What's Your Problem With Bio-Pellets?

[Chicago]

my reactor has been working good for about 5 months.. recently though lost some frags.. I noticed at same time phosphate reading 0.00 which I never have had.. some corals look a little faded.. others look great..

issue I have is the coralline algea is not going great and I have this coating growing on my rocks.. not cyno but almost like a detritus covering..its hard to describe.. it easly brushes off.. I think some type of bacterial growth..

adding more current and slowing the out flow of the reactor down..

 

[BryanW]

I started using bio pellets on day 1 of my 500gal setup. The results from day 1 thru about 1.5 years were very good. Zero algae,good coral growth, everything was working great. With the increase in coral growth, I upgraded my calc reactor and this posed a problem with constant calc carbonate choking the flow of water through feed pump, and inside the reactor itself. Calc Carb buildup was a constant monthly battle. Then the algae issues started to pop up...red, green, hair etc. Ran heavy GFO changing out weekly, water changes, etc. Took bio's off a couple months ago and also put a algae scrubber in place and now just starting to win the algae battle again and all of a sudden I'm seeing coral growth that I've never seen before. Pretty amazing to say the least. Still early to see how this setup will work, but very happy with progress. I'm no rocket scientist so can't say if pellets were a cause or not in my tanks demise, but I'm certainly happy with the turn around at this time.

 

[S2minute]

I started using Bio-pellets again in my 400+ gal system. I use a modified 2 little fishes Phos ban reactor and it's T-ed off the main pump line. It's outlet is placed in the DT but, here's what i did different. Originally, i used just an 1/8 of what was required. This time i used even less. Just a small fistful. Maybe less than an ounce. Within 2 days i noticed all my corals reacting positively. Esp. the Acans. They greatly expanded. The water stayed clear, Pellets keep tumbling and the skimmate is greater and thicker. It's been this way for i'd say 2-3 months now. I really should keep written records . Anyway, the only thing i run other than that it ROX 0.8 like 1-2 days before a water change and if the PO4 rises above .03 i use LC to knock it down. The directions for use for the BP IMHO calls for way to large an amount to use.

 

[jsdancer]

I am using the recommended dose of Two Little Fishies NPX Bioplastics in my nano. I can see a BIG difference.

Now, i have to scrub my glasses 1 or 2 times a week and the hairy algaes do not grow anymore.

All my livestock doing well : LPS, softies, nps, zoan/paly and anemones.

I'm dosing Element trace, amino acid and phytoplankton 2 times a week.

I'm feeding my corals 2 to 4 times a week with coral frenzy, dried phyto, homemade food and pellets.

Hey there just wondering how things are going with your tank and usage of the NPX Bioplastics. I have finally added the required amount to my setup over several weeks. While I have noticed a drop in phosphates I have only not seen an incredible decline in nitrates after 7 weeks of use. How quickly or how long did it take you?

 

[SuperChimps]

I know its a few years old, but I came across this thread because I'm about to start experimenting with bio-pellets in an attempt to keep my nitrates/phosphates down.

Quick question about the actual use of bio-pellets - I have bought a product from a company called Marine Sources, and their instructions say use 50mL of beads per 200 L of water, per week - for the first month. If I had a 200 L tank say, do you think they mean add 50 mL worth of beads, and then take them out and swap for a second 50 mL the next week and so on... or do they mean add 50 mL one week, another 50 mL the next week (for a total of 100, then 150 the next week etc..). Its probably a dumb question, but I don't want to stuff my tank up

I've looked at their web-site, but large parts are in Chinese, and the only point of contact is a sales email - which i'll try anyway.

The product also says an anaerobic layer will form on the beads and provide additional de-notification. So won't there always be the capacity for some H2S to form in this situation even under 'normal operating conditions'? And if that's the case, do you think periods of inactivity are going to cause big problems in this regard? I ask because I was thinking of having the reactor on a timer to save noise/power bills.. operating 12 hours a day instead of 24

 

[tmz]

I have no idea what they mean or what the product you have is made of. Typically, the beads/pellets in bio pellets are solid polymer plastic all of which is bio degradeable; and doesn't require removal steps.

The bacteria that feed on the polymer plastic: use free oxygen ,; when it's exhausted they go to nitrate for oxygen ; when NO3 exhaused, sulfate reducing bacteria take over and they produce H2S( hyrdogen sulfide) as a bi product. Contiuous flow is important;stagnant water will likely become anoxic.

 

[Osama]

Following ...

 

[yacn]

My nitrates are 160+....150 gallon tank with 40 gallon sump. 10 year old tank with 120 lbs. live rock and maybe 2 inches substrate. Maybe old tank syndrome and bad husbandry led to high nitrates. I've done 3 large water changes the past 2 months and cleaned rocks and substrate thoroughly.

