EcoBak Pellet Journey

[SaraB]

I had heard in discussions about the product that they are mainly for nitrate reduction with some PO4 reduction, but this was not the main focus of the product. If you are running the Bio-Pellets and still have algae, try running a bit of phosphate remover and see if that clears your algae issue is all.

 

[WesF]

Agreed, this is a misconception in the hobby that once you use the pellets you can drop the GFO, which is NOT true .... you must continue to run GFO to control the phosphates.

This makes Biopellets pointless if true. I no longer use GFO now that I use Biopellets. If the pellets can't keep the phosphates down, they will go right in the garbage. They are marketed to reduce N and P. If they don't do both I have no use for them.

Only time will tell.

 

[SaraB]

This makes Biopellets pointless if true. I no longer use GFO now that I use Biopellets. If the pellets can't keep the phosphates down, they will go right in the garbage. They are marketed to reduce N and P. If they don't do both I have no use for them.

Only time will tell.

As I mentioned in my 2nd post above, they do help with phosphates, but if you continue to have algae issues, try some GFO. Remember some people are heavy handed with their feedings, don't rinse their foods before feeding the tank, don't stir their sandbeds, don't have enough flow to keep detrius from settling in their rockwork or sandbeds, or don't watch the TDS levels from their RO/DI ... the list can go on and on, but my point is that each tank will be different so keep tinkering and see what works well for YOUR tank

 

[Acronuts]

ALL very good points that were brought to this discussion. The EB pellets are for removing phosphates and nitrates to acheive the ULNS. What some of us forget is what were we doing to keep those levels as low as possible. I for instance did water changes every two weeks and used Brightwells Phos remover with Instant Ocean's Nitrate remover. Expecting to get super low results immediately is not going to happen. If you are getting some results but have reached a plateau, and you're still not where you want to be, then one needs to look at adding, adjusting or combining with some thing like GFO. Running in the other direction will ultimately lead you to more fustrations.

 

[Guerry]

I'm going to be installing a Bio-pellet system this coming weekend my ? would be should I start with any feeding for this and if so what would be suggested

 

[Bruno]

I have been running ecobac for 3 months and now I have these things in top of my reactor??

Anyone know what they are??

 

[ReeferRob]

Answered in RED!!

ReeferRob,
Something is gotta be feeding your green cynoAgreed but what??. From all the equipment you have it seems as though you got everything covered from new RO cartrigdes to new bulbs and great flow.
In one of your earlier posts you had indicated that your po4 was .17, that is not an awefully bad number. Not great but I have heard of worse. How is it this week?Haven't been able to test in a few weeks, Im out of reagent and none of the LFS carry it. Not a horrible number better than when I first got the hanna and it was 1.something. How are your nitrate readings?Still in the 30ppm by Salifert and API Your live rock was it ever exposed to any meds?Not that I am aware of. I purchased 50 pounds of Marco Premium Fiji Dry and that's all that was started on this tank. Sorry if I asked this already, how often do u change water?Ten gallons every week, depending on how bad the cyno is Ill do 10 gallons twice a week all through air line PITA and do you feed heavily?Practically starving the tank with only 2-3 pinches of NLS Thera A+ pellets and PE Mysis once a week. Along with a squirt of Oysterfeast and Arctipods.
Also I looked but maybe I just did not go far into the thread but how much EB are you running for your tank?Just shy of 500mL container in a TLF reactor

The only other thing I can suggest is for you to call and talk to Jon at Warner Marine maybe he can give you some additional guidelines.I've sent 2 or 3 PM's with no reply, I've given up on him. Any of you guys here know of something we are missing? Thinking of giving erythromycin a try???
I know some guys are running EB with GFO, I have not in the past and I am currently not so I can't give you any advice there.
Anyone can chime in here and help!

 

[cparka23]

I have been running ecobac for 3 months and now I have these things in top of my reactor??

Anyone know what they are??

Bruno, those are just tunicates of some kind. They're filter feeders and aren't something to worry about. I actually like finding these things in the darker areas of my tank, where you wouldn't expect to find stuff growing there.

 

[Akwarius]

With tunicates like that, just more evidence that the bacteria shed from these pellets can be a staple planktonic food. The amount of sponges and feather dusters growing in my tank has been rediculous since starting my pellet reactor.

 

[Bruno]

Thanks!!

Should my pellets be changing? They look the same as when I put them in there on day 1

 

[milkman]

Thanks!!

Should my pellets be changing? They look the same as when I put them in there on day 1

No, they don't change color, but you may see some detritus mixed in with the pellets. Over about six months, they slowly get smaller and you need to topoff with some fresh pellets.

 

[Guerry]

well started the bio-pellet system today, I'd asked a few post past back what everyone was feeding with this type system with no reponse so with alot of studying went with the complete Veovit feeding program guess I'll see what happens :tongue:

 

[Paul_N]

well started the bio-pellet system today, I'd asked a few post past back what everyone was feeding with this type system with no reponse so with alot of studying went with the complete Veovit feeding program guess I'll see what happens :tongue:

Sometimes post get missed when there are a few. In those instances just quote your past question and mentioned you have not received an answer yet..:wink:
It is not really required that your feed the pellets. With that being said you can dose MB7 or any other bacteria to jump start your system and pellets. If you are using Zeovit just use the bacteria portion of the system. I wouldn't recommend running the complete Zeo and the pellets together.

 

[Guerry]

Thanks for the reponse Paul, just wonderring what is MB7 and if this goes good on my frag system plan to install Veovit reactor on 350gal DT system

 

[Paul_N]

Zeovit like Prodibio, Fauna Marin, and Brightwell's Neo Zeo are all bacteria driven systems. It is based on getting the bacteria to multiply in your tank which then consume the Nitrates and Phosphates. It is imperative that you run a good skimmer because the bacteria are then skimmed from your system. You have bacteria that you dose into the tank in each of those system and for Brightwell's it is MicroBacter7(MB7) so if you are using Zeo products they would have their own version which I think is Zeobak. You should NOT use both. I over simplified some of those systems for the sake of not wanting to be long winded and detracting from this thread because systems like Zeo also use the stones that strip your system of certain things and also adding supplements to tweak the colors of the corals. Vodka dosing came about because it broke those systems down to the essentials where vodka is the carbon source. You already have bacteria present in your system but people would still add one of those bacteria sources like MB7 to speed it up the process and also for bacterial diversity. Then pellets came on the market and those of us that have relied on vodka dosing love it because it is basically vodka dosing automated. I don't have to dose twice a day into my tank. So far it's working like a charm for me..:bigsmile:

 

[Guerry]

Thanks for the great info Paul, I'm running a MR-1 on my frag system that has a total water volume of 115 gal between two tanks one is SPS with MH, LED lighting the other is chalise tank with T5 lighting Really looking forward to see how this is going progess and will be sure to post updates :bigsmile:

 

[ReeferRob]

Acronuts WHERE ARE YOU!!? Should I add some more pellets?

 

[Guerry]

well day four of bio-pellets no cloudyness and pellets are tumbling like a dream:wink:

 

[Nuocmam]

Hey Shadowramy, are you dosing any bacteria at all? Or are you relying solely on what's in your tank already?

 

[Shadowramy]

Hey Shadowramy, are you dosing any bacteria at all? Or are you relying solely on what's in your tank already?

Kind of, I still use zeobak with ZeoZyme about once a month.

The biggest change I have made is pointing my pellet reactor away from my skimmer to the return pump to feed my tank. My thinking is that the 'mulm' of bacteria and plakton will help feed the system. So far I havent seen any negative effect and I am getting PE on some off my harder corals.