Trautman Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 i hear mixed reveiws... too risky? or great? i want to hear what you guys think! who here uses them? good results? tank crashes? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cellowithgills Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 You should have listened to Dr. Tims presentation. He's says they're great as long as you keep an eye on them regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 I've had a good experience with them. As for the effects on coral, you need to treat it similar to zeovit in that you need to add back some nutrients through dosing for feeding the fish. I had pellets strip a tank of nutrients once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 finch, what do you mean about "adding back nutrients"? and how would i do that? dose with what? and micah, what does "keeping an eye on them regularly" mean? just maintaining the concentration? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 If the biopellets work to their full potential it will eventually make your tank into an ultra low nutrient system. Do some searching on Reef central about ULNS tanks. Basically you need some phosphate and nitrate for coral to be healthy but you only need a small amount. If your tank becomes a UNLS you need to add back amino acids and coral food otherwise they starve and bleach. If you have a lot of fish and feed regularly this might not be an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cellowithgills Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Dr. Tim said that once the bacteria colonizes the pellet, it mats over it making them all sticky. If the all get stuck together and no water can get through, the bacteria can go from Aerobic to Anaerobic in a short amount of time. Anaerobic bacteria can release Hydrogen Sulfide into the tank and poison everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
finch6013 Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 I have never had the pellets stick together like that. I think this would only happen if the flow was very low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cellowithgills Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 He said that a big name aquarium was using them and the bacterial colonies grew so fast that the whole reactor gunked up in just a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trautman Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 thank you! this makes sense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 any more insight on these? I'm thinking of picking some up for my new FOWLR setup. I was talking to Robert yesterday and he is happy with them as well. It sounds like I would just run the bio-pellets and not any carbon. And you don't have to change it out for up to 6 months. Sounds like a win-win to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreefer Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I've used them for a year now with good results...I put 2/3 of a two little fishies reactor full of pellets, attach a maxijet 1200, outlet of reactor close to skimmer pump intake, innoculate with zeobac (optional) and let her go. I haven't seen one brand of pellets better than another. Watch your flow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I've used them for a year now with good results...I put 2/3 of a two little fishies reactor full of pellets' date=' attach a maxijet 1200, outlet of reactor close to skimmer pump intake, innoculate with zeobac (optional) and let her go. I haven't seen one brand of pellets better than another. Watch your flow.[/quote'] Are you running carbon at all? How frequently are you changing them out? When you say watch the flow I assume your talking about making sure that there is decent amount of flow through it. I have read that they can get clogged up if there isn't enough flow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreefer Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 Are you running carbon at all? How frequently are you changing them out? When you say watch the flow I assume your talking about making sure that there is decent amount of flow through it. I have read that they can get clogged up if there isn't enough flow. Yes, running 1 cup of carbon (BRS) and 1/2 cup Hi capacity GFO (BRS) together in a second TLF reactor also. I change those out every 2 weeks. Just easier for my schedule. For pellet reactor, I remove top sponge to promote flow, you'll want pellets tumbling strongly but not violently. Bottom sponge is necessary but will clog due to bacteria, so must be cleaned every 2-4 weeks as you notice flow decreasing. Don't wash pellets with fresh water at cleaning so they stay "bacterialized". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bicyclebill Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I've been running biopellets for about 3 months now. Was running GFO at the same time up until a week ago, and the bacteria never started colonizing the pellets. Talked to a few folks, both on Reef Central and Avast marine, and was advised to remove the GFO while trying to get the system started. So pulled off the GFO and started adding Brightwell Aquatics Biofuel this last weekend. Hopefully this does the trick. BTW, my phosphates have been zero all along but my nitrate has been at 25+. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoobtoSalt Posted October 4, 2011 Share Posted October 4, 2011 I've been running biopellets for about 3 months now. Was running GFO at the same time up until a week ago' date=' and the bacteria never started colonizing the pellets. Talked to a few folks, both on Reef Central and Avast marine, and was advised to remove the GFO while trying to get the system started. So pulled off the GFO and started adding Brightwell Aquatics Biofuel this last weekend. Hopefully this does the trick. BTW, my phosphates have been zero all along but my nitrate has been at 25+.[/quote'] My nitrates are what I'm most worried about. I'm going to have a fairly heavy stocked tank Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.