N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)

[ryanuuy]

Ive been using the NP biopellets for about 3 weeks now and so far so good. i just find it strange that diatoms are showing up in my glass again.

im not sure if its because of the pellets because of 2 reasons:

1. i upped the magnesium to 1600 to get rid of pesky bryopsis
2. i added a few new dried live rocks into my tank because i was doing a little re-aquascaping.

what do you guys think? do you think this is normal?

 

[daveonbass]

daveonbass...what was your sugar dosing regimen? can you post some more info on that?

none.

I dosed 2tsp for 4 days...got the bloom...then stopped to see if the pellets would continue to work. So far they have. My N and P levels are still undetectable.

sorry I'm not more help...thats all I did with sugar. I now just monitor the N levels to see if the pellets still work.

 

[daveonbass]

Ive been using the NP biopellets for about 3 weeks now and so far so good. i just find it strange that diatoms are showing up in my glass again.

im not sure if its because of the pellets because of 2 reasons:

1. i upped the magnesium to 1600 to get rid of pesky bryopsis
2. i added a few new dried live rocks into my tank because i was doing a little re-aquascaping.

what do you guys think? do you think this is normal?

interesting cause I noticed a similar thing in my tank after adding more rock. I now have a tiny algae out break on the sand...and I think it's all from the new rock getting "broken in" by the life in the tank...from the bacteria all the way up to the higher life forms.

keep me/us posted if it goes away. I'm interested because I've had to clean the glass more too and yet my N and P are still undetectable.

 

[ryanuuy]

same here. my sps are doing great while my acans arent opening up as much and my favorite acan is actually missing a head! i hope it recovers in due time though!

have your LPS recovered after they got used to low nutrients in your system?

 

[daveonbass]

yes. After 2-3 days everything was better than normal. All my corals are not growing and splitting and all that fun stuff. But that funky spell only lasted a few days. I was referring to the new appearance of algae on the sand in the corners and needing to clean the glass just as much as before, butthats only occurred after adding more rock. So there may be a corrilation...

 

[wloftin]

I started using the Ecobak pellets about 5 months ago and placed 500mL in a bag hanging in my 120's overflow drain area, so I'm not using a reactor set up at all... I have shaken the pellets once or twice to knock off debris, but they are pretty much undisturbed where the are. I have been measuring zero detectable nitrates and phosphate for the past month now... I hadn't tested in a while, but the last time I did, before I started using the pellets, I had ~5 phosphates, ~5-10 Nitrates.

My corals, both LPS and SPS are doing great (euphyllia, plate coral, mushrooms, birdsnest, monti- setosa/digitata/caps, stylophora, to name a few).

 

[ryanuuy]

i have a question for when you guys LPS were affected by the addition of the NP biopellets!

I added mine over the course of 3 weeks. My water volume is around 110gallons so im using 500ml of the biopellets and i added them at around 150ml a week. My acans and brains were incredibly opened up before but ever since i added the last batch of the biopellets, the dont seem to be opened up as much at night. Is this normal? How long did it take your LPS to recover?

 

[bluereefs]

ryanuuy do you feed your corals? I feed a loot when I use bio pellets and they enjoy. I do had similar issue in the begining of bp usage but after I start again with weekly slow adition do not see negative changes in lps corals

 

[ryanuuy]

yes i do feed my corals a lot. i target feed them at least once a week with chopped shrimp. i lowered the amount of zooplankton i broadcast feed though because i noticed that i get a hydrioid problem when i do that. And the weird thing is that its only one acan thats not opening up as much. the other acans i have are all doing great!

 

[wloftin]

And the weird thing is that its only one acan thats not opening up as much. the other acans i have are all doing great!

This sounds like a problem with that particular coral, not with pellet dosing. I'd look to other reasons for your acans problem...

 

[Tony Romano]

i have a question for when you guys LPS were affected by the addition of the NP biopellets!

I added mine over the course of 3 weeks. My water volume is around 110gallons so im using 500ml of the biopellets and i added them at around 150ml a week. My acans and brains were incredibly opened up before but ever since i added the last batch of the biopellets, the dont seem to be opened up as much at night. Is this normal? How long did it take your LPS to recover?

Yes going ULN is hard on LPS, yes they recover. Add some AA and feed them. After they acclimate and your bacteria gets cooking on pellets they will thrive!

My Acans look like fuzz balls at night.

 

[MedRed]

posted this in another thread, but looking for a quality answer

Is there any downside to using too many pellets?
I'm running a Next Reef SMR1 Reactor with 1000ml of EcoBak and a Mag Drive 3 Pump on a 60 Gallon tank.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[TheFishMan65]

Saw it in another thread. I can onl quote what I have read (IIRC from the manufactureres) NO, the bacteria will only pull out the carbon they can use.

 

[DJREEF]

posted this in another thread, but looking for a quality answer



Anyone have any thoughts?

Honestly, I don't think it's an issue. I overdo everything - pellets no exception - and haven't had any issues. Once the system reaches equilibrium the bacterial clades operate to the amount of energy in the system. As the levels of NO3 drop so do the numbers of bacteria as the surpluses starve out or are consumed by the system. Since the media only breaks down as it's consumed, deterioration of the actual media should slow, as well. I'm thinking most will actually use fewer pellets where maintenance is concerned, as opposed to when first introduced.

DJ

 

[MedRed]

Thanks DJREEF!

 

[TheFishMan65]

DJ made a good point
"Once the system reaches equilibrium"
Theory here, but this may be another reason to start slow. The excess as he pointed out dies off. If you are lucky it is skimmed or eaten. Bad luck it breaks down and carbon is released. This maybe why some report algae (diatom IIRC) growth after first starting pellets. Or I am remembering the algae growths wrong also?

 

[tntneon]

posted this in another thread, but looking for a quality answer



Anyone have any thoughts?

IMO you can 't overdose them , the only issue i could come up with is the cost

greetingzz tntneon

 

[Cooper Inc]

Hey I was too lazy in reading the whole thread but can I or should I run Carbon with vertex bio-pellets? Thanks

 

[tntneon]

I would always use carbon , poisions and other chemicals that are excreted by corals in the water can't be removed by these pellets .

GFO is an other case , if your tank is P limited i would stop GFO , if not go on with GFO

greetingzz tntneon

 

[bertoni]

Originally Posted by MedRed
Is there any downside to using too many pellets?
I'm running a Next Reef SMR1 Reactor with 1000ml of EcoBak and a Mag Drive 3 Pump on a 60 Gallon tank.

When adding pellets to a tank for the first time, I think the risk of adding too much at first is a very important issue. The water might have a lot of nutrients, and a big bacterial bloom could cause a lot of problems. As the nutrient level in the water drops, I suspect the danger drops, and there's much less risk of oxygen deprivation and other catastrophic events.

Over the long haul, though, the pellets might (or might not) be able to lower the nutrient level enough to harm corals. That's going to depend on a lot of factors, but the more pellets are added, the higher risk there is, up to some point of diminishing returns.

Those are the issues that come to mind when I think about using pellets.