reef dynamics bio pellet reactor

[jerrcarlson]

I have heard that reef dynamics has a bio pellet reactor that runs like a recirculating skimmer. It allows you to control the flow in to get good pellet movement but limit the outflow so you only have to turn your tank over every 2-3 days. Has anyone had any experience with this reactor? Any feedback?

 

[Greg 45]

I own the BPR 1000
There are two adjustment
one for the amount of tumble inside the reactor
One for the amount that if feed into the skimmer
The pellets are always working they never stop working the out flow is there so you can set it to your tank's need's not to strip to much out of the water .

 

[jerrcarlson]

Have long have you been running it? Have you ever had any problem with cyano or loss of coral color due to stripping the water of to many nutrients?

 

[jgalen0025]

I have been running mine going on 4 months. I was able to stop or slow down the stripping of nutrients. I started out at 25+ ppm. after three weeks it went down to 20 and the next week it dropped to a little above 15, so I cut the effluent in half. The next week I tested it had only dropped by approximately 2.5 ppm. I cut the effluent in half again down to about 25% of max. I set it there until for 4 weeks until my nitrates were down to 1-2ppm. I then cut the effluent another 5-10%. Keeps my nitrates at 1-2ppm with moderate feeding. No stn, rtn, and a tiny bit of cyano for like 3 days after the bp kicked in. Other than that it is set it and forget it. My phosphates were .1 when I started and around .05 now. I also started with 1000ml or 64 oz of pellets on my 120 which would have meant, for any other reactor, a complete stripping of the tank. It really is an awesome design and imo the ONLY way to run biopellets

 

[jerrcarlson]

I have been running mine going on 4 months. I was able to stop or slow down the stripping of nutrients. I started out at 25+ ppm. after three weeks it went down to 20 and the next week it dropped to a little above 15, so I cut the effluent in half. The next week I tested it had only dropped by approximately 2.5 ppm. I cut the effluent in half again down to about 25% of max. I set it there until for 4 weeks until my nitrates were down to 1-2ppm. I then cut the effluent another 5-10%. Keeps my nitrates at 1-2ppm with moderate feeding. No stn, rtn, and a tiny bit of cyano for like 3 days after the bp kicked in. Other than that it is set it and forget it. My phosphates were .1 when I started and around .05 now. I also started with 1000ml or 64 oz of pellets on my 120 which would have meant, for any other reactor, a complete stripping of the tank. It really is an awesome design and imo the ONLY way to run biopellets

Thanks for the info jgalen! Did you put yours on a new or existing system?

 

[jgalen0025]

it was 8 months old

 

[CW from the OC]

I've run pelletts for 3-4 years. Both on SPS reef and FOWLER.

I just upgraded from a traditional flow-through reactor to the recirculating reef dynamics for 250 gallon tanks.

It is everything they say it is, and more. The recirculating design gives very fine control of how much your pellets tumble, and how much water is processed through the reactor.

I've also run Zeo extensivelty in the past, and they have the topic of nutrient control very well figured out. Most importantly is fine control of the amount of carbon source being dosed, and reducing carbon dosing when the tank gets to a low nutrient level. I've come to the conclusion that most of the problems with pellets stem from ignoring this and just tossing a bunch of pellets in and cranking up the reactor. The reef dynamics reactor handles this very very well.

Literally the only thing I would like to see reef dynamics improve is help with the third parameter, which is how much volume of pellets you have in the chamber. They should add graduated volume markings on the reaction chamber, so you could easily determine that you have, as an example, 500 mL of pellets in there.

jgalen is right on the mark with how he handled his implementation, well done man! People need to realize that once they've reduced the levels of NO3 and PO4 to near their target levels, they need to significantly reduce tumbling, throughput, volume of pellets used, and likely start feeding more.

 

[jerrcarlson]

Thanks guys, you have really given me good info and brought up some really good points about running pellets and adjusting them after they bring the nitrates down. I really appreciate you taking time to post. I think I will give the reef dynamics 250 a try. Thanks again!