kuruptko
Community Member
I'm wondering which is better and some of the pros and cons right now I'm running a gfo combined with a carbon reactor from BRS but I've been wondering if I should step it up to a biopellet reactor
Bio pellets reactor or gfo reactor
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You could use both if your biopellets are not able to remove phosphates to desirable levels. Biopellets produce bacteria that you skim out and they generally consume more nitrate than phosphate. If you run out of nitrate, the bacteria growing on the pellets will stop dividing meaning the consumption of the remaining phosphates stops.
At this point, you could either run some GFO to remove the remaining phosphate to desirable levels or you can dose nitrate to get the bacteria dividing again to consume the remaining phosphate.
Using either one or both, really depends on what's happening in your system.
I do agree that it really depends on your needs and desires. Yes, GFO does remove phosphates and carbon will keep the water clear. Biopellets is a form of organic carbon dosing that fuels beneficial bacterial growth and in turn can have a lowering effect on nitrates (some correlate that nitrate reduction with some phosphate reduction, however it's not going to be as effective or dramatic as GFO alone). In either case, I would personally not use either GFO or Biopellets unless I had a direct problem with elevated nitrates/phosphates that I couldn't reduce through other filtration or reduction approaches, such as less heavy feedings; increased maintenance schedule or water changes; adding a refugium with ample light source; etc. If none of those approaches were to resolve my nitrate/phosphate issues and they remained much higher than I wanted, then I would entertain GFO/Biopellets. That's just me and I'd imagine there are other reefers out there that may not agree.
Be careful with both, small miscalculation and you could end up with bleached or starving corals or a dino outbreak. Go slow. Start with 1/8 or 1/4 the amount of biopellets/gfo you think you need and test frequently till the system is stable. This can be awhile with biopellets btw can takes weeks to months for the bacteria to populate them fully.
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