NOPO reactor
- Thread starter flipteg
- Start date
flipteg
New member
how much pellets do you have on yours? i find that the side furthest from the pump gets more flow than the opposite side. but as of right now, with the little amount of pellets i need, it doesn't get to be a problem. i just have the recirculation flow strong enough. i haven't had to stir it since i set it up.
if you don't have the output valve full opened and you're getting a lot of bacterial build up on the pellets, i'd suggest taking out some pellets and increasing the flow through the reactor. increasing the flow and decreasing the pellets should in theory keep your process rate the same, but the reactor will have an easier time tumbling lesser pellets and avoiding bacteria buildup.
if you don't have the output valve full opened and you're getting a lot of bacterial build up on the pellets, i'd suggest taking out some pellets and increasing the flow through the reactor. increasing the flow and decreasing the pellets should in theory keep your process rate the same, but the reactor will have an easier time tumbling lesser pellets and avoiding bacteria buildup.
flipteg
New member
i just tested for nitrates and phospahtes. i think my system reached a ceiling where nitrates become limiting. nitrates tested at 1.5 ppm. way down from the 12 ppm just less than 5 days ago. my phosphates are up though to 0.28 ppm.
i might have to run GFO until i can get phosphates down low enough to get it balanced and take if offline and let the biopellets continue the work.
i might have to run GFO until i can get phosphates down low enough to get it balanced and take if offline and let the biopellets continue the work.
i find if i adjust the output pipe to get a good center flow it almost back pressures and flow then drops and not water out the return to tank.... its almost like its too close to the bottom plate when truly centered and back pressured...
if i move it off the center mark the flow kicks back in ...but not centered for the tumbling and changes over time....
if i move it off the center mark the flow kicks back in ...but not centered for the tumbling and changes over time....
flipteg
New member
phosphate is up to 0.34 ppm on May 4. at the time, i had the flow through the reactor at about 50%. on a hunch, since the nitrates is only at 1.5 ppm now, i thought to increase the flow through to 100%. unlike before, i didn't anticipate a bacteria bloom in the display tank this time, because i thought 1.5 ppm nitrates is limiting. sure enough, 24 hours later, it seems to be correct. May 5 test showed 0.288 ppm phosphates and 1.5 ppm nitrates. leaving the flow through at 100%, May 6 test showed 0.266 ppm phosphates and 1 ppm nitrates. clearly, there was still something to be gained by increasing the flow. since my flow through valve is already at 100%, i decided to add more pellets. i added 60ml more which brings me to a little bit over the recommended "1 ml of pellets per 1 liter of water".
i will test again after 24 hours to see what happens. with the nitrates being at less than 2 ppm, it caused the phosphates to fluctuate, but i think this is because the bacteria are still trying to balance the intake of phosphates and nitrates as these molecules become available in the water column. i did ordered a Phosban reactor and Rowaphos in the event that the bacteria intake of the nutrients stalls and is not able to reduce phosphates to more acceptable levels.
another thing i noticed once nitrates dropped to less than 2 is the decrease in skimmate production. the first 2 weeks of setting up the reactor, i had to empty out the cup every day. now, i feel it can go to once every 2 days. the foam also does not fill the cup anymore like with the pictures i posted earlier. this picture shows 31 hours worth of skimming. just a couple of days ago, the skimmer will skim that much in just 6 to 12 hours.
i will test again after 24 hours to see what happens. with the nitrates being at less than 2 ppm, it caused the phosphates to fluctuate, but i think this is because the bacteria are still trying to balance the intake of phosphates and nitrates as these molecules become available in the water column. i did ordered a Phosban reactor and Rowaphos in the event that the bacteria intake of the nutrients stalls and is not able to reduce phosphates to more acceptable levels.
another thing i noticed once nitrates dropped to less than 2 is the decrease in skimmate production. the first 2 weeks of setting up the reactor, i had to empty out the cup every day. now, i feel it can go to once every 2 days. the foam also does not fill the cup anymore like with the pictures i posted earlier. this picture shows 31 hours worth of skimming. just a couple of days ago, the skimmer will skim that much in just 6 to 12 hours.
