Shapelock DIY N/P reducing Pellets or Nuking the tank...

[thebanker]

Jason I'm stoked you got the algae under control. So PCL in the substrate is what works best. I wonder what would happen if you put them in a reactor with mixed with crushed coral or seachem de*nitrate.

 

[jason2459]

500 Gram pkg. arrived today and 1/2 are soaking in RO water overnight.
They'll be going in a stocking in 1 overflow box in a chamber under the filter floss.
They will get constant flow and detritus should be minimal.
I have not had Nitrates for quite sometime but PO4 is an ongoing battle.
Given the track records here, I am expecting a SLOW if anything reduction.
But worth the shot to see.
I run ozone 2 hours a day @ night and use Carbon & Phosban.
System is 220 Gallons overall. Tank is a 220 with sump & chaeto.
Water quality readings will be taken before addition and posted for all to see.

That's great man. Keep us updated on how it goes. I'm not sure how well a stocking will work but will be interested in your results. Reason is I would think the stocking itself will be a filter not letting the bacteria out as well. I believe letting the bacteria pass through what ever you contain them in is important to exporting the bacteria including the nutrients that they've consumed. I based my amounts and placing them in the substrate based off the Instant Ocean patent and believe they included in the patent using it in a something like a filter sock so it may work just not as efficiently.

What's your PO4 levels at? Do you have any algae or cyano problems? I really hope they work for you like they did for me but I know every tank is different. Just watch your corals if you have any. I think continueing to use the GFO is a good idea and don't think the OZONE will have a big impact but some would probably say to not us it until the bacteria get going. I don't think it's an issue as we're trying to grow bacteria at a particular source and remove it from the water column efectively exporting what they've consumed like PO4.

At 220G tank I think you'd be fine using the entire 500g but starting with half and adding more wont hurt either. I also think the soaking is a great idea. I even soaked in viniger as a just in case for any contaminates.

Jason I'm stoked you got the algae under control. So PCL in the substrate is what works best. I wonder what would happen if you put them in a reactor with mixed with crushed coral or seachem de*nitrate.

I've been super happy with the results both times I've used these now. Using them in the gravel has given me faster results for sure but it does require the larger size gravel or crushed coral which many don't have and don't like. I think placing them in a large reactor with dolomite or crushed coral would be a great idea and not that expensive. I know there's another thread going on with someone doing that but I haven't been able to keep up with it so don't know where he's at with it now. I remember he was having good results.

I keep thinking if I ever got a larger tank with a sump in the basement I would fill the bottom of the sump with this dolomite I have now and just keep mixing in the pellets every 6 months. Or I've also though tbout those big tall fluidized sandbed filters which would probably work great with the pellets and some bigger grained substrate.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Pellets Journey

Pellets Journey

Readings:
Temp -77.6, PH -8.34, ORP -473, SAL -1.023,
NIT -0, MG -1320, ALK -9.3, CA -420, PO4 -0.16

1st 3 readings from Neptune Controller
Sal with Refractometer
PO4 with Milwaukee Photometer
All others with Salifert Kits
Lighting from Solaris I-5 unit
Minor Cyano on rocks usually siphoned @ 2 wk. intervals during 30 gal. water changes. No green algae. Tank is sparsley feed since there is an abundance of short red turf algae the Tangs graze on all day.
There are LPS and SPS along with a Tyree Green Leather, a Duncan and some unwanted mushrooms. If I can learn how to post a pic I will do so.

 

[jason2459]

It'll be interesting how this works out for you since you have some higher PO4 but lower amounts of nitrates. I had a <5 to 0 reading of nitrates but knew I had a good amount of it considering the large amounts of GHA. I think that helped to drive down the PO4 so drastically since Nitrates are supposed ot be consumed more then PO4 by bacteria. Or I just have a type of bacteria that was able to utilize the PO4 more efficiently and out compete the cyano and GHA for it.

Since you have some algae but being kept in check by the Tangs means you probably have some nitrates but wonder how much compared to the amount of PO4 you have which I think cyano does a much better job of consuming PO4 then algae or the beneficial bacteria we're trying to culture.

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Water change & tests today, no noticable results, but was not expecting them.
Change PO4 material every 2 wks. on a regular schedule.
PO4 down to 0.13, ORP dropped to 449, bumpied MG up to 1320.

