Nitrate Reactor/Bio-Pellet advise please

[Todd A.]

I'm pretty new to the whole marine/reef aquarium thing and would like some "professional" opinions on utilizing a bio-pellet reactor to control nitrates. I have a 90gal DT (about 7 months since end of cycling) at home with 7 fish (all currently 3" and less) and have added a few corals (2 zoa colonies, a Kenya tree, and two Gonioporas). All of my water parameters have remained within the suggested levels with little or no additives (20% H2O changes every 3 weeks and a 2-part buffer when needed), except for the nitrates. They have always been on the high side (1o - 2o ppm), but now that I'm adding coral into the mix, I felt the need to get them down to >5ppm so I went with a small reactor and bio-pellets. I've done some research and it seems like the jury is still out on this method of reducing nitrates. It seems simple enough to me, but wanted to be sure that I'm not creating more issues by trying to solve another. I've read that the bio-pellets can strip the water of other needed chemicals.
I'd appreciate any advise or information on the pros & cons of controlling the nitrate levels in this fashion. Thanks in advance and Happy New Year.

 

[malira]

My son has the same set up as you and he went with a bi-'pellets. The worked great at first but after a year we starved the tank and killed a lot of sps. It got his tank too clean. We don't use it anymore and keep the tank at 5 to 10 ppm.
We run a little carbon and a skimmer.

I think the key to running bio-pellets is not over doing them. Take it slow and in small increments.

 

[lou dog420]

The thing with biopellets is that that you don't have a whole lot of control, unless maybe its a recirculating reactor. I have one that I bought but never hooked up after hearing so many horror stores. I started dosing vinegar instead, much easier to control.