How many of you use biopellets, I have some questions

[Andresnyc93]

Hello fellow reefers!

I’ve been thinking of adding some biopellets to my 85 gal since I’ve started giving my fish an extra feeding with Lifespectrum pellets and also feeding frozen I need to lower my nitrates a bit and I’m fine with setting them for a couple of months and then increasing the dose.
My questions are: is any reactor okay to use with these? I’m planning to plumb it out of my skimmer chamber with a feed pump and a mini brs reactor.
How often do these pellets need to be changed after the bacteria has settled in?
Is there any particular brand you guys recommend?

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[KrisReef]

I don't use pellets, once my tank settled in it naturally distroyed nitrates (although I do feed extra lightly ).
When I was considering pellets, I was warned that they can bottom out nutrients very quickly, and to make certain the reactor and pellets used were the right kind/size. Pellets were a newer fad at the time and a lot of people had poor results.

All that to say, if you are dealing with fish only pellets won't hurt a fish tank lowering nutrients to zero. The excess nutrients I had helped support the development of the bacteria I now have that eat nitrates. Phosphates not so much, but another route for nutrient export is carbon dosing. I think it can be a better method, especially for tanks with nutrient hungry corals.

Let folks know what's in your tank and lets see what advice & experience they will provide.

I hate water changes myself

 

[Andresnyc93]

I don't use pellets, once my tank settled in it naturally distroyed nitrates (although I do feed extra lightly ).
When I was considering pellets, I was warned that they can bottom out nutrients very quickly, and to make certain the reactor and pellets used were the right kind/size. Pellets were a newer fad at the time and a lot of people had poor results.

All that to say, if you are dealing with fish only pellets won't hurt a fish tank lowering nutrients to zero. The excess nutrients I had helped support the development of the bacteria I now have that eat nitrates. Phosphates not so much, but another route for nutrient export is carbon dosing. I think it can be a better method, especially for tanks with nutrient hungry corals.

Let folks know what's in your tank and lets see what advice & experience they will provide.

I hate water changes myself

I keep reading mixed reviews as well, my system is currently going through the year mark so sponges are starting to come off the rocks and I’m finishing getting out the “ugly” stage but just wanted to see if there was Something else I could do to help out the process. I do have some nems and LPS in the system so I definitely don’t want to bottom out nutrients and end up with cyano or even worse dynos.

 

[mtraylor]

You need a reactor that will tumble the pellets independently of flow if you want to stay out of trouble. My advice would be to stay away from them if you really don't need it.