 

[jason2459]

Water change & tests today, no noticeable results, but was not expecting them.
Change PO4 material every 2 wks. on a regular schedule.
PO4 down to 0.13, ORP dropped to 449, bumped MG up to 1320.

Thanks for the update. The next PO4 test will be the interesting one. Right now it's all with in a range of error so they could be exactly the same or drastically different. Either way it's starting to trend down. I'd keep up with the GFO changes every couple weeks and keep measuring the PO4 at the same intervals. At that level of GFO it's probably exhausted by then and you probably are getting some leaching of PO4 from the rocks which is fine and can't last forever.

 

[jason2459]

It's been around two weeks since the lasat after photos and the algae has grown slightly but that's expected but not agressively or spreading which is awesome. I'm actually pretty happy with the look now. I'm one of a very few that doesn't mind some algae in the main tank.

I'll probably do two more sets of pullings over the next month or so. Wont do any pulling tonight but will probably get to doing a breif pulling on Saturday. The right side is usually the most neglected so I'll probably just focus on that side as I always start on the left and by the time I've worked over to the right I'm pretty much over it and want to finish up.

Here's some pre pulling pics again:

The right side worse area:

 

[thebanker]

hey is the RUGF still running with the pellets in the dolomite gravel?

 

[jason2459]

Nope, the RUGF has been off the entire time. I'm thinking of turning it back on now since the PO4 and algae has stabilized. Might do it at the 6 month mark when I add some more in.

I do have around 3000gph of flow in the tank and don't know if that helps or not but I have a feeling it does.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[Vinny Kreyling]

Since the tank was FOWLR for some time PO4 could leach for some time IMO.

 

[jason2459]

Since the tank was FOWLR for some time PO4 could leach for some time IMO.

That is very likely but like I said it wont last forever you just have to wait it out or go the drastic measure of removing it all and doing an acid bath... :hmm3:

I had the same issue of just having to wait for the PO4 to finally drop and get it out of the rocks. I know the rock had to be chock full of PO4 considering the amount I had in the tank at the beginning of this thread. I wouldn't put it past the fact that I might still have some in the rocks slowly leaching out but at least it's being consumed fast enough for me not to detect it now.

 

[jason2459]

I didn't get around to pulling some algae on Saturday. I did tonight for about 15m and hit the right side a little more then normal. Will get some pics tomorrow after the dust settles and the lights are back on.

I did some tests today too.

Temp: 80.1
pH: 8.39
ORP: 289
Salinity: 35ppt

Cal: 440
Alk: 10
Mag: 1340

Nitrate: 0
PO4: 0.01

 

[jason2459]

I think I can safely go to once a month algae clean up instead of every two weeks since I'm pretty much there now.

Post clean up pics:

What was the worse area.

 

[jason2459]

I think I can safely conclude this little experiment with the shapelock "bio" pellets. I think the last time I scrubbed or pulled any thing off the rocks was one more time after the above post in January. The hair algae never really grew back after that. There was some left around here and there and I'm fine with that. I actually like some algae in the tank and so do my clowns.

Last I checked my numbers I still wasn't detecting any PO4 or nitrates for what ever that is worth. I don't remember the last time I saw any cyano. So, I think if I really wanted to I could keep adding in more shapelock or what ever bio pellet I find fit to match the gravel of my tank which the shapelock did really pretty good at.

I'm actually getting rid of the 55g here in the next couple months and will be upgrading to a 180g. I think it's a good time to reset and try something else out. I'll be taking the RUGF with dolomite and put it in my sump and run it there but wont be adding anymore biopellets. The RUGF was turned off pretty much this entire time up to about the end of last month. Just wanted get it going again. No other reason.

The pellets were nice but I had absolutely no control over them if something bad were to have happened. So, that was probably stupid on my part. But the fact that they were right there with the gravel gave an absolutely great medium for the bacteria to grow and really worked well, as described in the patent. On the other hand I don't see myself getting a reactor to run the pellets in as that seems to cause the majority of people's issues in using them and causes more maintenance which I am trying to move as much away from as possible.

So, I've now setup up and I'm ready to go with carbon dosing with vinegar. I will get it going now with some really low dosages and ramp it up over the rest of the year as the shapelock pellets eventually give out. I'll be controlling it with a reefkeeper I already had setup for my new sump in the basement. Just grabbed a jug of vinegar I was using to clean my new tank and cut a slit in the top. Seems to easy.