Why no P Remover with Biopellets

[Duce]

So I decide to open my bag of Vertex Bio-pellets and give it a try.
I noticed the instruction say not recommend to be used with Phosphate Remover at the same time....
I am just wondering why such recommendation and the potential side effects of using them together

 

[bertoni]

I think the idea is that the phosphate removers will consume so much of the phosphorus in the system that the bacteria won't be able to grow very strongly. That might be true in some case, and not true in other cases. I probably would ramp up slowly on the new media, and leave the rest of the system unchanged. Some measurements might give you some idea of how much of a problem the GFO media might be, and you could work from there.

 

[tmz]

The heterotrophic denitrifying bacteria use the organic carbon in the plastic along with nitrogen and phosphorous from the water. They need all three. The idea is to reduce nitrate and phosphate by encouraging more bacteria to grow with the extra organic carbon provided. So I suppose the manufacturer believes a phosphate remover may lower phosphate to a point where the bacteria will not be able to consume the polymers or the nitrate.
As a practical matter in most reef tanks a PO4 limitation is very unlikely since the amount of phosphate used in proportion to organic carbon and nitrogen is extremely small. Many including me use phosphate removers along with carbon dosing.

 

[Duce]

Thanks for info

 

[zoolan70]

I'm running both, but will take the GFO offline after a few weeks. I'm just letting it run to help while the bacteria populate.

 

[tmz]

You ae welcome.

 

[cherubfish pair]

How about running GAC with the pellets?

 

[bertoni]

They'll compete to some extent with the pellets, but in a more balanced way (taking out nitrogen and phosphorus together, most likely) and to a smaller extent.

 

[Acrotrdco]

On the contrary, I've been using NP Biopellets since Jan 2010 and right now I've both Gen 1 and Gen 2 NP Biopellets in my reactor.

Right now I'm also using about 100g of Rowaphos (GFO) in my system to absorb the leftover PO4.

When I don't use GFO, I'll start to measure some PO4 in my system, which I think is accounted to the fact that the nitrification bacteria update N at a ratio at about 10:1, so systems running biopellets will eventually become N limited, and with some P left behind and not being able to be uptaken by the bacteria.

 

[tmz]

When using the pellets or other organic carbon sources, organics are increased in the tank which makes their removal via gac/ skimming /purigen etc. very important , in my opinion.

 

[CorkPullerPHL]

It is my long standing belief that most reef foods generate more phosphate in the water column as compared to nitrate.

If the bacteria metabolize N and P at a fixed rate where N is consumed at a relatively higher rate than P, the P will accumulate in the water column no matter what the bacteria population is.

Is this a sound argument for continuing GFO while using NP reducing pellets?

 

[bertoni]

That statement seems to be true in some cases. In other cases, the tanks might be getting food that's somewhat lower in phosphate. If the nitrate level in a tank is very low and the phosphate level is still considerable, a GFO might be needed to reduce the phosphate level.