Offical Eco-Bak Thread

[rcmike]

I was thinking the same thing about bacterial diversity on mixing them. The only thing that concerned me was two different shapes/sizes not turning over well. I'll give it a go when I get some more.

 

[poolkeeper1]

I'm getting an adverse reaction to the pellets clumping up all the time and they seem to be flaking apart rather quickly as these are New Pellets only about 4 weeks old.
I tossed my 2 year old pellets after the same thing happened after topping the lost volume off with new, Now the same thing is starting all over again for no apparent reason and I'm getting the same White/clear slime on my glass as before and i manually broke them up yesterday and they are like a big rock again this morning.
I have read Jon's explanation for what he thinks is causing this but nothing else in the system has changed or died.
The new reactor is still 4 weeks out at best if they are telling the truth this time, And I'm thinking about going back to dosing Vodka as I never had these problems while using that carbon source!
Bill

 

[gmoney243]

watch that probiotics video from macna bart gave the club lot of good info on all forms of carbon dosing including biopellets. basically tho those pellets are all the same thing and same type of bacteria. in the ocean the bacteria levels and how many types are insane numbers. using those pellets no matter what brand u are producing the same type of bacteria if u want more types which is suppose to be better then add different forms like vinegar and vodka mixtures. the guy also talks about using bacterial inoculators which im not sure he explains why lol but it had more to do with using vinegar/vodka mixtures and Zeovit systems.

 

[rcmike]

I redid my reactor so it would fit in my sump today. It is working very well and it only needs one pump to recirculate the media and to feed the water to it as well. There are two key things to get it to work like this. Make sure your intake from the sump is between the valve to regulate the tumbling and the pump and make sure the output is under water so if the electricity goes out it won't suck air back into the reactor. I wish I had thought to take a picture before hooking it up but I forgot.

 

[poolkeeper1]

I redid my reactor so it would fit in my sump today. It is working very well and it only needs one pump to recirculate the media and to feed the water to it as well. There are two key things to get it to work like this. Make sure your intake from the sump is between the valve to regulate the tumbling and the pump and make sure the output is under water so if the electricity goes out it won't suck air back into the reactor. I wish I had thought to take a picture before hooking it up but I forgot.

Glad to see you got it going, How are you controlling the amount of flow through the reactor that goes back to the sump (Or what's being processed seperate from the tumbling of the pellets??)
Bill

 

[rcmike]

Glad to see you got it going, How are you controlling the amount of flow through the reactor that goes back to the sump (Or what's being processed seperate from the tumbling of the pellets??)
Bill

I just have a small ball valve on the output much like in that video. I basically just lift the end of the output tube out of the water and adjust it to what I want and then stick it back in. It will work just fine with the output not submerged but if the pump is turned off it will suck air back into it. I may try to pull it out of the sump to get a better picture later. Those other ones turned out really bad and you can't tell much of anything. It may not be the prettiest reactor but it seems to be working well. I am using one of those cheap Ecoplus pumps from Aquatic Critter. I think it is the 264gph model but I'll have to check. I told Ken what I was doing with it and he thought it would be too small but it is more than enough.

 

[rcmike]

Here is a little better picture. The water goes in at the bottom of the "T" and comes out at the top of the reactor.

 

[poolkeeper1]

Here is a little better picture. The water goes in at the bottom of the "T" and comes out at the top of the reactor.

I see now, I did not have the ability to do it that way with my current reactor without cutting a hole in it for plumbing and i was not destroying a 119.00 reactor to try something that may or may not work in my case.
Bill

 

[rcmike]

I don't blame you. I had this old thing sitting around for years so I figured if I messed it up it would give me a reason to finally throw it away. :D

 

[gmoney243]

glad u got it working .. at reef dynamics runs ecoplus pumps on some of there skimmers and probably the ractors too. ive used a few of them and they are good and quiet pumps cheap price but seem to be durable mine all still work after almost a year of service

 

[poolkeeper1]

glad u got it working .. at reef dynamics runs ecoplus pumps on some of there skimmers and probably the ractors too. ive used a few of them and they are good and quiet pumps cheap price but seem to be durable mine all still work after almost a year of service

The Reactor says it comes with an Eheim Pump and for the Price I hope it does as they are not cheap.
Bill

 

[rcmike]

I am happy with the pump so far but I've only had that one and the one running in my CA reactor for a few weeks. If it doesn't last as long as others I won't feel too bad because it was cheap. As long as it doesn't nuke my tank with oil like the Rio pump I had years ago.

If that reactor comes with an eheim pump then that is a lot of the cost. I have never owned one myself but from what I have read they are about the most reliable small pump around.

 

[poolkeeper1]

I am happy with the pump so far but I've only had that one and the one running in my CA reactor for a few weeks. If it doesn't last as long as others I won't feel too bad because it was cheap. As long as it doesn't nuke my tank with oil like the Rio pump I had years ago.

If that reactor comes with an eheim pump then that is a lot of the cost. I have never owned one myself but from what I have read they are about the most reliable small pump around.

My GEO Ca Rx has one and it's going on 2 years without ever being looked at, They are very good pumps but very expensive too.
Bill

 

[mixer911]

Ehiems are pretty much the only pumps I will buy. Have had the same return pump running for over 3 yrs, lol.... I only wash it with tap water about every year. All my accessories are run on ehiems also.

Mike, I had a rio pump failure also back in 2002... killed everything in my tank.

 

[SmyrnaReefer]

just got an email from BRS showing off the new reef octopus biopellet reactor. Not saying it is or isnt better than something else, just thought i would share...

Reef Ocotpus reactor

 

[poolkeeper1]

just got an email from BRS showing off the new reef octopus biopellet reactor. Not saying it is or isnt better than something else, just thought i would share...

Reef Ocotpus reactor

I contacted Coralvue about becoming a Sponsor for the Frag Swap, Maybe they will Donate one of these as a raffle Prize to promote their new product or better yet come set up a table and sell them!
Bill

 

[poolkeeper1]

Got the Reef Dymanics Reactor up and running and After 3-4 different types this is the best as far as Tumbling the Pellets by far, And being able to adjust the Flow through the reactor without effecting the tumbling will allow me to dial in the Po4 reduction to my tanks Bioload.
I will attemp to get a video of it running up tomorrow so you can see for yourself, I am very happy to finally get one that works as designed and does it better than any other i have tried or seen.
Bill

 

[Dowtish]

Still having amazing results with my Ecobak. Recently added a new modified piece to my reactor made by Avast. This thing essentially looks like a miniature shower head. And this is there video, and this exactly how it's tumbling.[video=youtube;ZTVGNMVMx9U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZTVGNMVMx9U[/video]

 

[angrycubano]

that's a hefty tumble. I guess I can turn mine up a bit since I don't have mine tumbling quite like that.

 

[Dowtish]

If you notice Mitch, it's really only hefty on one side. Everything else is a subtle tumble, mine is down a notch from this. I would actually slow yours down or keep it the same since adding more tumble encourages more bio-fuel off the pellets, which can cause cyano.