Woods

The higher the tumbling rate the more the pellets will shed off material and too much will cause a bacteria bloom... It sounds like you know exactly what happened and how to prevent it going forward. Good luck and enjoy.

Ok, I wouldn't turn the Biopellets completely off if your long-term plan is to use them. I would just turn them back down to where you had it set before, otherwise you have to start all over again and it seemed to be fine before you made the change in flow rate. Is there a specific reason you increased the flow rate on it?

If you turned up your Biopellets, you increased the amount of nutrient they were giving off to bacteria and that cause the bloom. You want to do things very slowly and not adjust things quickly with the Biopellets, that is why it says to put in half the amount you need to start with and forget about it for 8 weeks... When you do make changes to it, make them in very small increments. Also if you don't have the outlet like Don says either directly connected to your skimmer, at least put the return hose close to the skimmer intake.

Do you have a specific $ amount where you get Free Shipping and do you have a Fish Warranty?

Dapettit has a beautiful pink chalice. I bought a frag from him at the Fall Frag Swap... I think you can see a pic in his build thread or FTS pics... mine hasn't grown big enough to where I want to frag it yet, or I would offer you a piece.

Sorry for the delay in posting my sump pics... the first 2 are close ups and the last is to give a better perspective of space under tank. The sump is made up of a 55g tank with acrylic dividers siliconed into place. They have remained solidly in place for over 2.5 years so don't like anyone tell you silicone will not hold acrylic to glass for this type of application. It may not for other applications, but for sump dividers it works perfectly fine.

I believe you are ight from a chemistry perspective that it will be undetectable but there is a difference between what is coming into my 1st chamber and what leaves it; due to my skimmer pulling out at least some proteins and debris whether immediately detectable or not. I also believe the mechanical filteration that occurs in the 1st and 2nd chambers, significantly improves the suspended debris in my 3rd chamber so my GBO/Carbon and BioPellet reactors do not clog as much as they would if placed in my 1st chamber. But I do agree with you that the chemistry differences with the tests that we use will not detect the differences from 1 chamber to the next when tested at the same time as the flow rates are too high. That does not mean that I would switch my configuration just b/c the differences are undetectable in snapshot testing between chambers. I think the significance is shown over time and not in a snapshot test.

Bump, updated prices in 1st post... If you need larger colonies than what I have posted PM me and I can make new ones of any size from the mother colony. The bigger the colony, the better the bargain.

I have Chaeto in my fuge running a philips EcoVantage 730 Lumens 50W Floodlight about 10" off the surface. I slightly overstock my tank with fish and slightly overfeed so I always have some nutrients to absorb... I do monthly water changes so that probably adds some nutrient for lack of export. But I also do more Zoas and LPS with limited SPS/Chalice so I am not looking for a ULNS... I have pods all over my DT and Fuge day and night... As far as a fuge with no light, that is a Cryptic zone and if your goal is simply more pods, they will love it... you will want to make sure atleast some small amounts food and debris gets there so you feed the population some for growth.

Yes, i will try to take some pics later today and post them...

I think most people run their Chemical filtration, like GFO/Carbon, Biopellets, after their refugiums not before... That way, like Ian said, the macros in the fuge get the most nutrient update possible and the chemical filtering is an after process cleaning up the leftover... I run a 3 chamber sump. 1st = Skimmer, no filter socks. 2nd = 6" DSB, rubble, and Chaeto on top, 3rd = BioPellets with return to 1st chamber for bacteria skimming afterwards, GFO/Carbon with return back to 3rd and then finally return pump back to DT. I run the BioPellets and GFO/Carbon last so mechanical filtering has already happened in 1st and 2nd chambers, so the media filters don't get clogged as easily...

SOLD

Bump. still have several frags available. Willing to trade for other high end Zoas, LPS or Chalice...

Bump, Stil available.

Dean, I don't have a tank for sale, but I do have a 25g cube spare that I am willing to loan you if you want it to hold you over until you find something permanent... Mike

Wow it looks like the BRS reactor comes recommended! Do you find it useful to run carbon and GFO at the same time? From my experience with carbon, it is useful for water clarity, it removes the yellow tinge the water can sometimes have and it removes the fishy smell. Yes, I like to run both carbon and GFO at the same time in my reactor (they are in separate chambers) so if one needs to be changed out sooner it is simple to do. The carbon is for water clarity like you describe...

Touché, yes tank size does matter lol. I was thinking for Sascha's 150g it wouldn't be much different than mine and he could use the same method if he went the BRS Dual Reactor direction... For GFO and Carbon, I personally won't use any other method after using it with its ease and effectiveness...

I completely fill my internal container for the Carbon and only worry about slowly tumbling the high capacity GFO in my BRS Dual reactor... This forces water through the carbon without worrying about too much tumbling. and then I can dial it in for the GFO...

My experience, I have used GFO and carbon media in both a reactor and media bag. Media Bag Recommended: No Pros: Easy. Set and forget. Can be in sump and out of the way. Cheap. Cons: very litte effectiveness, set and forget too long... BRS Dual Media Reactor Recommended: YES Pros: Not too expensive, a chamber for each GFO and Carbon or if needed you can double up on one for a period of time. Easy media changes. Can be run off a small pump or off a manifold from a larger pump. Cons: still something to maintain... Reef Octopus Bio Pellet Reactor Recommended: YES Pros: Set and forget most of the time Cons: expensive, periodic maintenance required

I have a 6-7" Sherman RBTA clone available. Selling it for $90. It split several months ago so it is well healed and ready to go. The pic is of a sibling clone and this one is identical. Please text or call me Five1two - 5six5 - four2nine9. Will not reserve. If you want it,come get it... Thx, Mike

I am in for a half gallon (3.5 lbs) of High Capacity GFO as it is currently on sale for $64.99. When do you expect to place the order?

10 head frag sold I can make frags of any size if these aren't big enough...

2 head sold

If you don't want it, I will take it off your hands. I love adding sponge to my tank. I have about 8 different colors.

I have a Mint Green Hammer frag (4 heads) I will sell for $20. Mother colony in top left of pic.