Vertex Pro Bio Pellets

[thebanker]

Well I did it. Upgraded my TLF 150 from Rio 800 to a MJ1200. Now I have 295 GPH through the reactor, and the pellets are moving again. Not a 100% fluid tumble, but a low boil at the surface. I kicked the Rio 800 down to my skimmer, and fitted it with a venturi and airline.

All yesterday, my newly upgraded crappy skimmer was milky with bubbles, but not skimming jack. I went to bed nervous. This morning, I let out a sigh of relief. My biopellets are still tumbling, and the skimmer has a full foam head and half inch of black coffee in the collection cup.

Breakfast is served!

 

[thebanker]

By the way, I should note that my reactor output is not next to my skimmer intake. Since my tank is sumpless, I'm letting the bacteria take a trip through the DT first. I'm really interested in the live food side effect of the solid carbon reactor. I'm also going to keep my miracle mud refugium online. I want the biodiversity, and I think the huge mass of chaetomorpha and caulerpa is a good natural complement to the biopellets.

 

[freezetyle]

By the way, I should note that my reactor output is not next to my skimmer intake. Since my tank is sumpless, I'm letting the bacteria take a trip through the DT first. I'm really interested in the live food side effect of the solid carbon reactor. I'm also going to keep my miracle mud refugium online. I want the biodiversity, and I think the huge mass of chaetomorpha and caulerpa is a good natural complement to the biopellets.

I did this with my biocube. Plumbed the return pump through a reactor and into the DT. seemed to work well for me. Good growth and it looked like the polyps were trying to pull out of the sps

 

[noobtothereef]

I'm also thinking about running Bio-Pellets.

My problem (if I can call it a problem) is that I have never been able to detect any Phos nor Nitrate in my system. I think my test kits are not accurate. Waiting for new test kits to arrive.

i wish i had that problem, do you carbon dose run gfo or anything?? I find it hard to believe that you have never had traces of either on a test kit.....

 

[Montreal Ray]

i wish i had that problem, do you carbon dose run gfo or anything?? I find it hard to believe that you have never had traces of either on a test kit.....

Never had any traces in both systems.

2 sumps, 1 sump in for pump, skimmer, heater...all that good stuff. The other sumps is what eats up PO and Nitrate. That sump consists of:

33 gallon
matrix carbon
duplex set-up
dsb
very very large amount of cheato.

I ran this on my 120G and I run it now on my 60G and I was never able to detect any in over 2 years. No GFO either

 

[tony varrell]

Ok I am 2 weeks into this. I am using 1000ml in a deltec reactor for Approx 300 Gallons. I have noticed the usual improvements water clarity and less fron glass cleaning. NO3 still at 3PPM. But I am having an issue. Initially the pellets were moving in the reactor fine no chanelling what so ever. Now I am getting some minor chanelling on the botton of the reactor which I don't understand why. It can't be a flow issue . As i am blasting the pellets with my return pump (Reeflo Barracuda) and still some channeling. Do the pellets get heavier as they seed in? Is it a problem with the reactor? I really cant increase the flow any more as the pellets are spread to the top of the reactor.. Some help,Please

 

[thebanker]

The pellets get heavier as they culture the bacteria. I had to go from 200 gph to 300 to keep them moving.

I'm loving my pellets. I had a small tuft of briopsis that is now dead. I hardly need to wipe the front glass anymore, and on top of that my blue tipped acroporas are losing their tan coloration and becoming more purple-blue. I'm getting a slow dying of all green hair algae all over my tank.

My skimmer is rated at 200 gph and is pulling out tons of skimmate. I'm not sure how much air it pulls, and it's hard to quantify a skimmer's performance, but I think it is pulling out more in 1 day than my tank previously generated in 4 days.

 

[bertoni]

If most of the pellets are moving a bit, I wouldn't worry too much. They might be getting heavier and stickier with bacteria.

 

[thebanker]

Tony- judging by the dark color of your pellets, they are brand new. Make sure they are really moving because in 1-2 weeks they will get much stickier and heavier.

 

[richierich2000]

anyone getting alot higher orp readings? mine was hard to keep above 360 and now it is 450-465

 

[jason2459]

anyone getting alot higher orp readings? mine was hard to keep above 360 and now it is 450-465

I'm not using the Vertex pellets but a PCL based product and yes my ORP value goes up when I use them. I've tried them twice now and both time my ORP went up by around 100-150+mv.

 

[adamPL]

Ok I am 2 weeks into this. I am using 1000ml in a deltec reactor for Approx 300 Gallons. I have noticed the usual improvements water clarity and less fron glass cleaning. NO3 still at 3PPM. But I am having an issue. Initially the pellets were moving in the reactor fine no chanelling what so ever. Now I am getting some minor chanelling on the botton of the reactor which I don't understand why. It can't be a flow issue . As i am blasting the pellets with my return pump (Reeflo Barracuda) and still some channeling. Do the pellets get heavier as they seed in? Is it a problem with the reactor? I really cant increase the flow any more as the pellets are spread to the top of the reactor.. Some help,Please

Same with mine reactor Tony. I dont know if it is good or bed?

 

[JoeShuck]

I'm getting great results using these pellets. I have been using them for about 6 months now and have gone through pretty much every stage that everyone has reported about throughout this entire thread(yes I read all 13 pages:thumbsup.

Some tips:

For those of you getting the brown slime on the rocks or in the reactor or both, use MB7 and it clears up in a matter of a day or so.

