bio pellet journal....updated 1/24/2011

[Big_Pun]

ok so I'm goin to do a bit of a journal for my bio pellet experience.

equipment
1: nextreef mr1 reactor
2: Warner Marine ecobak pellets
3: sicce 0.5 pump (thanks Gabe)

plan on zip tying the return line directly to skimmerhttp://tapa.tk/mu/a6cd0c49-b7ab-8d9b.jpg pump input

[RayAllen]

Sweet, Im will be following your progress.

[Europhyllia]

very cool! When I used the regular Nextreef reactor plastic canvas made an easy pellet insert (to avoid bacteria slime clogging the sponges)
I hope you'll like it! Your stuff is doing so well. I can hardly imagine it can get much better!

[Big_Pun]

oh no my SPS has lost color and other issues from high nitrates.

[txg8gxp]

x2 don't use the sponge

very cool! When I used the regular Nextreef reactor plastic canvas made an easy pellet insert (to avoid bacteria slime clogging the sponges)
I hope you'll like it! Your stuff is doing so well. I can hardly imagine it can get much better!

[ErikH]

They actually make a plastic insert which fits in those perfectly.

[Jarob]

Ohh nice Ill be following! Ive wanted to try out the ecobak pellets

[Big_Pun]

ok had to return the sicce wasn't enough so I got a rio 1400, for now till I get a sicce 1.0 or 2.0. water a lil cloudy but that's to be expected

[z28pwr]

Interested in the results.

[Europhyllia]

They actually make a plastic insert which fits in those perfectly.
I got the extra Nextreef plastic inserts but I cracked one or else you could have had that set. Still got one if you want it. I bet Dave could help you though if you contacted him.

[Big_Pun]

thanks Karin i have some easy acro for your tank when your ready

video of pellets
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[ErikH]

turn it down barely

[Europhyllia]

I bet they'll slow down once they slime up. I'd think this is within the acceptable range. :)

[Big_Pun]

update: this morning all the clumping went away and now flow was a lil to high so i dialed it down a lil.

[Big_Pun]

after about 24 hours i got a nice bacteria bloom, turned my whole tank milky, freaked out but after talking to Stephen and lots of texts i calmed down lol, i think what got it going was i pulled some cheato for a fellow masstard and kicked up some gunk. Soon after that the cloud started, got to the point where i couldnt see back glass, after a couple hours and slowing down the flow to the reactor it started to clear up. when i checked on it this morning it was all cleared up.

[txg8gxp]

I'm glad to hear it cleared up for you. Kinda scary huh...my bloom started about 24 hours after installing pellets and lasted for about 24 hours. hahahaha you were freaking out alittle :)

[ErikH]

Yeah its no biggie. You can run carbon to help.

[Big_Pun]

update time! last 48 hours ive had a cloudy tank, did some test, all is fine nitrates still showing at around 5ppm, ph is ok at 8.1. last night i put in some new chemi pure, also add a "oh shiznit pad" better known as poly filter, its showing light brown color this morn( organic matter). Also last 48 hours my skimmer has been working over drive and filling up in 24 hours with a light brown/white milky skim and it smells like something died not the same smell from the green skim that usually comes out. all fish are lively and eatting, coral is happy except all 3 birdsnest seem a little irratated. so from what ive seen/experienced if you have an established tank do follow directions and start with half the amount of pellets, and make sure you have a good skimmer.

[Kristy]

Hey Chris,
So your starting nitrates are at 5 ppm and we are looking to see them get to zero?

Wow... 5! Anything under 20 ppm seems beautifully low to me, but then we're not SPS dominant... we're more like fish bioload dominant!

[Big_Pun]

i started vodka dosing for 7 days before pellets and nitrates where at 20ppm, after 7 days it was 10ppm, also iam still dosing vodka as of yesterday( had stopped for couple days after pellets where added), according to Murray Camp it help biodiversity, and i have seen no ill affects. trying to get as close as i can to zero

[Kristy]

Oh, ok that makes more sense! Thanks for the clarification. I am glad you got to see Murray's presentation... that was timely!

[ReefCube]

i have seen the hype! i have seen many setups all you need to do is keep your levels in check 100% of the time. Have correct lighting at the correct hight. Keep your PO4 close to 0 as you can get and LOTS OF FLOW thats all you need. many tank of the months have been done this way and has been proven to work with these simple steps. If you have the extra cash it is nice to try new things but dont expect a maricle

[Big_Pun]

not expecting a fast fix,just trying something new makes this hobby more interesting. but for the type of tank I want, sps dominant, I'm willing to try and get this working and hope this helps out others willing to spend "extra cash", time on this new method. not long ago people where running bio balls, and someone started running refugiums. also don't be posting negative comments this is a journal to help other people thinking of doing this, start a thread why you don't like bio pellets.

