Information needed about Biopellet reactor!

[Patty's tank]

Hello there,

I am in desperate need for some good advice from experienced reefers. I have been battling with Nitrate levels for about 4 months now, and I have had no success in getting them below 10ppm. The guys at my LFS suggested I should get a Biopellet reactor to help with the problem, but I know nothing about this topic or which reactor to purchase.

I have a 75 g tank with a sump and lots of live rock that has been running since August 2016. I have about 9 fish and a green star polyp which is not looking too healthy. My nitrates are consistently at 10ppm and I do 10 gallon water changes a week (which is getting expensive.) I run a Reef Octopus 110-INT skimmer, a bag of Purigen and Chemi-pure Elite (11.74 oz). I have tried feeding my fish minimally to the point where the fish were starving and it didn't help. I feed once a day and the food is consumed in less than a minute, so I don't think I am overfeeding. All other water parameters are perfect.

So to those with experience using Biopellet reactors, do you recommend I get one? and if you do which one do you recommend? I have been doing some reading about the subject and some people suggest they need to be plugged into the skimmer, is this true or can it just simply be set up next to the skimmer? Any advise will help, Thanks

 

[jsker]

If you running a ULNS 10 is high, if not 10 is fine for nitrates. I would be more concerned about the phosphates.
I have run Bio pellets in the past and also had a crash with the pellets running to slow and releasing hydrogen sulfide in to the system. Your system looks newer and you parameters and nutrient are going to bounce around for a while. I would suggest running bio media such as siprox, life bio fil, or Zeovit in your sump flow area, or in a reactor before bio pellets. I use the life bio fil and a tiny bit of the Zeovit media in my sump along with GFO and carbon stacked in a reactor and I need to get my nitrates up again.

 

[GoVols]

No disrespect but you could not get me a Bio-Pellet reactor. "ticking time bombs"
But... TJMO.

Regards, GoVols

 

[AlexG]

I would not be concerned with nitrates at 10ppm. What are the readings for your calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium? I can say that if you were depriving the fish of food that foxface might attempt to eat the star polyps which would not make them very happy. Star polyps can handle some pretty wide water conditions and sometimes they are not always out. Its best to understand all of the water conditions before I can give more advice.

 

[Patty's tank]

I would not be concerned with nitrates at 10ppm. What are the readings for your calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium? I can say that if you were depriving the fish of food that foxface might attempt to eat the star polyps which would not make them very happy. Star polyps can handle some pretty wide water conditions and sometimes they are not always out. Its best to understand all of the water conditions before I can give more advice.

Alk is at 8.5, calcium at 350, magnesium at 1340 and phosphates at .02ppm

 

[Patty's tank]

Thanks for all he replies!!!! Sounds like I need to stay away from a reactor lol what would you guys say is a dangerous nitrate levels? Over 30? Over 50?

 

[Seth Goldberg]

Following along

 

[lion king]

Like others have said, nitrates at 10 is of no concern. Your tank looks pretty clean as well. If you were to add something to manage nitrates and phosphates as well, consider an algae reactor. I tried biopellets and it was a nightmare for me and the reactors ended up in my surplus room. A few months ago I re-purposed the biopellet reactors into algae reactors; and it's absolutely the greatest thing I've done for my tanks in years. for your info check it out:

 

[Patty's tank]

Like others have said, nitrates at 10 is of no concern. Your tank looks pretty clean as well. If you were to add something to manage nitrates and phosphates as well, consider an algae reactor. I tried biopellets and it was a nightmare for me and the reactors ended up in my surplus room. A few months ago I re-purposed the biopellet reactors into algae reactors; and it's absolutely the greatest thing I've done for my tanks in years. for your info check it out:

Awesome I will def try that