Offical Eco-Bak Thread

meintn · Oct 3, 2013

0.53 this afternoon so definitely working with extra load and feeding. Mushrooms are the only thing in the tank that seem ****** off but they have been that way for a couple weeks after the lighting got left on until 2am...

JOKER · Oct 3, 2013

Thats crazy huh?lol... I will let you know how it works. Seems logical, it took my nitrates from 10-20-almost 0 in a month or so.

schooleyosis said:
Feed more to raise nitrates!

schooleyosis · Oct 3, 2013

More=less! Counter intuitive. LOL

I don't think shrooms like clean, low nutrient water.... Mine are alive and spread, but are nowhere near the size of most peoples that I see. I like them and wish they would get bigger but they just don't in my tank.

JOKER · Oct 4, 2013

My shrooms don't like my water right now. They did great when nitrates were higher. Zoas are looking better though.

Tomoko Schum · Dec 1, 2013

Hi y'all,

I am still interested in trying biopellets. The nutrients level of my tank is very low, but there is enough phosphate that my GFO is spent in 15 to 20 days. It's getting rather expensive to keep replacing GFO so often. Is there a good write-up on the use of biopellets somewhere that I can use as a manual?

I have dosed vodka for a good while in the past, but I usually end up giving up on it because my SPS's start to look anemic and stop growing. I never knew exactly when to reduce the amount of vodka since my nutrients were so low to start with (like 0.2 nitrate and 0.03 phosphate.) I'd imagine the same thing can happen with biopellets. I heard that I need to feed my fish a lot (which I thought that I was doing) and I can even add some KNO3 to boost the color...

Dowtish · Dec 2, 2013

Tomoko Schum said:
Hi y'all,

I am still interested in trying biopellets. The nutrients level of my tank is very low, but there is enough phosphate that my GFO is spent in 15 to 20 days. It's getting rather expensive to keep replacing GFO so often. Is there a good write-up on the use of biopellets somewhere that I can use as a manual?

I have dosed vodka for a good while in the past, but I usually end up giving up on it because my SPS's start to look anemic and stop growing. I never knew exactly when to reduce the amount of vodka since my nutrients were so low to start with (like 0.2 nitrate and 0.03 phosphate.) I'd imagine the same thing can happen with biopellets. I heard that I need to feed my fish a lot (which I thought that I was doing) and I can even add some KNO3 to boost the color...

Hello Tomoko-

I dont think there is a specific manual to refer to other than a couple of lengthy threads on various forums. The key is to have a proper reactor and a skimmer that can handle the effluent from the reactor, and starting off slow. 1/4 of the recommended amount of pellets to start and be ready to test a lot after 3-4 weeks. For some it has taken up to 8 weeks before they saw their levels begin to drop. I advise dosing bacteria like MB7 while running pellets or something similar to help fight any cyano from having a new bacteria source residing in the reactor.

Tomoko Schum · Dec 2, 2013

Thank you for the info. My phosphate should be close to zero since I replaced GFO last night. I don't know the nitrate level since I ran out of reagent. A lot of people seem to start out with high level of nutrients. Does bio pellet system work the same way when you start with very low nutrient levels?

Dowtish · Dec 2, 2013

I would say you are better off starting with lower levels. I started my tank on pellets as soon as it cycled 3 years ago, and they have performed wonderfully for me. Most folks come into using pellets because of high levels, add too many pellets and crank up the tumble and strip their entire system so fast that the tank goes into shock, or starves.

You will need to feed often, which is the best thing about using bio pellets IMO. Great color for corals, and fat healthy fish all the while low nutrients and saving money from not using GFO.

jerl77 · Dec 4, 2013

If I am running a recirc bio pellet skimmer

With a set flow rate into the reactors

Does the tumble rate matter ?

Dowtish · Dec 5, 2013

jerl77 said:
If I am running a recirc bio pellet skimmer

With a set flow rate into the reactors

Does the tumble rate matter ?

I'm not sure what you mean by a "set" flow rate. Does this mean you cannot control how much is coming in and going out? What brand reactor is it?

Tumble rate is very important when it comes to bio-pellets. The faster they tumble the better they work at stripping N03 and P04. But at the same time, the faster they tumble the more nutrient rich effluent sloughs off and into the water column, which without a proper skimmer can cause cyano issues.

jerl77 · Dec 5, 2013

I can set the flow rate going in and out of the reactor
Just can't slow down the tumble rate
Going to use a old kalk reactor

Dowtish · Dec 5, 2013

jerl77 said:
I can set the flow rate going in and out of the reactor
Just can't slow down the tumble rate
Going to use a old kalk reactor

Who makes the reactor?

jerl77 · Dec 5, 2013

Pm with a maxi jet 400 as the rec pump

Dowtish · Dec 5, 2013

So you did the Mod yourself?

jerl77 · Dec 5, 2013

No stock kalk reactor can control flow going in and out just not tumble

jerl77 · Dec 5, 2013

Going to use the maxi jet to tumble and feed the reactor with 100-300 gph

Dowtish · Dec 5, 2013

Ok yeah, I was going to say you could put a ball valve in before the 90, but the holes are too close together and it looks like the flow goes the other way.

was thinking something similar to this
Reef Dynamics 135 Bio Pellet Reactor - YouTube