Help with bio-pellets

[Cliff717]

OK guys so here's my predicament .
My bio pellets work very well and unfortunately I cannot get away from using them. They ran out on me about three weeks ago and I had a major nitrate spike I thought that my ATS and my refugium would kick in as the bio pellets deteriorated but they did not so I was forced to fill my reactor with pellets again. My problem is that they work too well I end up with zero nitrates and my LPS start to suffer. How do I control this better? I have read of using a recirculating type of bio pellet reactor that Way I could control the amount of effluent going through the reactor. With that work better? Any experience would be greatly appreciated
thanks
Cliff

 

[cjd]

use less of the bio pellets.

 

[Cliff717]

I have tried that but it is sort of a double edge sword if you have little enough bio pellets in the reactor so that the nitrate start to rise it seems like in very little time The pellets are consumed to a point where nitrates rize to quickly so you're constantly playing with the amounts of pellets in the reactor. I i'm trying to find a way of keeping it more consistent

 

[jsker]

I am using 1/3 of the dose and this has been working well for me.

 

[cjd]

Its just like finding out what your tank consumes in alk and cal and dosing accordingly. If X amount strips nitrates away rapidly try Y . If nitrates climb with the Y amount add less than X . Every tank will be different so testing is the only way to dial down the perfect amount for your tank. Also when adding less did you give them time to for the bacteria to colonize? Nitrates may have climbed because the new bio pellets were not established yet and would have dropped back down to more optimal levels if left on their own. Also what's a major nitrate spike? I cant see Bio pellets running off line cause a major spike especially since you have two other nutrient export methods as back up. Did something die or did you add something new .

 

[Cliff717]

The pellets in the reactor went extremely low so I added about 50 mill at a time over the course of three or four weeks. I am running approximately 200 mill now but during that time well the system was low my nitrates spiked to about 30

 

[cjd]

What is the water volume?

 

[cjd]

And what brand of pellets are you using?

 

[Cliff717]

Display 135 Total volume aprox 250
I am using tlf pellets

 

[cjd]

My experience with bio pellets is that they can take 4 to 8 weeks to start to work, so you adding 50ml a week not seeing the results you want is not enough time . A good base line to start would be use half of what you used before that stripped the water too clean and leave them for 4- 8 weeks . Constant adjustments will make you pull you hair out and give no good results. Set it and forget it! Obviously test weekly to see where the numbers are at . Trusting that you have a decent test kit maybe even get another one to cross check your results. 30 PPM Nitrate isn't a concern as long as things look good in the tank. Bio pellets are simple but also tricky , too much can easily strip your tank of nutrients and starve your corals. I would use less and play a waiting game and just test weekly to see if the numbers came down , if the numbers don't come down after week 4 I would add small amounts. and play another 4 plus week waiting game. The levels are not just going top drop suddenly nor do you want them to. If they went from 30 to say 5 in a night your tank would be in shock and unhappy. Slow gradual decline is what you want over weeks at a time. Im sure they didn't jump up to 30 overnight . Im guessing that your unit of measurement is in liters? total volume of water is 250 l. so in my terms that's about a 35 gallon display and about 67 gallon total/ 200 ml is what the TLF recommends and I would start with about 100ml ,especially since you have other export methods online . Also how are you using them are they in a reactor that tumbles them ? That reactors exit tube should be placed close to the input of your protein skimmer .

 

[Cliff717]

I am talking gallons LOL
I am using a large reef octopus reactor nonrecirculating; in the picture it is the first one on the left

 

[Cliff717]

That is the current level of bio pellets in the reactor right now it has slowly drop the zero nitrate over the course of about 2 1/2 weeks. I noticed my corals were far healthier when I was around 5 nitrate. Maybe I am just using too much. Should I slowly remove a bit at a time

 

[cjd]

Well that's good to know that its a tank in gallons, LOL , because I was going to say why run them on such a small tank when water changes are the best option and save the bio pellets for the big tanks when water changes are not practical in keeping nutrient levels down. So ya you can remove some or you can target feed your corals or feed the tank a lot more . 5 is a good number as long as algae growth is not overwhelming. I think I assumed because your measurement of pellets was in ml , but that's what I get for assuming :p

 

[Cliff717]

Well I am Canadian so u never know if we r talking metric or imperial lol