Running TLF NPX Biopellets - clumping and Hydrogen Sulfide issues.

[Shard]

I have been running NPX Biopellets from Two Little Fishies for about the past month. I have a Maxijet 1200 driving the TLF-150 reactor, and probably about 400ml of Biopellets in it.

Is anyone else having trouble with clumping issues? I would think a 1200gph pump would be able to keep them tumbling, but eventually mine just clump together and I have to keep opening the top and breaking them up with a piece of rigid tubing every day or two.

I recently left them alone for a few days and when I checked it, there was no flow coming from the reactor. The pump was running, with the gate valve at about 50%. When I opened the reactor and dumped the BPs into a plastic container, the entire BP mass was like jello. It literally came out in form like it was from a jello mold, so flow was completely occluded.

The smell of Sulphur (Hydrogen Sulfide) was pretty rough, so I broke the BPs up and rinsed them in a few large glasses of tank water. Wow, you really got to love those anaerobic conditions. Soft lumps were in the water, floating above the biopellets, which I dumped off into the sink.

I now have the reactor running again, with the Biopellets tumbling a bit. So now for a few questions.

1.) I would assume the gel lumps were basically bacterial colonies, and I would think they consist of mostly anaerobic bacteria. That would have to be the case with no flow going through the chamber right?

2.) Was I right to rinse the biopellets, and remove the lumps and restart the reactor? A lot of Hydrogen Sulfide can wreak havoc in a tank, it would make sense to remove as much as possible right?

3.) I am about to add some Carbon to the tank. I am worried about residual H2S, so I feel this would help remove a bit. I am also going to leave the lights on for a while to increase oxygen level which should drive hydrogen sulfide oxidation. I have no GFO, so this seems like the best option I can think of at the moment. Any other ideas?

4.) Any way to avoid this in the future? Is there anything I should be aware of about running the Biopellets that I don't know of?

Thanks for your help,
Landon

 

[bertoni]

I think you made the right choices in handling the pellets. That's what I would have done. I agree that the gels were likely masses of microbes, and with no flow, they would have been mostly anaerobic after a while, or dead and decaying anaerobes, but I don't know for sure.

Putting some carbon after the pellet reactor might be a good safety net. I'd definitely consider it.

I don't know why some people have this problem with the pellets, but it might be due to the nutrient level in the water. More nutrients might be allowing the microbes to grow more. Does the tank get any other form of carbon dosing?

 

[Shard]

Hi bertoni,
Thanks for stopping in on this question, and thanks for the re-assurance. You brought up a good point also.

I don't know why some people have this problem with the pellets, but it might be due to the nutrient level in the water. More nutrients might be allowing the microbes to grow more. Does the tank get any other form of carbon dosing?

I started using BPs to deal with a Nitrate and hair algae problem. I was gone most of the summer on biology research (Indonesia/Costa Rica), and my tanks got into bad shape. The nitrate levels have been ridiculous ever since. The hair algae is mostly gone now after a few weeks, but a little bit of a cyano bloom has developed. I have just been using the BPs, no other carbon dosing. Anyway..

I think you have hit the nail on the head. High nutrients may be driving excessive microbe growth.

Landon

 

[Pro X]

Landon,
If you were having clumping issues why were you running your maxijet 1200 with valve at about 50%. Did you experience negative effects from running valve wide open? And just to clarify; a Maxijet 1200 is rated @ 295 GPH output at discharge nozzle.

I have been running NPX Biopellets from Two Little Fishies for about the past month. I have a Maxijet 1200 driving the TLF-150 reactor, and probably about 400ml of Biopellets in it.

Is anyone else having trouble with clumping issues? I would think a 1200gph pump would be able to keep them tumbling, but eventually mine just clump together and I have to keep opening the top and breaking them up with a piece of rigid tubing every day or two.

I recently left them alone for a few days and when I checked it, there was no flow coming from the reactor. The pump was running, with the gate valve at about 50%. When I opened the reactor and dumped the BPs into a plastic container, the entire BP mass was like jello. It literally came out in form like it was from a jello mold, so flow was completely occluded.

The smell of Sulphur (Hydrogen Sulfide) was pretty rough, so I broke the BPs up and rinsed them in a few large glasses of tank water. Wow, you really got to love those anaerobic conditions. Soft lumps were in the water, floating above the biopellets, which I dumped off into the sink.

I now have the reactor running again, with the Biopellets tumbling a bit. So now for a few questions.

1.) I would assume the gel lumps were basically bacterial colonies, and I would think they consist of mostly anaerobic bacteria. That would have to be the case with no flow going through the chamber right?

2.) Was I right to rinse the biopellets, and remove the lumps and restart the reactor? A lot of Hydrogen Sulfide can wreak havoc in a tank, it would make sense to remove as much as possible right?

3.) I am about to add some Carbon to the tank. I am worried about residual H2S, so I feel this would help remove a bit. I am also going to leave the lights on for a while to increase oxygen level which should drive hydrogen sulfide oxidation. I have no GFO, so this seems like the best option I can think of at the moment. Any other ideas?

4.) Any way to avoid this in the future? Is there anything I should be aware of about running the Biopellets that I don't know of?

Thanks for your help,
Landon

 

[Shard]

Landon,
If you were having clumping issues why were you running your maxijet 1200 with valve at about 50%. Did you experience negative effects from running valve wide open? And just to clarify; a Maxijet 1200 is rated @ 295 GPH output at discharge nozzle.