All this business about turning the flow up too much and having too much bacteria getting into the display tank is not really a concern. The bacteria is going to get into your display no matter what and be cycled through your tank. This is a good thing(forgive me, I don't remember who was telling me this, but this comes from someone at Vertex). Take that for what it is, but I have a TLF 150 reactor and a MJ1200 with it about half full of pellets and tumbling pretty fluid like. I got white cloud during the first week or so and did a water change to help lighten it up a bit...I was mainly just worried about the light penetration. Then.....LOTSA brown slime. Read up more on the science of probiotics and found that MB7 really is the tool to use with this stuff.

On the subject of how much to use, just like some were suggesting, start with a small amount and work up until you start seeing changes. Gage your response according to those changes and you will be fine.

Clumping happens and you don't want it. In my reactor, I don't have the sponges at all, nor do I have any mesh screening or anything. What I did do is take the long black plastic screen that comes with the MJ1200 and I superglued it over the outflow hole on the underside of the reactor cap so the pellets wouldn't escape. The rumors that the pellets escaping into the tank will cause a negative effect is false.

Cyano is showing up in spots in my tank and I just use some Brightwell Carbon Source to add to the tank to get rid of it.

 

[Cooper Inc]

Hey I was too lazy in reading the whole thread,lol, but can I or should I run Carbon with vertex bio-pellets? Thanks

 

[sanchoy]

Ok jumped on to the craze, and I have bios up and running. After 2 days I already noticed that the water is more clearer. Less algae film on the glass.

Wow, is this stuff for real or what? I guess the craze can be true, or not... We shall see what we have after one week. I'll post my results.

Running it in a phosban 550 with mj1200 pump.

 

[thebanker]

I'm around 1 month into Vertex pellets, and these are a few things I'm noticing:

1. Dark red cyano is growing on previously robust patches of red turf algae. Does this mean the RTA is dieing off and the cyano is taking an opportunity to grow?
2. Little strings of GHA or something are appearing on the back wall, and pump housings. I'm not sure if it's GHA that's dead, bacterial strings, or if it's GHA that's growing.
3. Alkalinity is being used faster than before.
4. N/P still testing zero
5. Montipora rim is a nice bright pink color, previously it wasn't. Blue acros still look pastel, with tan bases. Not sure if they've really improved or not.
6. LPS does not look as "happy" if polyp extension is any indication.
7. Discosoma mushrooms are not as open as they used to be, however rhodactis looks as good as ever. Strange.
8. Chaeto growth in the fuge has slowed slightly.

 

[JoeShuck]

I'm around 1 month into Vertex pellets, and these are a few things I'm noticing:

1. Dark red cyano is growing on previously robust patches of red turf algae. Does this mean the RTA is dieing off and the cyano is taking an opportunity to grow?
2. Little strings of GHA or something are appearing on the back wall, and pump housings. I'm not sure if it's GHA that's dead, bacterial strings, or if it's GHA that's growing.
3. Alkalinity is being used faster than before.
4. N/P still testing zero
5. Montipora rim is a nice bright pink color, previously it wasn't. Blue acros still look pastel, with tan bases. Not sure if they've really improved or not.
6. LPS does not look as "happy" if polyp extension is any indication.
7. Discosoma mushrooms are not as open as they used to be, however rhodactis looks as good as ever. Strange.
8. Chaeto growth in the fuge has slowed slightly.

Okay, everything you are experiencing is normal, from what I understand. I'm not sure why the cyano grows, however this happened to me and I dosed Brightwell Carbon Source at 5ml per every 50g twice in one week, then dosed MB7 at 5ml per 20g twice the next week. I also increased the amount of pellets in the reactor by 50%(to 150% of previous volume). this has since eliminated the Cyano.

I had, before, experienced some growth of GHA(although a different type of algae than the typical GHA) and I manually thinned it out and it was quick to go away.

Alkalinity is known to be used faster while using probiotics...not sure why, but keep your eye on it. I lowered my PH base in my calcium reactor a little and this stabilized my dKh more. However to compensate, I also dose Brightwell PH at 5ml per 20g once per week as long as the dKh remains stabile. Otherwise stabilize the dKh first, then dose the PH.

HUGE factor in the probiotics is the loss of Potassium. I noticed my blues dulling out once I started with BP's and have since been dosing 5ml per 20g of Brightwell Potassium(I get the powder and make a large solution batch) once per week.

Chaeto will grow slower and probably start dying off it the probiotic system is working properly.

I promise I don't work for Brightwell...:spin2:

 

[thebanker]

I heard that Potassium is not an issue if you're not using zeolites. I guess there's some debate around this. Brightwell's website says it's potassium chloride and potassium sulfate. I guess this is good. I'm using potassium iodide and potassium chloride now. I've heard that the K-iodide version enhances blues, and the K-chloride version enhances pinks.

 

[JoeShuck]

I heard that Potassium is not an issue if you're not using zeolites. I guess there's some debate around this. Brightwell's website says it's potassium chloride and potassium sulfate. I guess this is good. I'm using potassium iodide and potassium chloride now. I've heard that the K-iodide version enhances blues, and the K-chloride version enhances pinks.

Hmmm, not sure about the zeolites...I kinda went the easier route. When I noticed the blues dulling out and I had heard that the potassium declines fast while using BP's, I just went ahead and started dosing. Since then, then blues have come back two fold. Definitely a noticeable difference and for that matter, I think that the potassium dosing has worked a heck of a lot better for bringing out all colors than KoralColor.

 

[thebanker]

Interesting. I thought the K-chloride was increasing my pinks too much, so I stopped dosing. I'll start again tonight and see how things go.

I use BlueLife Precision Potassium. No sulfate, but it's worth a shot.

Bertoni/Randy/Boomer, any insight?