's effectively colonized in little to no time.

Jeremy

Jeremy,
Here's a link to Np-X's instruction sheet:
http://www.oceaniccorals.com/store/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=501

 

[Hookup]

Wow... A long thread, not much conclusive yet...

Glad many are seeing what they want or expect...

I hope to learn more and replace ultralith with these lower maintenance version nutrient export system...

Thanks to all those who charged ahead and are testing these out.