If I turned it up anymore, all of the Biopellets would rise to the top. There would be no tumbling, because the flow would force them into a bunch, with the gap being at the bottom.

 

[Pro X]

Did you soak them overnight in a baggie before putting them in your reactor? I'm asking because I just recently started my NPX and am running a Maxijet 900 with a nice tumble in the bottom 3-4" of my reactor.

If I turned it up anymore, all of the Biopellets would rise to the top. There would be no tumbling, because the flow would force them into a bunch, with the gap being at the bottom.

 

[tmz]

Q #1 When the conditions become anoxic (ie no nitrate no oxygen) anaerobic sulfate reducing bacteria take over from the anaerobic denitirifiers . The sulfate reduction creates hydrogen sulfide as a by product.

Q#3 Running gac is a useful practice but won't reduce hydrogen sulfide gas. The hydrogen sulfide breaks down when exposed to oxygen rich areas in the water. Once it's oxidized it turns to harmless sulfides and elemental sulfur as I recall. This can take from several hours to a day or more in an aquarium. Running the effluent through some gfo(granulated ferric oxide) can accelerate the oxidation thus detoxifying it faster.

 

[Pro X]

I should have stated Maxijet 900's valve is 3/4 open. For comparison Maxijet 900 is rated @ 230GPH at 8.5 Watts vs 1200's 295GPH at 20 Watts.
I'm only going to run 5 oz of NPX total which worked fine with Maxijet 900. Your 400ml converts to 13.5 oz of NPX so a Maxijet 1200 will work without being choked back very much to achieve a good tumble; as many are using Maxijet 1200 with 17oz wide open and getting a nice tumble in TLF150 reactor.

Did you soak them overnight in a baggie before putting them in your reactor? I'm asking because I just recently started my NPX and am running a Maxijet 900 with a nice tumble in the bottom 3-4" of my reactor.

 

[kzooreefer]

Q #1 When the conditions become anoxic (ie no nitrate no oxygen) anaerobic sulfate reducing bacteria take over from the anaerobic denitirifiers . The sulfate reduction creates hydrogen sulfide as a by product.

Q#3 Running gac is a useful practice but won't reduce hydrogen sulfide gas. The hydrogen sulfide breaks down when exposed to oxygen rich areas in the water. Once it's oxidized it turns to harmless sulfides and elemental sulfur as I recall. This can take from several hours to a day or more in an aquarium. Running the effluent through some gfo(granulated ferric oxide) can accelerate the oxidation thus detoxifying it faster.

I've also seen the H2S occur in my reactor, I use the NP Reducing Biopellets (the original) but have never gotten a jelled mass. I get a lot of "mulm" (bacterial mass) build up though. I don't tumble my pellets and I've never experienced a loss in flow just a gradual loss in pellet volume. I've gone probably 3 months at the longest without some type of maintenance to the reactor. I usually clean out the bed every month or two and add fresh media. I was assuming that the H2S produced would be in much the same manner as a sulfur denitrator works and that it might be a good thing. I've been using the pellets for over a year now with good success.

 

[tmz]

I was assuming that the H2S produced would be in much the same manner as a sulfur denitrator works and that it might be a good thing.

I don't think toxic hydrogen sulfide particularly in a closed system is ever a good thing. It may be inevitable in anoxic areas with organic carbon or sulfur. These anoxic conditions occur in reactors and substrate where the water flow doesn't replenish O2 or NO3 fast enough to keep up with the heterotrophic bacteria which will strip the O2 and the NO3 leaving some organic carbon for sulfate reducers to use. SO4( sulfate )is present at 2700ppm in salt water.

Increasing the flow through the reactor and/or reducing the amount of food source( sulfur or organic carbon) by using less sulfur beads , polymer pellets,etc , help to get the reactor in tune with available NO3 as tank levels drop.

 

[kuyatwo]

Did you take out the sponges


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[cunningham]

Great question! they tumble for about 3-4 days with the sponge

Did you take out the sponges


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[kuyatwo]

You take the sponges out their is a mid using needlepoint material


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[bertoni]

I agree that hydrogen sulfide is well worth avoiding in a pellet reactor. It is toxic, and the reactor should be able to function without producing any.

 

[venege]

Im about to get started with biopellets in a TLF Phosban 150. Should I keep or remove the sponges?

 

[bertoni]

I think most people replace the sponges with finer meshes, but I haven't run pellets.

 

[BoBilo]

I recently noticed that my TLF 150 also was getting horrible flow. I only have a MJ600 on it and it used to tumble fine at about 3/4 (Never had a large amount of media it is only a 50 gal tank). I recently have read on hydrogen sulfide and have a feeling this could be a problem i've been having in the tank. When removing carbon previously I smelt a distinct rotten egg smell. I replaced carbon and the smell went away likely due to the carbon increasing the oxidation.

Curious is there any evidence of Bio-Pellets increasing the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide?

 

[tmz]

I don't believe granulated activated carbon increases oxidation. Gfo does. More likely the older carbon was clogged creating some anoxic areas.

 

[bertoni]

I agree that the carbon might have been the source of the odor. Did it have a strong odor when it was removed?

 

[kuyatwo]

If you run a phosban reactor you need to remove the sponges or they will clog that is why hydrogen builds up


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