jduck
Well-Known Member
Yes, I prefer it over the other 3 I've tried. Allows separate control of pellet tumble and amount of flow through reactor.
Biopellets: Let's here your thoughts
- Thread starter goody
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Yes, I prefer it over the other 3 I've tried. Allows separate control of pellet tumble and amount of flow through reactor.
Alabamareef
Well-Known Member
How long did it take the pellets to start up? Also where did you place the exit line from the reactor?
RavePartyReef
Active Member
I've been curious to do the BP, but since there is a great chance of crash, I prefer to not do it. Some love it, and about the same amount of people have not seen actual results or have had issues...so until I get better feedback,I will not take the risk..
Dowtish
5000 Club Member
People who didnt do enough research to know what they were doing and actually understand what bio pellets are. How they need to add them slowly and have them tumble very slowly, and how the bacteria can aggressively strip the tank of nitrates and phosphates to the point that you lose corals.. That's who.
robby2782
Well-Known Member
Lol, just curious since I've been running them for over 2 years now with 0 issues.
Only thing I've heard people having issues with is adding too much too fast can cause alk to drop and cause bacteria bloom in water column. I added 1/3 recommended amount every other week to be extra safe.
Only thing I've heard people having issues with is adding too much too fast can cause alk to drop and cause bacteria bloom in water column. I added 1/3 recommended amount every other week to be extra safe.
RavePartyReef
Active Member
I would not say that without doing more research to find out who has had those issues first. Generalization based on the success some have does not make the ones who didn't not capable of doing something. As we know reef tanks are not all the same and when we talk bacteria, many things come to play. I know of an experienced reefer that has amazing tanks have issues with an unbalance in his tank that triggered bacterial problems. It is indeed possible, and even though I have not yet tried, I would not say that unless I had ran many tanks and all of them never had issues..just a thought.
Dowtish
5000 Club Member
Ok, I'll say 85% then. Being that BP's were new, and people were having excellent results, got others to jump on the bandwagon without doing any research. Or just giving BP's being on the market long enough for reefers to discover the pros and cons and how to introduce them to your tank and rate of tumble etc. Much less a lot of the pellets on the market I would never run on my tank, given they are not backed up with any real info on where they come from and how they are made. Only Warner Marine's EcoBak and the Dr. Tim's Pearls have given any real insight on the extraction methods of the bio plastics themselves.
Chrisz
Active Member
I never done the bio pellet thing but I am going to give it a try, I have a Bio Churn reactor from reef octopus on order it should arrive Thursday. I intend to go really slow with it I don't want to strip all the nutrients from the tank.
RavePartyReef
Active Member
I agree with you, BP's have given many issues to some people that wanted to run them without learning more about it. I followed a guy's experiment, and his procedures were very well documented and slowly he advanced with the addition of the beads with very slow flow. Some how the bacteria bloom brought some very undesirable problems and his sps too a bit of a dive. The po4 was low, but not to the point to starve the sps, and all parameters were kept constant. His husbandry is excellent and the tank was 2 years old. That was enough to scare me off a bit, but I would like to hear more about success stories to be encouraged with the +'s I guess.
Troylee. Were you running the recommended dose? From what I have read, I think I will start with a very small amount if I decide to try it at all. Vodka did not work out for me. My anemones just hated it and the cyano was awful. Still trying to get rid of that.
This is a great thread
the skimmer...[/QUOTE]
This is a great thread
the skimmer...[/QUOTE]
Alabamareef
Well-Known Member
Ok I'm curious. I've read this whole thread and I'm a little confused on this whole dosing thing. I just hooked up my BP reactor from Reef Dynamics. I've added 12oz of BP to my 180 gallon reef. While waiting for it to arrive I let my P04 come up to 0.23, Hanna Green Egg. Nitrites still 0 via Salifert. I did this so I'd be able to tell when the pellets are activated then to control it I've just got to reduce the flow back into the system. It's been going for three days and looks awesome. I was sent a T fitting and bought a new venturi intake that slipped right onto it so that I'm feeding whats coming from the BP reactor directly into the skimmer. By the way I did an air flow test on the skimmer before and after the new modification and got a little better air flow number after the mod, working like a champ. The Reef Dynamics reactor looked a step above everything else I've read about and Jeff Macare has always returned my calls and answered any questions. Do you guys not have control of the effluent coming from the BP reactor into the skimmer. Also I'm able to controlthe tumble of the pellets independent from the flow of the effluent.
Just wondering why your only dosing a small amount at a time. Is this how you control your pellets and how much they take from the system?
Just wondering why your only dosing a small amount at a time. Is this how you control your pellets and how much they take from the system?
Last edited:
rajkovich207
Well-Known Member
So I've been using the npx BPs in a brs carbon reactor with gentle tumble and 85gph flow through them. I am using aprox 100ml (not even sure how to actually tell, do they mean dry weight in a measuring cup? I've used about half my 200ml bag) added over a month or so time, and have yet to see a drop from 20 ppm nitrates and maybe. 1 for phosphate tested with API test kits. Any one have any ideas?
