Warner Marine Now Has A Pellet Product

[noahm]

After many months of running pellets in a BRS reactor i have found that the reactor gets clogged with debri that blocks flow through it and needs cleaning out every so often. I have seen no negative effects from rinsing the pellets in clean salt water to get the flow optimal again. This has helped in keeping the pellets tumbling as desired.
Bill:thumbsup:

I notice the same thing on my brs reactor. My modded plastic mesh screen starts to get plugged after about a month, so I have to kind of reclean everything since I have to dump the pellets to get to that side of the screen. I am thinking of seeing if I can suck the bit of debris through with a shop vac so I dont have to dump everything.

 

[nadking]

Does anyone know where to find the fine plastic screen that you culd put in an MR1 reactor to take the place of the sponges?

 

[drummereef]

Does anyone know where to find the fine plastic screen that you culd put in an MR1 reactor to take the place of the sponges?

Email NextReef. I think they have a Mod that will turn an MR1 into a pellet reactor.

http://www.nextreef.com/

 

[jsdancer]

Does anyone know where to find the fine plastic screen that you culd put in an MR1 reactor to take the place of the sponges?

Go to a craft store or Michaels. They have the plastic mesh rounds. They are in the needle point section of these or even walmart stores. They do come n perfect rounds of different sizes so measure before you go.
I have a MR1 and I believe this reactor is 3" to 4" in diameter. Double check though.

 

[nadking]

great, thanks alot. Looks the mr1 measures in right at 4" diameter

 

[Yogre]

great, thanks alot. Looks the mr1 measures in right at 4" diameter

If you need to ask the salesperson to help you find this stuff it's called "plastic canvas".

I got mine at Michael's, and the salesperson took me right to it. I had to trim one of the 4" round ones down just a bit to fit in my Geo reactor.

 

[nadking]

If you need to ask the salesperson to help you find this stuff it's called "plastic canvas".

I got mine at Michael's, and the salesperson took me right to it. I had to trim one of the 4" round ones down just a bit to fit in my Geo reactor.

I found mine at hobby lobby, they were out of the 4" diameter rings so I just had to get a sheet of it for like 50cents. They had several options to choose from, I picked the one that was the finest, hopefully it does not clog too quick.

I installed the screens today, and also added the rest of my ecobak, about 500 ml, for a total of 1000. So far no obvious results in the tank, but I am only 2 weeks in.

 

[platax88]

The Michaels by my house did not carry it. Wallmart will not be carrying fabrics anymore so they are out of stock. I had to get it at Joann Fabrics. They have rounds and sheets of it. The #7 mesh has been reported to work best.

This stuff is great. I just used the sheets to cover the back of my canopy to keep fish from going carpet surfing.

 

[zoeyo5]

is there any negative affects to running to much pellets. i have a 75 gallon with a light bioload and have been running 500ml for 3 months now and my nitrates are staying about 10ppm with salifert test and phosphates swing from .06 to .08 with hanna phosphorus checker. so i'm thinking of adding another 500ml of pellets for a total 1 liter of pellets. i have them in a nextreef mr1 reactor with a mj 1200. i can only get half of them to tumble, but i assume there is still flow gowing threw the other half.

 

[poolkeeper1]

Too Much

Too Much

is there any negative affects to running to much pellets. i have a 75 gallon with a light bioload and have been running 500ml for 3 months now and my nitrates are staying about 10ppm with salifert test and phosphates swing from .06 to .08 with hanna phosphorus checker. so i'm thinking of adding another 500ml of pellets for a total 1 liter of pellets. i have them in a nextreef mr1 reactor with a mj 1200. i can only get half of them to tumble, but i assume there is still flow gowing threw the other half.

I have gone above the reccomended dose and have not seen any negative effects so far. It has been a few weeks since i added more than reccomended my results have been positive at 1 1/2 times the dose.
Bill

 

[bertoni]

The effects of large dose would vary depending on the amount of nutrients in the water column. It's possible that the bacteria would become phosphorus-limited, for example, so the extra media might have little or not effect, or could drive more bacterial growth. As long as the skimmer is big enough, the tank could be okay, or the oxygen level could be driven dangerously low. There's a wide range of possible outcomes.

 

[poolkeeper1]

Effects

Effects

The effects of large dose would vary depending on the amount of nutrients in the water column. It's possible that the bacteria would become phosphorus-limited, for example, so the extra media might have little or not effect, or could drive more bacterial growth. As long as the skimmer is big enough, the tank could be okay, or the oxygen level could be driven dangerously low. There's a wide range of possible outcomes.

I have seen no real results from Eco-Bak until i increased the amount of pellets, Which i believe is due to Bio load in the tank (Or Nutrients) My tank is way overstocked at the moment while i wait for a larger tank and i feed my too many fish very liberally twice a day. That being my reasons for adding more than the recommended dose of EB. Bertoni has some valid points he mentions but in my situation i have not seen any ill effects from doing so and all my coral are doing great, Colors growth polyp extension and water quality are the best they have been in this 60gal tank since being set up around 7 months ago.
Every tank is different and there are many way's too keep a successful tank so i will caution any one from doing as i do unless your situation is similar to mine and you are not seeing results from your current use of EB.
I do not test for DO but with 2 MP40 on a 36" long tank making every last polyp in the tank move vigorously and all the fish being very healthy i see no signs of any ill effects from my approach to nutrient reduction via EB.
My advice would be to follow Jon Warners recommendations as to how to use his product.
Bill

 

[platax88]

The effects of large dose would vary depending on the amount of nutrients in the water column. It's possible that the bacteria would become phosphorus-limited, for example, so the extra media might have little or not effect, or could drive more bacterial growth. As long as the skimmer is big enough, the tank could be okay, or the oxygen level could be driven dangerously low. There's a wide range of possible outcomes.