[murraycamp]

i started vodka dosing for 7 days before pellets and nitrates where at 20ppm, after 7 days it was 10ppm, also iam still dosing vodka as of yesterday( had stopped for couple days after pellets where added), according to Murray Camp it help biodiversity,

I don't think I said that a single source liquid labile organic carbon source used in conjunction with a polymer enhances bacterial diversity - I was talking about mixed-liquid source applications.

[Big_Pun]

I don't think I said that a single source liquid labile organic carbon source used in conjunction with a polymer enhances bacterial diversity - I was talking about mixed-liquid source applications.

yes you stated you used your mix of vodka sugar vinegar with polymer I believe, so i figured it wouldnt hurt to keep using since it was working and pellets where not colonized, looking for the sugar still to make your recipe, it is hard to find, might have to look on net.also this morn nitrate levels are almost undetectable and water has cleared up. Murray if you havent all ready can you post that recipe in the other thread about your speech

[ErikH]

I wish we all had teseted and posted our levels before and after. :) My tank looks great though, and without GFO I am not having to scrape the glass but once a week.

[Big_Pun]

everything is doing great, no losses from bloom or while pellets cycling. i had to clean the screen on media reactor clogged up with diff things, mostly slime, also cleaned tubes on reactor. im really glad i switched, didnt think it would work so fast, but it was scary at first. i added chemipure elite back to system couple days ago. other than that i pretty much have removed all cheato from fuge(soon to be frag tank).

[Big_Pun]

the tank has been doing great, waiting for my smr1 conversion, nextreef has a kit to convert all plumbing to a smr1 and still comes out $20 cheaper than buying an smr1. algae in over flow and sump has been dieing off, coral slowly starting to rebound after months of high nitrates. so i guess its not just a "hype" its working.

[ReefCube]

i believe much of it is just "your paying more attention to your tank" such as perameters water changes etc.. but maybe it does work. Good luck

[Big_Pun]

i have only changed one thing in my tank routine and that is bio pellets. and as stated before dosing vodka to help. i didnt want to continue dosing vodka everyday so having a carbon source always running was what I wanted. my main reason for going to bio pellets was the success of karin(europhylia) and Stephen(txgxp8) here on Maast, and also this tank of the month in RChttp://www.reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/65-tank-of-the-month, his filtration is just biopellets and skimmer and 2 part dosing , very simple and it works

[murraycamp]

yes you stated you used your mix of vodka sugar vinegar with polymer I believe, so i figured it wouldnt hurt to keep using since it was working and pellets where not colonized, looking for the sugar still to make your recipe, it is hard to find, might have to look on net.also this morn nitrate levels are almost undetectable and water has cleared up. Murray if you havent all ready can you post that recipe in the other thread about your speech

No. I have only used two different carbon source methodologies simultaneously: (1) in transitioning from one to another, or (2) experimentally in my NPS system. As to the later, I was running EcoBak pellets with Zeovit, but am now just running the EcoBak. In actuality, with the daily crazy insane massive food input, I haven't seen any difference between methodologies in that system.

For almost all other systems, I would pick one system and give it a chance to work. The problem with using multiple systems is that different bacterial species/strains utilize different sources of organic carbon preferentially. While that principle seems to work well in a mixed liquid source application (e.g. VGV), using, for example, vodka with a polymer may cause instability. But again, it may not. If you are not happy with the results of the polymer, and want to experiment, I would consider ethanol in small amounts in addition to the polymer.

[Big_Pun]

No. I have only used two different carbon source methodologies simultaneously: (1) in transitioning from one to another, or (2) experimentally in my NPS system. As to the later, I was running EcoBak pellets with Zeovit, but am now just running the EcoBak. In actuality, with the daily crazy insane massive food input, I haven't seen any difference between methodologies in that system.

For almost all other systems, I would pick one system and give it a chance to work. The problem with using multiple systems is that different bacterial species/strains utilize different sources of organic carbon preferentially. While that principle seems to work well in a mixed liquid source application (e.g. VGV), using, for example, vodka with a polymer may cause instability. But again, it may not. If you are not happy with the results of the polymer, and want to experiment, I would consider ethanol in small amounts in addition to the polymer.
i ended up stoping , too much trouble trying to remember to dose the vodka, so far i like the results.

[neogenix]

Tagging along.

[ErikH]

I'm getting great PE so far in my tank. Everything looks great. My blue tipped valida has colored up to blue again.

[Big_Pun]

yea im hoping my blue mili colony bounces back, and my green Seritapora

[neogenix]

Which flavour of BP are you two running?

