Bio pellet reactor thoughts??

[I never finish anythi]

Hi reefers, have you had success with bio pellet reactors for keeping nitrates in check.

Is there a downside to using one ?

Why you use one / don't use one .

I'm new to the hobby and would love you're thoughts and opinions.

 

[DanyL]

It's a very effective tool when used correctly, you need to make sure to let it break in and to direct the outlet of the reactor to the inlet of the skimmer.

The downsides I can think of compared to other carbon sources are:
1. Requires a special reactor.
2. Takes quite a few weeks to break in.
3. Hard to adjust the flow to be just right for proper usage.
4. Could easily bottom out nitrates if not careful.

The reasons to use one can be many:
1. You want to reduce nitrates
2. You want to stabilize fluctuations in nitrate by removing slightly more than you need and dosing it back again for fine tuning.
3. You want to reduce phosphates, but your nitrates are limited by carbon.

I've been using it for all of the above reasons, for years, and found that running it in an a well established system can one really benefit from it, more than a freshly setup system however.

 

[I never finish anythi]

Thanks for the reply . Some good points made . So, say I noticed my nitrate are getting low , say they are at 5 and they are still dropping should I turn off the reactor, reduce the flow going through it or just remove some of the pellets . This is where I'm getting confused.

 

[DanyL]

It depends.

If you have spare flow to decrease it, then that's an option - but if you limit the flow too much there is a risk for the media to clump together, and basically make it unusable.

The other two options you have are more practical in my opinion:
1. Like you mentioned already - to remove some of the pellets
2. To dose a bit of nitrates every day to balance it back - this is what I personally prefer and do.