Hi bertoni ... So what happens when N03 or Ph4 is out of ratio? (I believe there is some fancy name for that ratio) For example, if you drive down your PH4 to 0 but still have Nitrates or vice-versa. Will the bacteria NOT consume anymore of the N03? You would have to resort to other export options?

Is there a way to maintain this ratio or is it something that eventually balances off... OR ... am I just really confused :spin2:

 

[Zedar]

That is exactly what happens.

If any one of the three, DOC, N03, P04, become limited then the bacteria starve. We are adding a carbon source for that very reason. Its become limited while P04, N03 rise to unhealthy levels.

As long as we continue to add carbon the bacteria eventually reduce P04 and/or N03 to very low levels. Which mimic the natural environment of our corals.

Its my belief that at some point, N03 becomes limited more so then P04, and introducing some N03 to drive p04 lower is a good idea.

 

[platax88]

That is exactly what happens.

If any one of the three, DOC, N03, P04, become limited then the bacteria starve. We are adding a carbon source for that very reason. Its become limited while P04, N03 rise to unhealthy levels.

As long as we continue to add carbon the bacteria eventually reduce P04 and/or N03 to very low levels. Which mimic the natural environment of our corals.

Its my belief that at some point, N03 becomes limited more so then P04, and introducing some N03 to drive p04 lower is a good idea.

What happens when we introduce food. I broadcast feed like a mofo. What if that food has more n03 than ph4, in theory we can be throwing that balance out of whack more and more right? Sheesh...

So lets say we want to keep PH4 at .01, what would a balanced amount of N03 be? I think there's some equation out there. <-- does any of this crap really matter lol or should we just leet things be at the level that our tank stabilizes at with the pellets?

 

[Zedar]

Most food is higher in P04.

I would rather have P04 limited then N03 so i add some KN03 when i notice my SPS corals getting too light in color. Ive been dosing vodka for a few years now.

 

[poolkeeper1]

Confused

Confused

That is exactly what happens.

If any one of the three, DOC, N03, P04, become limited then the bacteria starve. We are adding a carbon source for that very reason. Its become limited while P04, N03 rise to unhealthy levels.

As long as we continue to add carbon the bacteria eventually reduce P04 and/or N03 to very low levels. Which mimic the natural environment of our corals.

Its my belief that at some point, N03 becomes limited more so then P04, and introducing some N03 to drive p04 lower is a good idea.

So in what way are you saying that No3 should be added back to the system, Are we not striving to reduce these nutrients from our system? Why would adding more benefit this process in any way?
As i do not have as good a test for No3 as i do for Po4 (Hanna Phosphorus PPB) for me there is currently no way to tell just how accurate my Salifert No3 test results are, 0 No3 and 4 ppb No4 and all is well in the tank.
Most likely there are many way's to be successful without doing things exactly the same and whatever works in one's own situation is the way to go IMO
I have seen tanks that in my mind everything should be dead that thrive for people that use methods that i wouldn't dare to try but to each his own!
Bill:dance:

 

[Zedar]

Yeah not everyone agrees that adding N03 is a good idea. It worked for me.

This is what happened to my tank.
I started vodka dosing and the hair algae died, so i thought "great, more is better!". After awhile my corals started to look pale. Blastomussa wasn't opening much, SPS were pale. I posted photos and someone stated that i should add amino acids to the tank. Every time i added amino acids i would get this ugly black slime algae so i stopped.
I started getting Cyano bacteria on the sand in thick mats and my corals became more pale.

I started noticing that all the nicest tanks seemed to have N03 at somewhat higher values (5 - 20 ppm) then my undetectable values.

I added Potassium nitrate and within a few days all the Cyano was gone and my corals started coloring up.

some of us believed at the time that amino acids are really just a shot of Nitrogen for our corals.

Ive maintained my tank like this ever since. Ive had incredible growth.

Cyano thrives in a Nitrogen limited environment.

 

[DJREEF]

So in what way are you saying that No3 should be added back to the system, Are we not striving to reduce these nutrients from our system? Why would adding more benefit this process in any way?
As i do not have as good a test for No3 as i do for Po4 (Hanna Phosphorus PPB) for me there is currently no way to tell just how accurate my Salifert No3 test results are, 0 No3 and 4 ppb No4 and all is well in the tank.
Most likely there are many way's to be successful without doing things exactly the same and whatever works in one's own situation is the way to go IMO
I have seen tanks that in my mind everything should be dead that thrive for people that use methods that i wouldn't dare to try but to each his own!
Bill:dance:

Exactly. I find it amazing how people fixate on the numbers even though everything in the system is doing great, and looks phenomenal. I dunno, I guess this hobby draws out the OCD in everyone.

DJ

 

[Zedar]

Exactly. I find it amazing how people fixate on the numbers even though everything in the system is doing great, and looks phenomenal. I dunno, I guess this hobby draws out the OCD in everyone.

DJ

I dont even test for P04 or N03. I stopped years ago. The tank tells you what you need to know