[Big_Pun]

warner marine eco bak, the pellets themselves never slimed up(just as advertised) im very happy with them, also due to the manufacturing process they are more porous than others. also they dont require as much flow they have an article on them on reefbuilders. i believe gabe might be able to get them, ive been buggin him to carry them.

[ErikH]

I am running the NP biopellets

[mdavis735]

I just started the vertex pro biopellets.I dosed mb7 for 2 weeks then added 250ml to my 90 gallon 1 week ago.today I added the remaining 250 to finish the recommended 500ml for my system.

Sent from my EVO on the Now Network from Sprint!

[Big_Pun]

I just started the vertex pro biopellets.I dosed mb7 for 2 weeks then added 250ml to my 90 gallon 1 week ago.today I added the remaining 250 to finish the recommended 500ml for my system.

Sent from my EVO on the Now Network from Sprint!

good to see more people trying this out, good luck

[mdavis735]

Thank you.looks like we have 3 of the major brands right here.I'm interested to see if there are any differences

Sent from my EVO on the Now Network from Sprint!

[neogenix]

Got an interesting note from SaltySupply today... the guy said that katalyst and warner (at least those two) are all made in the same factory... interesting note...

[Big_Pun]

well the system has finally settled and coral is doing great, blue mili is finally getting color. Nitrates in check still

[txg8gxp]

awesome, good news.

[ErikH]

Yeah man, my polyps are extended all day! They never were before! :) I am very excited about how easy these things are. Only thing I would recommend for a total newbie is to add 1/4 at a time over 4 weeks. That should help with the cloudiness.

[Big_Pun]

Yeah man, my polyps are extended all day! They never were before! :) I am very excited about how easy these things are. Only thing I would recommend for a total newbie is to add 1/4 at a time over 4 weeks. That should help with the cloudiness.
i agree the bio bloom hits hard, spreading it over a lil at a time is best

[rockmp]

Are your skimmers working overtime? Also are you directing the output of your reactor to the input of the skimmer? I should have my pellets next week hopefully. (item was on back order).

[Dustoff79]

Chris/Erik

How is the Macro Algae in your sump doing with the pellets?

[Big_Pun]

Are your skimmers working overtime? Also are you directing the output of your reactor to the input of the skimmer? I should have my pellets next week hopefully. (item was on back order).
during the bio bloom it was working like crazy milky white skim, then after a week and a good cleaning of all equipment(skimmer and reactor plates and tubing) of the slim. the skimmer went back to pulling a really nice almost black skim. add half for a 3 weeks then add rest of pellets. also tumble them with good flow at begining then after 4-6 weeks throttle them down and see how your systems reacts and measure nitrates. i have my outlet from reactor attached to air tube on skimmer so it less than an inch from pump inlet. dont make any big changes the first 4-6 weeks you have them.

Chris/Erik

How is the Macro Algae in your sump doing with the pellets?
no die off but no fast growth either any more still run light as normal

[txg8gxp]

biopellets rock!

[Big_Pun]

lil update. i notice that unless you have some sort of pre filter the plates will clog up and hinder flow which will affect how well they work. i let mine go to long and lost a lot of flow, actually only one side of the reactor was flowing very fast and that doesnt help either. so i came home to a lot of algae on the glass one day and also noticed skimmer was skimming less. after cleaning plates in 48 hours my skimmer was pulling some nasty gunk out again. nitrates still undectable, im topping off with 100ml of pellets soon just to help in what i lost during cleanings down the drain and because i have a bigger bio load.

[ErikH]

I just pulled mine yesterday as the plates got really clogged, I guess I'll have to prefilter too!

[RayAllen]

So you guys are still happy with the pellets. Ive been reading threads on and off the last few months on reefcentral and it seems some people have taken them off line and are no longer using them while others still swear by them.

[Big_Pun]

have you noticed which brand of pellets they are using, also ive seen a lot of videos and people dont understand you dont need to blast them with lots of flow, just enough to keep them tumbling. i use eco bak by warner marine and everyone else ive seen that uses these loves them, they dont ever slime over even at the begining(my equipment did). i can feed my coral super heavy with no ill affects. i also just ordered a bunch of zeovit additives for coral feeding. also started adding trace elements and coral seem to perk up more now, better polyp extension and colors. hopefully zeovit will help also.

you need to swing by Ray and see my tank now, when you last saw it i didnt have pellets.

[phippsj]

I have had my coral increase in color since adding the Biopellets (I am using NP bio pellets). Six months now. For the price, probably worth it. I had a lot of mangrove trees prior (18) and lost 7 of them after installing the pellets... they grow a lot slower now as well. My nitrates were always low to begin with, but I feed very heavy for sponges and non-photosynthesis coral. I find the pellets to be helpful in my case.