Biopellets

[+SChrisEV]

So I decided to try using biopellets, I ordered the BRS reactor and pellets, it's technically rated for only a 75g tank, but my small amount of knowledge regarding biopellets is that you can "over clean" your water. So I figured worse case later I'll get a bigger reactor, if needed. So that actually leads me to my question, the reactor says to go with 350mL max to ensure proper flow/tumbling etc. Should I start out with the 350mL or go less? My understanding it I want to pretty much set it and forget it, then in 6 to 8 weeks see how well it is working. Following that logic I feel that I should just go with the max for the reactor, rated at about 75g for my 92+sump water volume. Does that sound right?

Any other words of wisdom regarding biopellets? figured I better qualify that with this group.

Thanks in advance!

[jestep]

I would rinse them well and start with the suggested amount. You can probably get away with more as long as they tumble.

Route the effluent as close to your skimmer suction as possible. You don't have to do this, but the nitrate is removed when the skimmer removes the bacteria being sloughed off the pellets, so it would be more efficient this way.

Otherwise that's about it. You may need to start using GFO down the road. The pellets are great at NO3 reduction but not so much at PO4. If you start getting cyano in a month or two, it's likely due to the imbalance in available NO3 and PO4. It's happened to me on every tank I started using pellets on.

[+SChrisEV]

Rinse well, that is good to know, what am I rinsing off? Just find particles or something specific? And by rinse if is enough to just rinse them in RO/DI water or does it need to be soaked like carbon?

Mt reactor will empty right next to the skimmer in the same chamber so that should all work well.

I already run GFO, think I will still need to keep an eye on cyano?

I got my PO4 Hanna tester with the reactor today, so I will test for it keeping an eye on any rise. I had the Red Sea tester that I have been working, but from the posts etc. I'm looking forward to using the Hanna PO4 tester!

[jestep]

Just quick rinse to get the dust off. RO or probably even tap if you let it drain should be fine.

You're probably good with GFO as is then. I wasn't using it prior to biopellets.

[FarmerTy]

I think Jestep covered it well. Only thing I would do different is actually use less than recommended and then ramp up. I was surprised how little is needed and how quickly it will remove nitrates once the bacteria set up.

[ramsey]

I think Jestep covered it well. Only thing I would do different is actually use less than recommended and then ramp up. I was surprised how little is needed and how quickly it will remove nitrates once the bacteria set up.

+1

Going slowly will likely prevent a bacteria bloom too. A bacteria bloom can rapidly lower the o2 level in the tank and kill livestock.

[+SChrisEV]

OOPS, already running . Well, I'll stay on top of measuring. I did however use about the recommenced amount, for a 70g tank. I have about 110g total water volume, and I do like to feed, so I may be okay. How much should I have the pellets tumble?

[ramsey]

Gently, like slow boiling water. If you're water gets a little cloudy, don't panic but it might be a good idea to have mixed NSW on hand just in case.

How high are your nitrates? If they're low, you shouldn't have a bloom. If they're high, then you might.

[Bpb]

Following. I'm at about the 3 month mark of pellets maybe more. Color explosion and increase in growth at the 6 week mark, but since then sps has faded and growth slowed down a lot. I'm thinking of REDUCING mine to half strength

[Juiceman]

Once your nutrients are low, you have to keep food for the coral in your system. I just make sure I feed frozen every now and again with plenty of small particles and it keeps everything happy.

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[+Mlaw]

I've read that the BRS biopellet reactor has a problem with the filter clogging and requires weekly cleaning. Are you finding that to be the case?

[jestep]

Once your nutrients are low, you have to keep food for the coral in your system.

I think this is why the true ULNS setups like zeovit require the addition of a bunch of additional elements, amino acids, and coral specific foods in order to develop color and retain growth.

Following. I'm at about the 3 month mark of pellets maybe more. Color explosion and increase in growth at the 6 week mark, but since then sps has faded and growth slowed down a lot. I'm thinking of REDUCING mine to half strength

In theory this wouldn't make a difference. The bacterial consumption of the pellets is dependent on the amount of available NO3 and PO4 in the tank and not necessarily the amount of pellets in the reactor. The only thing that reducing the volume of pellets would do, unless you reduced down to nearly nothing, would be forcing you to add new pellets more often as the existing pellets would just be consumed more quickly. What's your feeding schedule and do you currently dose anything, other than maintaining Ca, Alk, and Mg?

[Juiceman]

I've read that the BRS biopellet reactor has a problem with the filter clogging and requires weekly cleaning. Are you finding that to be the case?

You're not supposed to use a mesh filter in a bio pellet reactor. So just take it out!

[Bpb]

I feed about a "cube" a day of a self blended mix of PE Mysis, reef frenzy, brs reef chili, raw jumbo shrimp, brine shrimp, and chopped up nori. That's usually in the evenings 2 hours before lights out every day. 4 days a week I also target feed brs reef chili to all the sps when the lights are off early in the morning, also do 7 drops of elos amino acid and pro skimmer carbohydrates when the lights are on. And lastly...I feed NLS pellets daily as well in addition to the frozen food. Nothing rinsed. I'm fairly heavy handed with feeding.

[+SChrisEV]

Gently, like slow boiling water. If you're water gets a little cloudy, don't panic but it might be a good idea to have mixed NSW on hand just in case.

How high are your nitrates? If they're low, you shouldn't have a bloom. If they're high, then you might.

I don't think my nitrates are not high, what is the definition of too high? Or maybe at what level should I worry about a bloom? I might be tumbling them too much right now, I'll turn that down a bit.

Thanks for all the info everyone!

[ramsey]

Gently, like slow boiling water. If you're water gets a little cloudy, don't panic but it might be a good idea to have mixed NSW on hand just in case.

How high are your nitrates? If they're low, you shouldn't have a bloom. If they're high, then you might.

I don't think my nitrates are not high, what is the definition of too high? Or maybe at what level should I worry about a bloom? I might be tumbling them too much right now, I'll turn that down a bit.

Thanks for all the info everyone!

I think the definition would vary depending on who you ask. If your nitrates are less than 10ppm you'd probably be fine. If your nitrates are 60ppm then I'd worry. Those are numbers I just made up to illustrate a point so take them with a grain of salt. Like most everything in this hobby, you can't go wrong by going slow. I'd just start with adding 1/4-1/2 of the recommended pellets to start with and give it 4-6 weeks. If your nitrates aren't near zero, add slightly more pellets.

As someone mentioned, in theory you can't overdose pellets. In practice and by research, I disagree with this. Corals need nitrate to survive so zero no3 is not a good thing. If I had to guess, more pellets make the system too aggressive at removing nitrate and outcompete the coral. Just a guess though. Its a balancing act keeping nutrients low enough to not hamper growth and get good color and high enough to not starve everything.

Keep an eye on phosphate too. Most bacteria based systems do great at lowering nitrate but poor with lowering phosphates. This is because bacteria use more nitrate than phosphate (see the Redfield ratio as an example). Many people use GFO in conjunction with pellets. It's rumored that part of the Zeovit method actually introduces nitrate to further lower phosphate (zeostart3).