I am in the process of cycling a new system. Just started reading NO2/NO3 in the water today after only reading NH3 for the past 10 days. My NH3 dropped from 1ppm to .25. No2 went from 0 to to .25ppm and NO3 from 0 to 5ppm. Now that the cycle is moving forward when is a good time to start running my reactor with bio-pellets.
N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)
- Thread starter tntneon
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It takes time to develop a large enough culture on the pellets; and sometimes it comes down to quantity as well. If you've been running months and don't see any action; or if there is evidence of pellets being consumed with no measurable drop in 'trates... it may likely be a simple fix of adding more pellets.. When I was starting my system I used a bucket test.. i.e. put some aquarium water with measurable NO3 in a pail with your pellets... if by morning there is no Nitrates/Phosphates then the pellets are indeed working and you just might have too little to run your tank load... HTH
+++:thumbsup:
Again I think quantity has a lot to do with the inconsistencies IMO and experience... My system creeped down very slowly for months (probably 6-8 or so until I finally managed to find a way to get 2.5 - 3L into my reactor. Then all of a sudden my trates dropped and stayed at 0ppm unless my pellets diminished below the optimum quantity.
I personally would carry on as normal - the pellets will catch up regardless.
You can start right away. It matches the demand of your tank. It is also said that if you give it time to grow with your tank you can avoid the potential start-up bacterial bloom.
Sheldon
reeftivo
Skim junkie
Thanks for the reply Sheldon!
Will continue as advised! Trates as of last night are hanging in there at 5ppm and po4 is now at .04ppm. The po4 most likely is a bit lower because I'm running rowa gfo in a tlf reactor. I've read that I want to try and keep a balance of po4 and nitrate in order for the pellets to work so with my levels right now, do you think I'm fine? I stay as close to NSW levels as I can-dkh 6.5-7.5, ca 400-420, mg 1280-1300, sg 1.025.
I know it's only starting day four but the tank looks as good as it's ever been so I'm excited so far (fingers crossed!).
Tivo
Will continue as advised! Trates as of last night are hanging in there at 5ppm and po4 is now at .04ppm. The po4 most likely is a bit lower because I'm running rowa gfo in a tlf reactor. I've read that I want to try and keep a balance of po4 and nitrate in order for the pellets to work so with my levels right now, do you think I'm fine? I stay as close to NSW levels as I can-dkh 6.5-7.5, ca 400-420, mg 1280-1300, sg 1.025.
I know it's only starting day four but the tank looks as good as it's ever been so I'm excited so far (fingers crossed!).
Tivo
Eric The Red
New member
I wouldn't worry about the GFO. I found that the pellets did a fine job of getting rid of trates, but my phosphates were still too high. I have been running both pellets and GFO for well over a year now with great success.
BTW...that Rowaphos is the best GFO around...IMHO.
BTW...that Rowaphos is the best GFO around...IMHO.
Thanks for the reply!
reeftivo
Skim junkie
Thanks Eric The red for the info and ecouraging remarks!
Yep! I really like Rowaphos too! Been using it for many years now.
My concern with using it (GFO) so early in the pellet process was that it may remove the po4 too quickly before the bacteria on the pellets could colonize sufficiently to remove nitrate thus throwing things out of wack.
I'll keep my older rowa in the reactor and let it run it's course as long as things are going well. I'll have to get some pics up this weekend of my skimmate. The skimmer is acting funky because of the new equipment and skims well for a while, then the head drops out. The junk it does collect is what I like though so once things settle down I anticipate consistent nasty nog.
Still excited!
Tivo
reefkeeps
Active member
I have only been doing it for 5 weeks, I pulled the GFO a couple of weeks ago but I have noticed less green on the glass since doing so. I have also noticed the colors on my corals have improved, I'm still waiting for the white bloom, so far just black nasty skim-mate.... I'm up to 800ml on a crazy stocked 150.....
reeftivo
Skim junkie
I'm sure someone else with experience will chime in but from what i've read, if your perams were low for trate and phos when you started the pellets, then you may not experience a noticeable bloom at all.
Did you have high nitrates when you started?
Sounds like you're getting good results! I read that one of our fellow reefers had no results for many months until he dosed sugar for a few days the POW! Bacterial bloom!
After that he said his pellets kicked in. I wouldn't try it unless I was in his situation though.
Did you have high nitrates when you started?
Sounds like you're getting good results! I read that one of our fellow reefers had no results for many months until he dosed sugar for a few days the POW! Bacterial bloom!
After that he said his pellets kicked in. I wouldn't try it unless I was in his situation though.
this is me
Active member
Update. So far so good. No algae bloom yet but going through a bacteria bloom. Nitrate is now undetectable after a week of running the pellets.
10-23-11: Started 100ml of BRS bio pellets in NextReef SMR1 reactor w/MJ1200. Nitrate tested high with Redsea, Elos, API. Not sure about the nitrate number but it was bright pink.
10-27-11: Tested nitrate. No change. Tank looks normal. Removed GFO. Changed GAC.
10-28-11: Tested nitrate again before leaving town for the weekend. Test solution is a little lighter but still have color. Tank is starting to become hazy.
10-29-11: Got a call from home alerting me that the tank is really cloudy. I asked how's the fish and they were fine so I said don't worry about it. Keep watching the tank to see if there's an upside down fish, call me right away.
10-30-11: Came back from my trip at night and tank was still cloudy. Tested nitrate and it's colorless. Redsea, Elos, API.
10-31-11: Tank is clearing up nicely
this is me
Active member
Is the skimmer will always skim out a lot of stuff? Every since I started the pellets, I have to empty the collection cup almost everyday. I have a pretty large collection too I thought. The skimmate is light tea color but it smells horrid!
tntneon
SPSahollic
That's normal , i too have my collectioncup attached to a container .
The skimmate in the container is light brown/green colored , but the sedemented gunk in the collectioncup is almost black brown and smells bad ( no rotten egg smell though).
If you don't clean your cup regulary , the whole neck can become blokked , experienced already 2 times.
With wet skimming it will not happen so fast but then you are get alot of skim water a day.
greetingzz tntneon
Bababooy
New member
Thats a tunze 9410 with a foam extractor
reeftivo
Skim junkie
little over a week in and everything looks good.
had a touch of cyano on the sand before I started the pellets and strangely enough it's gone.
Don't know if it's due to the pellets or just good husbandry of late.
I read of cyano blooms but so far the opposite is happening for me. Things are looking much cleaner than usual.
po4 is still at .02 and nitrates are at just below 5ppm with the tunze measuring box.
My Tunze 9410 works well, even with the smaller volume system. I'm used to dry skimmate but right now I'm getting foul smelling tea.
Don't know if I'll get back to this one day or not with the pellets
had a touch of cyano on the sand before I started the pellets and strangely enough it's gone.
Don't know if it's due to the pellets or just good husbandry of late.
I read of cyano blooms but so far the opposite is happening for me. Things are looking much cleaner than usual.
po4 is still at .02 and nitrates are at just below 5ppm with the tunze measuring box.
My Tunze 9410 works well, even with the smaller volume system. I'm used to dry skimmate but right now I'm getting foul smelling tea.
Don't know if I'll get back to this one day or not with the pellets
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