Me z
Active Member
I used Biopellets on my tank for about two years with excellent results 0 no3 and P04 around .02 with gfo. I got curious about zeovit though and wanted to see if there was a difference. After switching to zeo and seeing the difference I dont have a desire to go back. But biopellets definatley work and they are low low maintenance compared to zeo as well as much cheaper!
big_mike
New Member
Is there anyone can share the information of NP biopllets XL dont need to use biopllets reactor also can reduce the NO3?
Coz i find some information that only using water flow pass thru biopllets XL than can be reduce the NO3
Coz i find some information that only using water flow pass thru biopllets XL than can be reduce the NO3
Saltgator
Tang Keeper
Couple questions for the users out there that either switched to WM brand or took their pellets offline. I have been using BRS brand of pellets now since October in a BR 140 with a nice tumble 940gph pump dialed back a bit. I'm only up to 750ml (recoommended 1000ml). I started with 250 ml of the pellets to get started. Never used a bacteria additive. At the time, I had a slight algae issue from PO4 being a bit high (.25ppm, but sure the algae was keeping that number from showing it's real number). Since October, I did weekly WC to help, but the PO4 hasn't even dropped, nor has the the HA stopped. All my SPS have either RTN'd or are hanging on w/o polyps. My LPS is hit and miss and my nems are stressed. So either I take the BP offline or try a switch to WM. Thoughts??? If you've taken your BP offline, how did you do it and what was the effect? If you switched to the WM (or another brand) how/what procedure did you do it with so not to shock your system?
Last edited:
Alabamareef
Well-Known Member
Although 0.25 is not optimal I don't think it is high enough to have the issues your describing. I say this because while waiting form my Reef Dynamics BP reactor to arrive I elevated my p04 to 0.23 and really had no issues with my SPS or my Nems. I did notice a little algae on the glass and sand bed. Your issue sounds more like an Alk issue, IMO.
After receiving my reactor from Reef Dynamics and getting it on line it took about 7 days and my p04 went from 0.23 down to 0.05. And I'm feeding nori 1 sheet twice a day and using reef chili once a day as well af phytoplankton every other day. I'm still confused with all this dosing with the biopellets. My reactor recommends about 12 oz of BP then turn on. I've got mine at a slow but smooth tumble and the line that goes back into the sump, of course it dumps into the intake of the skimmer, I turned it down to about 25%. Maybe all the dosing is different because Reef Dynamics has independent control of the intake and output. So I can make it tumble as slow or as fast as I like and the outtake can also be as little or as much as I like. Knock on wood so far I'm maintaining a p04 at 0.05.
I know there is alot of hype about the brand of BP we use and I'm not sure I understand all that but I will speak for Reef Dynamics BP and say they seem to be perfect little p04 eating machines. And by the way I've had no other swings in Alk or Ca.
The intake into the skimmer. I bought a new venturi intake and placed this T fitting right over it. Worked like a dream. Clikc on BP photo to see video:
After receiving my reactor from Reef Dynamics and getting it on line it took about 7 days and my p04 went from 0.23 down to 0.05. And I'm feeding nori 1 sheet twice a day and using reef chili once a day as well af phytoplankton every other day. I'm still confused with all this dosing with the biopellets. My reactor recommends about 12 oz of BP then turn on. I've got mine at a slow but smooth tumble and the line that goes back into the sump, of course it dumps into the intake of the skimmer, I turned it down to about 25%. Maybe all the dosing is different because Reef Dynamics has independent control of the intake and output. So I can make it tumble as slow or as fast as I like and the outtake can also be as little or as much as I like. Knock on wood so far I'm maintaining a p04 at 0.05.
I know there is alot of hype about the brand of BP we use and I'm not sure I understand all that but I will speak for Reef Dynamics BP and say they seem to be perfect little p04 eating machines. And by the way I've had no other swings in Alk or Ca.
The intake into the skimmer. I bought a new venturi intake and placed this T fitting right over it. Worked like a dream. Clikc on BP photo to see video:
Last edited:
Saltgator
Tang Keeper
Thanks Alabama. My ALK has been steady at 9. My PO4 I believe is way over the reading of .25 because the HA is relentless. I'll double check my ALK again though in case I'm missing something
Brought to you by a Country Boy utilizing his Evo 4G and the Reef2Reef App
Brought to you by a Country Boy utilizing his Evo 4G and the Reef2Reef App
Alabamareef
Well-Known Member
Yea I'd be interested to know also. Thats a good Alk keep us posted
Nice looking tank. looked through youir build thread, Awesome...... What lights do you have?
Nice looking tank. looked through youir build thread, Awesome...... What lights do you have?
Last edited:
Saltgator
Tang Keeper
Reef Breeder's value fixtures. I'll let ya know on the pellets, might just pull them from the reactor and use a mesh bag in some high flow in my sump (experimenting).
Brought to you by a Country Boy utilizing his Evo 4G and the Reef2Reef App
Similar threads
-
- AMS: Article