flipteg
New member
the reactor has been good. very easy to adjust and it does not cause clumping of the pellets. i haven't had to adjust the suspension in a long time and it hasn't clump one bit. the reactor brought my nitrates all the way down to 0.5 ppm but it left phosphates at 0.1 ppm. once nitrates got below 2 ppm, it's has been quite hard to get the phosphates to lower levels. the least i got it was 0.07 phosphates but it will fluctuate betweehn 0.07 and 0.1 ppm. i'm also quite sure that my rocks are leaching phosphates. i started dosing nitrates and i have it back up to 4+ ppm. that was only a few days ago and i'm hoping that it will bring the phosphates down with it.
flipteg
New member
i started dosing nitrates 10 days ago. i use Seachem Flourish Nitrogen. i dosed for 4 days until the nitrates are above 4 ppm. i chose 4 because that is the upper limit of the low range test of my test kit and i don't feel like doing a low range and a high range nitrate test each time. also, when the bio pellet reactor was first installed, i noticed that skimmate production (which i can directly equate to phosphate and nitrate removal) has been the greatest when nitrates are above 2 ppm.
since i let the nitrates sit at less than 0.5 - 0.75 ppm for a couple of weeks, i think the bacteria population on the pellets has leveled off to the available nitrates. even though i started dosing nitrates 10 days ago, it's only now that i am starting to see increased skimmate again. it means it took that long for the bacteria population to catch back up. this 10 day time frame is practically the same as the initial cycle. yesterday phosphates tested at 0.14 ppm. when i got home today, i noticed quite a bit of skimmate production. certainly more skimmate than what i have been getting when nitrate is below 1 ppm. tonight, sure enough, phosphates tested at 0.07 ppm.
i will not let nitrates fall below 4 ppm again until i'm quite certain that my rocks are not leaching phosphates anymore (which could take months!!!). it seems like it takes around 2 weeks for the bacteria population to catch back up when nitrates fall below 2 ppm while phosphates stays up.
as frustrating as fluctuating phosphate levels can be, if i look on the bright side, the phosphate levels right now is at 70% reduction from when i first started bio pellets almost 7 weeks ago.
since i let the nitrates sit at less than 0.5 - 0.75 ppm for a couple of weeks, i think the bacteria population on the pellets has leveled off to the available nitrates. even though i started dosing nitrates 10 days ago, it's only now that i am starting to see increased skimmate again. it means it took that long for the bacteria population to catch back up. this 10 day time frame is practically the same as the initial cycle. yesterday phosphates tested at 0.14 ppm. when i got home today, i noticed quite a bit of skimmate production. certainly more skimmate than what i have been getting when nitrate is below 1 ppm. tonight, sure enough, phosphates tested at 0.07 ppm.
i will not let nitrates fall below 4 ppm again until i'm quite certain that my rocks are not leaching phosphates anymore (which could take months!!!). it seems like it takes around 2 weeks for the bacteria population to catch back up when nitrates fall below 2 ppm while phosphates stays up.
as frustrating as fluctuating phosphate levels can be, if i look on the bright side, the phosphate levels right now is at 70% reduction from when i first started bio pellets almost 7 weeks ago.
very very interesting...
i have been having lingering phosphates and my nitrates do not go below 2 ..not sure why they don't go below 2 but it seems to be stuck there...
pellets have been running about 4 months now...
currently running gfo to supplement...maybe i stop gfo and add a little nitrate....
i have been having lingering phosphates and my nitrates do not go below 2 ..not sure why they don't go below 2 but it seems to be stuck there...
pellets have been running about 4 months now...
currently running gfo to supplement...maybe i stop gfo and add a little nitrate....
flipteg
New member
nitrates might not go below 2 ppm (even though you still have phosphates) if you do not have enough flow through the reactor and/or you do not have enough pellets in the reactor.
i would not immediately suggest adding nitrates. you have to make sure first that there is an over abundance source of phosphates (in my case, my rocks) and that nitrates has already reached close to zero.
when you say lingering phosphates, how much is it? if it is around 0.05 ppm phosphates, with 2 ppm nitrates, i think that's pretty much where you want to be since you don't want to completely get rid either one.
