Question about Bio-pellets.

Ibra9 · Aug 27, 2016

What made me thinking about using bio pellet are less frequency of changing water maybe once per month because I just have a baby, and enjoying more time when I feed the tank. I don't want to change water every week or bi weekly. Right now I'm fighting bryopsis. Mg in my tank at 1800 ppm, keep it a month or so until they are gone. Than battle bubble algae and aiptasia.

1st: I'm using GFO+carbon reactor. Should I keep GFO+carbon reactor running when I start using bio pellet?
2nd: What can I dose when using bio pellet? (I heard ppl use bioptim, bioDigest, Brightwell aquatics microbacter7...) any suggestions?

or do I have to dose anything? I mean not ca, alk, mg.
3rd: Is it ok to put the outlet of the bio pellet reactor near the intake of the skimmer? or It has to be inside the skimmer?
4th: What brand of bio pellet would you guys suggest?
I am more than happy to hear from you guys!

Here is my 45 cube mixed reef, 20 gallon sump with 1x MatinePure ceramic biomedia Plate 8x8x1 in, 5 small fish. Sorry about the unclear picture.

Anthony Wood · Aug 27, 2016

1: you can still use GFO and carbon down the line you may find you don't have to use as much GFO.

2:someone with biopellets will have to answer this.

3: near is ok the more water that goes into the skimmer from the BP reactor is obviously better. Don't stick the tube into the input of the skimmer it'll mess with the skimmer. More then likely the skimmer pump will draw in more water the then BP reactor output is so putting the output near but not in will do just fine.

4: Biopellets are just a carbon source for bacteria. The theory being bacteria in the BP reactor wil consume nutrients in the tank faster then nuisance algae and other unwanted things consume the nutrients. Go with whatever you want BRS brand is pretty cheap.

Whatever you do start with a very low dose! And add more BP over a course of months as not to shock your corals from nutrient deficiency. You don't wasn't undetectable phosphates and nitrates it's cause your corals to go pale and worst case bleach out. The addition of BP's isn't not a quick fix it's going to take months for you to start to see any noticable difference from their addition. I'm talking 4-6 months if not longer. So be patient! If your tank calls for say a cup of BP start with an 1/8th of a cup for that 4+ months until you start noticing them start to make an effect. Then start to add more over the course of more months until you get the result you want. I wouldn't be surprised if it took you up to a year to get the right amount of BP's in the reactor for your bioload and not damage your corals in the process. I mean ya maybe you can get it done faster but at that point is it worth risking bleaching corals, possibly killing them and having to deal with cyano which is another side effect of adding BP's to quickly. Best of luck!

Broadfield · Aug 27, 2016

Ibra9 said:
What made me thinking about using bio pellet are less frequency of changing water maybe once per month because I just have a baby, and enjoying more time when I feed the tank. I don't want to change water every week or bi weekly. Right now I'm fighting bryopsis. Mg in my tank at 1800 ppm, keep it a month or so until they are gone. Than battle bubble algae and aiptasia.

1st: I'm using GFO+carbon reactor. Should I keep GFO+carbon reactor running when I start using bio pellet?
2nd: What can I dose when using bio pellet? (I heard ppl use bioptim, bioDigest, Brightwell aquatics microbacter7...) any suggestions? or do I have to dose anything? I mean not ca, alk, mg.
3rd: Is it ok to put the outlet of the bio pellet reactor near the intake of the skimmer? or It has to be inside the skimmer?
4th: What brand of bio pellet would you guys suggest?
I am more than happy to hear from you guys!

Here is my 45 cube mixed reef, 20 gallon sump with 1x MatinePure ceramic biomedia Plate 8x8x1 in, 5 small fish. Sorry about the unclear picture.

1) Most do not run carbon while using bio-pellets. I run pellets without carbon and my water is absolutely crystal clear. You will most likely need to run GFO or some other form of phosphate removal though. While bio-pellets do remove phosphates, it's a very small fraction compared to how much nitrate it removes. It's also going to depend on your load, how much you feed etc. I run pellets and GFO FWIW. I have zero algae and my nitrates are virtually zero... sometimes they actually are, so I feed a little heavier.

