Biopellets question

[avilamillar]

I have been running biopellets for 2 or 3 weeks now. But I'm seeing this brown "powder" everywhere. Could the biopellets be making this?

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn167/avilamillar/DSC_5708.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn167/avilamillar/DSC_5707.jpg

This is my GFO/carbon reactor, which I cleaned 4-5 days ago.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn167/avilamillar/DSC_5705.jpg

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn167/avilamillar/DSC_5703.jpg

Koralia

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn167/avilamillar/DSC_5706.jpg

Thanks

[Meslo]

How long have you been running the GFO ? It kind of looks like you may be tumbling the gfo to much and its grinding itself into poweder. Did you add mb7 to the tank. I had something that looked like that when I tried it but that was a while ago so im not sure.

[Big_Pun]

did you rinse of gfo before using or purge line into bucket till it ran clear. also what pumps are you using on gfo, may be too much flow. iron is bad in system and will cause algae and other problems. also is your carbon tumbling because that could cause that, it needs to sandwiched between sponges

[avilamillar]

How long have you been running the GFO ? It kind of looks like you may be tumbling the gfo to much and its grinding itself into poweder. Did you add mb7 to the tank. I had something that looked like that when I tried it but that was a while ago so im not sure.

I have been runing GFO for about 6 months, but I just changed from high capacity to normal (high capacity was too expensive). I did add mb7 for a few days after I added the biopellets.


did you rinse of gfo before using or purge line into bucket till it ran clear. also what pumps are you using on gfo, may be too much flow. iron is bad in system and will cause algae and other problems. also is your carbon tumbling because that could cause that, it needs to sandwiched between sponges

Yeah I rinsed it before until water came out clear. I'm using a MJ1200 but I have a ball valve to dial back the flow. The GFO is tumbling but not too much(not like biopellets). I havent added iron, though I was adding KoralColor. My carbon is between sponges so is not tumbling.

My skimmer is not pulling the skimmate all the way up the cup. I have a Deltec MCE600 and even if I put the cup all the way down it wont collect anything.

Also I'm getting some cyanobacteria on the sand.

Thanks for the help. For now I'm going to change my current GFO with some high capacity GFO I had left.

[ErikH]

I saw brown powder in my tank before and concluded it was GFO. Sometimes it forms a passage, similar to a salt bridge, and makes its way out into the display.

[Big_Pun]

that's weird you seem to have everything hooked up right. my comment on iron is not that your dosing it but gfo is pretty much made
of rust. red slime will show up as biopellets settle in. I've been running pellets for over a year, and red slime comes and goes. also another tip, if you email or call next reef you can get the pellet conversion for around $25, it switches the internal plates and gives you 5/8 connections also so better flow. maybe run some extra sponge pads to catch what's left in system.

[avilamillar]

that's weird you seem to have everything hooked up right. my comment on iron is not that your dosing it but gfo is pretty much made
of rust. red slime will show up as biopellets settle in. I've been running pellets for over a year, and red slime comes and goes. also another tip, if you email or call next reef you can get the pellet conversion for around $25, it switches the internal plates and gives you 5/8 connections also so better flow. maybe run some extra sponge pads to catch what's left in system.

I just changed the GFO and Carbon and for sure the problem is in the reactor, when I stirred the GFO the water became brown. My neighboor just took down his fluval filter so I'm gonna borrow it and fill it with sponges to catch whats left.

Thanks for the tip, I'll call nextreef.

I'll update later on tonight or tomorrow to see if things get better. Corals and fishes seem to be OK.

Thanks again.

[avilamillar]

Well the water cleared up completely and the skimmer seems to be working again. Thanks for the help :)

[uriah]

Just my opinion, but your pellets have not been running long enough for you to be messing with them. You should allow the bacterial colony an opportunity to build up (8 weeks) and it is recommended that you dont run GFO during that time because it can slow the build up of beneficial bacterial within the reactor. If your bio pellets are tumbling too fast that also might cause excess carbon sluff to come off the pellets and clog your reactors.

[avilamillar]

Just my opinion, but your pellets have not been running long enough for you to be messing with them. You should allow the bacterial colony an opportunity to build up (8 weeks) and it is recommended that you dont run GFO during that time because it can slow the build up of beneficial bacterial within the reactor. If your bio pellets are tumbling too fast that also might cause excess carbon sluff to come off the pellets and clog your reactors.

I thought the biopellets were the problem but the problem was actually my GFO. I think I had to much flow in the reactor.

I read before that if you had phosphate while running biopellets you could also run GFO. Should I take them out? What about carbon?

Thanks

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

[uriah]

You can run the GFO, but you might not recognize the full benefit of the biopellets as quickly as if you were not running GFO for the first 6-8 weeks. Bacteria needs a small amount of phosphorous to metabolize nitrates and GFO can slow the rate of bacterial growth within the reactor. Unless you are adding bacterial supplements (like ZEObak) into the reactor to boost the benificial bateria count, GFO might not be your best option for a short period of time. Also, keep the biopellet reactor very close to the skimmer (or feeding directly into the skimmer) so that the nitrate laden bacteria can get pulled out of your water efficiently.

[uriah]

Carbon is fine

[avilamillar]

I see, thanks for the explanation. So could I just let dry the GFO that I just put in? I just put it in the reactor and let it drain until water came clear.

Thanks

[Big_Pun]

your fine just let it go

[avilamillar]

Ok ok. I just took it down ;)