if phosphates is in the higher range such as 0.1 ppm with nitrates at 2 ppm, try adding more pellets to the reactor first and see if that will reduce your nitrates closer to zero.
i would not immediately suggest adding nitrates. you have to make sure first that there is an over abundance source of phosphates (in my case, my rocks) and that nitrates has already reached close to zero.
when you say lingering phosphates, how much is it? if it is around 0.05 ppm phosphates, with 2 ppm nitrates, i think that's pretty much where you want to be since you don't want to completely get rid either one.
if phosphates is in the higher range such as 0.1 ppm with nitrates at 2 ppm, try adding more pellets to the reactor first and see if that will reduce your nitrates closer to zero.
flipteg
New member
just an update. early in this thread, i've known my rocks have been leaking phosphates. even though my water has been testing at only ~0.06 ppm phosphate for a while now, i had an outbreak of hair algae. i think this is because, the lower the phosphate levels in the water column get, the easier the phosphates in the rock can come out.
a few weeks ago, i increased flow through the sump, put more biopellets, and reduced the Radion outputs from 60% to around 40% light output. about 3 weeks ago, i noticed the hair algae has started to die out. they don't look as lush anymore. i spent 3 sessions in the past few weeks pulling out hair algae which i'm sure helped a lot in exporting the nutrients. there's still quite a bit of dying hair algae in the tank. i got 2 turbo snails to clean them up. i haven't changed water in a while now amd the last time i pulled hair algae was a few weeks ago. but despite all the decaying hair algae, the weekly phosphate tests show that phosphates has been steadily declining. i was surprised to see the phosphorous test tonight at only 1 ppb which equals to 0.003 ppm PO4.
i haven't tested NO3 in a while either because it seems like as long as there is PO4 in the water, NO3 has always been 0 ppm. even when i started dosing NO3, within just a few days, it is back down to 0 ppm. i might have to test NO3 again since PO4 showed a very low level tonight.
this shows exactly a week's worth of skimmate.
this is the biopellet reactor today. the 3 masking tape on the glass show the history of the pellet levels i have added. the highest tape shows when i added the latest amount 4 weeks ago. there has been a noticeable decrease in the volume of the pellets, but since it has only been a few months since i installed this reactor, the decrease in level has only been about less than a cm.
a few weeks ago, i increased flow through the sump, put more biopellets, and reduced the Radion outputs from 60% to around 40% light output. about 3 weeks ago, i noticed the hair algae has started to die out. they don't look as lush anymore. i spent 3 sessions in the past few weeks pulling out hair algae which i'm sure helped a lot in exporting the nutrients. there's still quite a bit of dying hair algae in the tank. i got 2 turbo snails to clean them up. i haven't changed water in a while now amd the last time i pulled hair algae was a few weeks ago. but despite all the decaying hair algae, the weekly phosphate tests show that phosphates has been steadily declining. i was surprised to see the phosphorous test tonight at only 1 ppb which equals to 0.003 ppm PO4.
i haven't tested NO3 in a while either because it seems like as long as there is PO4 in the water, NO3 has always been 0 ppm. even when i started dosing NO3, within just a few days, it is back down to 0 ppm. i might have to test NO3 again since PO4 showed a very low level tonight.
this shows exactly a week's worth of skimmate.
this is the biopellet reactor today. the 3 masking tape on the glass show the history of the pellet levels i have added. the highest tape shows when i added the latest amount 4 weeks ago. there has been a noticeable decrease in the volume of the pellets, but since it has only been a few months since i installed this reactor, the decrease in level has only been about less than a cm.
flipteg
New member
i usually do my tests on Sunday night but tonight, i decided to do it on a Saturday. last Tuesday, i decided to cut the flow through the reactor by quite a bit because i wasn't trying to reach 0 ppm PO4. 4 days later, on tonight's test, the PO4 level has skyrocketed back to 0.22 ppm. nitrates is still at 0 ppm. needless to say, i increased the flow through the reactor back to 100%.
i have also started feeding some Brightwell liquid foods today. i think i will now try to keep NO3 and PO4 as low as possible and just feed the corals a lot.
i have also started feeding some Brightwell liquid foods today. i think i will now try to keep NO3 and PO4 as low as possible and just feed the corals a lot.
