Bio Pellet Bandwagon

[tebstan]

I'm jumping in on the bio pellet craze. My nitrates are creeping up and it stresses me, so the bio pellets seem like a good addition to my tank... maybe. My main concern is that they'll work too well.

I have a beautiful "dirty" tank. Softies, LPS, NPS, sponges, bivalves of all types. Crystal clear water, but nitrates are climbing with the amount of heavy feeding I have to do to keep everyone happy.

I'm going to experiment with a small amount of bio pellets--less than what is recommended for my tank size. Hopefully this will reduce my nitrates to a range of 10 (from 20) so that my macro still thrives and I can feed as I wish.

Wish me luck!

[txg8gxp]

alittle more info. Tank is around 110-120g total volume. A TLF 150 modded reactor was used with a rio 4hf pump. To start with a 1/2 cup of NP biopellets was added, this should be around 100-120ml. More maybe needed, but with all the corals/etc. listed starting with a small amount seemed to be the smart way to go.

[Big_Pun]

I'm jumping in on the bio pellet craze. My nitrates are creeping up and it stresses me, so the bio pellets seem like a good addition to my tank... maybe. My main concern is that they'll work too well.

I have a beautiful "dirty" tank. Softies, LPS, NPS, sponges, bivalves of all types. Crystal clear water, but nitrates are climbing with the amount of heavy feeding I have to do to keep everyone happy.

I'm going to experiment with a small amount of bio pellets--less than what is recommended for my tank size. Hopefully this will reduce my nitrates to a range of 10 (from 20) so that my macro still thrives and I can feed as I wish.

Wish me luck!
good luck,hope it works out for you and if you have any questions just ask, also post how it works out. i know a lot of people are on the fence still.

[Europhyllia]

Good Luck. Just keep up the feeding to stay ahead of them. ;)

[allan]

Hey, would the np do away with the cyano?

[Europhyllia]

not necessarily

[Big_Pun]

I couldn't say, my hair algae went away from my over flow and fuge. cheato has stopped growing, but i guess it could help in more ways than controlling algae if you decided to use them

[txg8gxp]

I agree, it can help consume some of the excess nutrients that would contribute to cyano.

not necessarily

[Europhyllia]

once established cyano requires much less nutrients in the water to sustain itself than other algae so in fact if your other algae perishes the cyano could still be there and use the small amounts left

[tebstan]

Can't cyano basically sustain on itself once there is a big enough ugly patch of it? Manual removal and the use of pellets might help though.

I'm a little excited about the pellets. I want to test the water every time I look at the tank, but I know it's too soon to see any results. I'm so impatient!

[Europhyllia]

I think if somebody was on the fence about the pellets thing Prodibio might be a nice thing to try just to see how the bacteria affects their system. I am using Prodibio (just the bacteria source) in addition to my pellets and like it quite well. No hardware to buy...

[medi]

I've been running vertex pellets for about three months now. My nitrates and phosphates are both at zero and have not fluctuated from there since the addition. The only problem I'm having is since starting the pellets I have actually started to develop cyano. I never had any cyano in my tank prior to the pellets so I can only assume it is the result of them. I've read a few others that have had the same problem, but from the majority of my reading it seems to help reduce cyano more than increase it growth.

[Big_Pun]

I've been running vertex pellets for about three months now. My nitrates and phosphates are both at zero and have not fluctuated from there since the addition. The only problem I'm having is since starting the pellets I have actually started to develop cyano. I never had any cyano in my tank prior to the pellets so I can only assume it is the result of them. I've read a few others that have had the same problem, but from the majority of my reading it seems to help reduce cyano more than increase it growth.

i got some red slime algae as my pellets kicked in, i never had that problem before. it is slowly going away so im not worried.

[medi]

How long have you been running the pellets? Mine does not seem to be receding at all. In fact it seems like it might be getting worse.

[Europhyllia]

I started the pellets in February (old thread here (http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?57606-NP-Bio-Pellets-I-m-intrigued) ). I started a new tank in August - also with pellets- and did experience the macro struggeling but cyano blooming.
Drove me nuts for awhile and I decided to go the Zeo route. (see brief summary here (http://www.maast.org/showthread.php?61885-Oxidizers-and-Antibiotics&highlight=zeozym))

At this point I can see a small patch of cyano below sand level on the glass but nothing at all in the actual display.