2) You will want to dose some form of bacteria... I use Prodibio BioDigest and Prodibio Reef Booster(not a bacteria). The bacteria is what feeds on the bio pellets. Prodibio Bioptim basically serves the same purpose as the bio pellets themselves.... therefore I can't recommend using the two together. You may have great success and you may not.

3) Yes, you definitely want it near the input of the skimmer.

4) They are all going to work VERY similar. I use EcoBak pellets myself and have been very happy. Some say they get a "mulm" on the sand and a very light white film on the glass with other brands. I get neither with EcoBak.

You can also check out Marc's latest video... some good info in there:

Ibra9 · Aug 27, 2016

I think after getting rid of bryopsis algae, I'll do 10% water change weekly to bring the Mg down, than I will start using bio-pellet to control bubble algae. I know it takes months to years to be success in this hobby

. I've also watched Marc's video before I posted. Now I am more clear about BP. Thanks to both of you guys for replying.
How often do u guys change water? I know the more often is the better because new water will replace trace elements that corals used and export nutrition. I will not be able to do water change bi-weekly because I have 4 tanks + a 55 gallon planted tank. May be every week with 1 or 2 tanks. It will take 1 month or so to do water change again.

Anthony Wood · Aug 27, 2016

Ibra9 said:
I think after getting rid of bryopsis algae, I'll do 10% water change weekly to bring the Mg down, than I will start using bio-pellet to control bubble algae. I know it takes months to years to be success in this hobby . I've also watched Marc's video before I posted. Now I am more clear about BP. Thanks to both of you guys for replying.
How often do u guys change water? I know the more often is the better because new water will replace trace elements that corals used and export nutrition. I will not be able to do water change bi-weekly because I have 4 tanks + a 55 gallon planted tank. May be every week with 1 or 2 tanks. It will take 1 month or so to do water change again.

I don't run biopellets or GFO but with the macro and ozone on my 400g+ system with a very light bioload for the time being anyways, I get away with doing a 55g WC once a month.

Ibra9 · Aug 27, 2016

Broadfield said:
1) Most do not run carbon while using bio-pellets. I run pellets without carbon and my water is absolutely crystal clear. You will most likely need to run GFO or some other form of phosphate removal though. While bio-pellets do remove phosphates, it's a very small fraction compared to how much nitrate it removes. It's also going to depend on your load, how much you feed etc. I run pellets and GFO FWIW. I have zero algae and my nitrates are virtually zero... sometimes they actually are, so I feed a little heavier.

2) You will want to dose some form of bacteria... I use Prodibio BioDigest and Prodibio Reef Booster(not a bacteria). The bacteria is what feeds on the bio pellets. Prodibio Bioptim basically serves the same purpose as the bio pellets themselves.... therefore I can't recommend using the two together. You may have great success and you may not.

3) Yes, you definitely want it near the input of the skimmer.

4) They are all going to work VERY similar. I use EcoBak pellets myself and have been very happy. Some say they get a "mulm" on the sand and a very light white film on the glass with other brands. I get neither with EcoBak.

You can also check out Marc's latest video... some good info in there:

How much and how often should I dose Prodibio BioDigest and Prodibio Reef Booster. Total volume is 50 gallon. I can double dose for the other tank that has around 95 gal too.

Broadfield · Aug 27, 2016

Ibra9 said:
How often do u guys change water? I know the more often is the better because new water will replace trace elements that corals used and export nutrition. I will not be able to do water change bi-weekly because I have 4 tanks + a 55 gallon planted tank. May be every week with 1 or 2 tanks. It will take 1 month or so to do water change again.

I do a 15% water change every Sunday. But my complete water change takes 10 minutes and I only have to turn a couple of valves and push a button on my phone lol.

Ibra9 said:
How much and how often should I dose Prodibio BioDigest and Prodibio Reef Booster. Total volume is 50 gallon. I can double dose for the other tank that has around 95 gal too.