Started vodka dosing about month and half ago....haven't seen a change in nitrates yet, but everything I read tells me it can take 3 to 4 months. I decided I wouldn't be able to dose vodka every day due to vacations and business trips so I added BP with TLF 150 reactor about a week ago. I used 100ml of BP (about 2 cups), which is recommended dose for 100 gallons....probably a bit more than I should have started off with.

2 days ago my DT tank got a bit cloudy and yesterday so cloudy white you could barely see the back of the tank. My reef octopus 2000 skimmer was over flowing with whitish foam. I hooked up a second skimmer (euro reef 100), and have the output of the BP reactor right in front of the intake of this skimmer...my mushrooms, zoos and leathers are not looking so good.....fish seem okay but not great.

I was going to pull some of the BP out of the reactor when I get home from work today. I haven't vodka dosed in 2 days either since noticing the water getting cloudy. BP's are moving around nicely with water flow in reactor....I have maybe 10 pieces clumping at top of chamber. I think my tank gets more cloudy when the lights come on, and have brown growth on substrate in DT...but the brown growth isn't like a thick carpet or slime coating....instead it is on the individual pieces of substrate. That was happening before the BP were added....I think vodka made this occur...not it's just a bit worse.

worried I'm going to lose things or crash my tank....thinking I should let it go for another day or so like everyone is mentioning it will go away.

 

[Osama]

Am by no means an expert but I will start by saying that cloudiness is possibly from the excess bacteria generated by the BP that the skimmer is not taking enough of it out in a timely manner. Check your nitrates and PO4 before dosing anymore vodka... Add aeration to the tank (check ORP or O2 if U can) excess bacteria needs oxygen ... I put two air-stones on top of my MP60s pump to increase oxygenation. I tried BP but stopped it as my reactor needs a stronger pump. MAY reactivate. Pls take my commenst with a grain of salt as am old timer in the hobby but naive about BP, GFO etc. AM used to all natural system.... Hope some others with better solid knowledge would chime in soon. Good Luck .. my few cents in case

 

[yacn]

I appreciate the feedback.....

When I got home from work yesterday the tank was still cloudy but not as bad as the day before. It cleared up a lot. I'm assuming I went through the normal 3 day cloudy period described by many that have started using BP. I left my second skimmer hooked up to help with oxygenation and to help pull stuff from the water. I'm emptying both skimmers twice a day...mostly foam bursting through the lid....not a lot of water in the cups. I also took a fine mesh net and scooped up foam that was floating all over in my sump. Leather and mushrooms have shrunk up but all my fish look good. I stopped vodka dosing until I take a nitrate reading and other tests. Probably do that tonight...

 

[orly20]

Update Please!!

Update Please!!

Just read through the entire thread and it had some of the best anecdotal experiences with BP.

I have a 120 with a aquamaxx cone3 skimmer rated for a 350 and since day one I started with the full recommended amount for my tank. I am using an aqualund recirculating reactor and just now I am noticing the nitrates to go down. I only have about 7 fish in there now and I am feeding twice a day about 2-3 cubes a day.
It's been about a week now that cyano showed up lightly over the sand. I have two CP40 gyre one on either side of the tank.
I have no corals in the tank now just sticking fish first while I figure out the BP.

I'd love to read on any new revelation on the cyano issue and BP!

Thanks!

 

[cougareyes]

210 fowlr with a heavy bioload, about 150 water volume running an eshopps 300 skimmer. I read everything I could and felt like I set everything up to best of my abilities. Using an Aquamaxx xl reactor I started with 1/4 recommended pellets. Cyano started slow and I thought it would run it's course, it didn't it over ran my tank; took me at least 2 month to get everything back in balance after I pulled the reactor.

 

[orly20]

I feel that pellets if properly understood can be a solution to many of the common problems hobbyist have when dealing with reef tanks. Nutrient export is definitely one of the many points we try to master but reading on pellets people just have to have a certain degree of luck to get them working as intended. I hope to keep researching and hopefully find a balance before I give up on them. Thanks for the posts.

 

[cougareyes]

Just read through the entire thread and it had some of the best anecdotal experiences with BP.

I have a 120 with a aquamaxx cone3 skimmer rated for a 350 and since day one I started with the full recommended amount for my tank. I am using an aqualund recirculating reactor and just now I am noticing the nitrates to go down. I only have about 7 fish in there now and I am feeding twice a day about 2-3 cubes a day.
It's been about a week now that cyano showed up lightly over the sand. I have two CP40 gyre one on either side of the tank.
I have no corals in the tank now just sticking fish first while I figure out the BP.

I'd love to read on any new revelation on the cyano issue and BP!
Thanks!