Just follow the instructions on the package... also found on their site.

Ibra9 · Aug 27, 2016

Anthony Wood said:
I don't run biopellets or GFO but with the macro and ozone on my 400g+ system with a very light bioload for the time being anyways, I get away with doing a 55g WC once a month.

What kind of material do you put between the baffles in sump to avoid macro go into return pump area? My 75 gal tank has macro and algae free but I always have problems like macro stuck in the pump.

Ibra9 · Aug 27, 2016

Broadfield said:
Just follow the instructions on the package... also found on their site.

Thank you.

Anthony Wood · Aug 27, 2016

Ibra9 said:
What kind of material do you put between the baffles in sump to avoid macro go into return pump area? My 75 gal tank has macro and algae free but I always have problems like macro stuck in the pump.

I don't have any,the flow in my 55g macro tank is only from the return that's pointed at the surface so the flow is the tank is super low and anything that gets kicked loose settles at the oppososite end of the tank from the overflow box (set up peninsula style). On top of that there's a filter sock in the sump on the drain of the tank. If anything makes it past those two things it was meant to be in the sump and I'll get it when I clean lol

Ibra9 · Aug 31, 2016

Broadfield said:
2) You will want to dose some form of bacteria... I use Prodibio BioDigest and Prodibio Reef Booster(not a bacteria). The bacteria is what feeds on the bio pellets. Prodibio Bioptim basically serves the same purpose as the bio pellets themselves.... therefore I can't recommend using the two together. You may have great success and you may not.

If I only dose bio digest (not prodibio reef boosterwhile running bio pellets reactor, will it be ok? or both of them work better for you?
Beside biodigest and reef booster, Are you dosing any products from Prodibio?

Broadfield · Aug 31, 2016

Ibra9 said:
If I only dose bio digest (not prodibio reef boosterwhile running bio pellets reactor, will it be ok? or both of them work better for you?
Beside biodigest and reef booster, Are you dosing any products from Prodibio?

The Reef Booster is not really an additive that goes along with bio pellets.... but more so a supplement for the corals. I dose two types of bacteria and nothing else: BioDigest from Prodibio and Zeobak from Korallen-zucht. I use two different kinds just to make sure I have a diverse population.

Ibra9 · Aug 31, 2016

@Broadfield: I've heard ppl said about NOT keeping Alk high while running bio pellets. Is it right? What is your Alk and Ca of your tank? How often you feed your coral? What kind of food do you feed them beside prodibio reef booster?

Broadfield · Aug 31, 2016

Ibra9 said:
@Broadfield: I've heard ppl said about NOT keeping Alk high while running bio pellets. Is it right? What is your Alk and Ca of your tank? How often you feed your coral? What kind of food do you feed them beside prodibio reef booster?

My Alk is 8.4 and my calcium is 420. I feed my corals about once/week... using Reef Roids. They also get supplement from the Reef Booster and the LRS food I feed my fish.

Ibra9 · Aug 31, 2016

I just got both Biodigest and Reef Booster delivered today. I did not see the expiration date on both packages. I just wonder how long they will last in room temperature.

Broadfield · Aug 31, 2016

I just want to make it clear that I firmly believe that "what works for one person in this hobby won't necessarily work for another person". It's about finding what will work for you and your setup. I would bet my house that I could set up two of the same exact tanks, equipment, sand, rock source, fish, maintenance cycle, salt etc... all at the same time, and in a year I could have two completely different outcomes between tanks. This hobby is crazy like that.

Ibra9 · Aug 31, 2016

I know man this is not gonna work out for all tanks. I've heard good thing about bio pellets. I watched Mar's videos about his 400 gallon. So I'll give bio pellets a try this time. Right now, I am in the process of dosing Kent Tech M to get rid of Bryopsis, Then do some water change to bring Mg level back and start running bio pellets + prodibio. I am gaining experiences in this hobby, so in the future when I upgrade to a bigger tank, I hope I will choose the best filtration for it. Thanks for your information.