Since you started with the full recommended amount I would keep a close eye on the cyano, if it doesn't even out and start to resede I would think about pulling at least half of the bp, that may help. BP are tricky I had a friend bragging how much she loved running her's, I gave her my jar of pellets when I pulled mine. She ran it for months, saw her recently and she pulled it from her system too.

 

[orly20]

Since you started with the full recommended amount I would keep a close eye on the cyano, if it doesn't even out and start to resede I would think about pulling at least half of the bp, that may help. BP are tricky I had a friend bragging how much she loved running her's, I gave her my jar of pellets when I pulled mine. She ran it for months, saw her recently and she pulled it from her system too.

Hi Cougareyes,
I've still been running the Ecobak Plus pellets in the circulating receator and I still get cyano on my crushed coral which is my sand bed. I don't have sand but crashed coral so I'm not sure if the crushed coral might be leaching out some phosphate.



I swore I read enough on these things to get to workout. Since I haven't put corals in the tank yet I'm not stressing it. The cyano is not that bad and it looks worse in the morning once the lights turn on as if it grew over night.

I'll keep trying and reading

Also my nitrates are at 5.0 and phos at 0

I guess the cyano is a small side effect to deals with at the moment

 

[yacn]

I thought I would post another update.

I continued to vodka dose through May. My nitrates finally dropped. I did major water change and stopped vodka dosing....hoping the BP would take over from there.

I consistently get cyano on my substrate. I am going to take tests this weekend before I do another major water change this weekend.

Hoping my nitrates will finally be within normal ranges.

I don't care for the cyano.
I'm not sure if I will continue BP or not at this point it will depend on the near future results I see.....still not certain it is helping or not. I was seeing cyano when I was just vodka dosing prior to adding BP. I've read vinegar dosing is better and doesn't lead to cyano growth. If I decide to do this I'll need an auto doser. I may just go back to doing more water changes or even consider ATS.

 

[tmz]

My experience has been different with soluble organics(ethanol and acetic acid/ vodka and vinegar) Some cyano during start up for a month or so which I think is a result of a shift in competition for reduced nutrients; none for the last 7 years or so; no gfo for the last 3 years. The 650 gallon system receives 90 ml of 95% acetic acid vinegar and 36 ml of 80 proof vodka ,bolus dosed in a split dose am and pm Coral vibrancy is excellent, nuisance alge is exteremly minimal. PO4 sits at 0.02 to 0.04ppm with NO3 around 0.2ppm despite very heavy feeding for over 50 fish.

If you have the time and interest a quick look at Randy's posts 2,3 and 4 might be helpful. Mine 156 and 159 might also be of interest.

For lots of detail on organic carbon dosing including many reports form users you may also find this thread of interest:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2134105&highlight=organic+carbon+dosing

 

[cougareyes]

Hi Cougareyes,
I've still been running the Ecobak Plus pellets in the circulating receator and I still get cyano on my crushed coral which is my sand bed. I don't have sand but crashed coral so I'm not sure if the crushed coral might be leaching out some phosphate.



I swore I read enough on these things to get to workout. Since I haven't put corals in the tank yet I'm not stressing it. The cyano is not that bad and it looks worse in the morning once the lights turn on as if it grew over night.

I'll keep trying and reading

Also my nitrates are at 5.0 and phos at 0

I guess the cyano is a small side effect to deals with at the moment

I'm definitely not the one to ask I was just sharing my experiences, but I can give you all the solutions that were given to me that didn't work. The first was what I said earlier about removing some of the pellets, 2nd is to slow down the tumble(if it's too aggressive it could be sloughing too much), 3rd tune the skimmer to skim a little wetter. Your nitrates and phosphates look good, and if the cyano isn't bothering you yet, I'd say ride it out.

 

[GimpyFin]

I've been using ecobak plus for probably a couple years now and love it. Aside from a little cloudiness early on, I haven't had any ill effects and no cyano (Don't have overly high flow in the tank, but no real dead spots either.) I use a hydra aquatics biopellet reactor that keeps the pellets tumbling almost perfectly without clumping or beating them into oblivion and the output is right next to the inlet on the skimmer. I don't use gfo, just biopellets and some sand/rock/chaeto in my refugium. Nitrate has stayed around 2 ppm give or take and phosphate usually .02 ppm or less.

 

[darrick001]

I am running BP but only about 2 tablespoons in a 300+ gal system. I am not using it to reduce nitrates but to increase bacteria as a coral food source. Nitrate reduction is a nice side benefit of my experiment. There is another possible cause of the cyno. As the bacteria count increases so dose the demand for o2. If the bacteria count gets high enough the o2 can drop. This is often counter acted by adding air stones. When the bacteria use the o2 we are left with co2 and cyno and Dino populations explode in the presence of high co2 level's. Even if your nitrates are at zero cyno and Dino will grow like crazy if your co2 levels are high.