biobellets any regrets

[Mike-fish]

looking to add them to my 270g mixed reef. what are peoples thoughts on them? if you removed them please comment why. please comment the brand

pros and cons are welcome as well

[spit.fire]

if you use io salt id suggest not adding them, high kh and biopellets dont mix. I ran them for quite some time until i started getting high kh out of io salt then pulled them off. Now that ive switched salts i put them back on but im only running 75ml on a 75g tank

[Mike-fish]

i run h2ocean so it should be good there

[Skimmerking]

it took away the Red turf that I battled with for the last 10 years im happy

[chef]

i run h2ocean so it should be good there
Be careful. H2ocean mixes at 10.5.

[Mike-fish]

could you elaborate as to how they dont mix well

[chef]

The salt mixes well (as in it dissolves in water) But there is calcium, alk, magnesium, and other trace elements in the salt. When you achieve 1.025 salinity, the alk will be 10.5

[spit.fire]

could you elaborate as to how they dont mix well

High kh combined with carbon dosing tends to kill corals, it basically bleaches sps but not 100% sure on the effects on Lps and softies but I can't imagine it being good for them

When I say high I mean anything over 8.5 from my experience

I keep mine as close to 7.5 as possible while carbon dosing ( biopellets, vodka, etc)

[Madreefer]

Dammit a poll I can't vote in cuz I know nothing about bio pellets. But if anyone's interested I have a bag of Vertex bio pellets if anyone wants them for free. The bags opened though.

[craigwmiller]

High kh combined with carbon dosing tends to kill corals, it basically bleaches sps but not 100% sure on the effects on Lps and softies but I can't imagine it being good for them

When I say high I mean anything over 8.5 from my experience

I keep mine as close to 7.5 as possible while carbon dosing ( biopellets, vodka, etc)

Yep, same plan (worry) here running ZEOvit.... I'm running 7.1-7.3, and the salt I'm using mixes to 8.0-8.2 (depending on the batch). Anything higher scares me, and would make me do very small water changes to be safe from an alk spike (but then worried about not replenishing enough elements)....... SO, yes, I did buy some ReefCrystals from BA this boxing day, however I bought much more Seachem ReefSalt, which I use 2-1 (Seachem -> RC) per change.

[chef]

[quote=chef;869295]The salt mixes well (as in it dissolves in water) But there is calcium, alk, magnesium, and other trace elements in the salt. When you achieve 1.025 salinity, the alk will be 10.5[/quote
I guess i misread the question. Thanks for clearing that up spitfire

[spit.fire]

Dammit a poll I can't vote in cuz I know nothing about bio pellets. But if anyone's interested I have a bag of Vertex bio pellets if anyone wants them for free. The bags opened though.

I'd be all over that if you were out this way

[Mike-fish]

Eli and emerald crab please post why you removed them

[Cal_stir]

I had 2 systems, both established and doing well, decided to experiment with one system, built a recirculating bio pellet reactor, ran BRS pellets with the effluent aimed directly into my skimmer intake, followed BRS recommendations on the amount of pellets. After @ a week I noticed some hair algae, I tried increasing the flow, after @ a month the hair algae was a plague, I removed the pellets, increased my gfo and carbon, tried removing the algae physically, increased water changes, even tried algaefix, now I have 1 system, no pellets and no algae, no problems.

[Reef Pilot]

Been running bio pellets for about 3 years now. Cleared up a major nitrate (up to 100ppm) problem on a 10 year running tank that I inherited. Trick is to start slowly and use MB7 to prevent cyano.

Have been at zero nitrates more than a year now, and my bio pellet consumption in my reactor has declined to almost nothing. Last time I touched it to add bio pellets was over a year ago. Am thinking of disconnecting it, to see what happens.

I have the Vertex UF20 reactor using the Vertex bio pellets. Bought a new pack at last year's boxing day, and still haven't opened it.

What are your nitrates at? Unless you can't bring them down with standard husbandry practices, or have a very heavy bio load, why are you planning to use bio pellets?

And I use IO salt. My tank runs around 8 most of the time, but varies between 7 -9, and I adjust my doser as required. IO does mix higher alk, but my consumption is also high at this time with my corals, so I don't mind. And I only change 20% water every 3 weeks.

[RSM]

I have been using Vertex bio-pellets for 2 years now. Within the first year it bleached my SPS, plate corals and leathers but lowered my nitrates. I use reef crystals and add some trace elements in between a monthly water change and everything is really happy. Start slow!

Iphone video of the tank http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbEs65aw7kc

[Mike-fish]

im running at 7.3 dkh

[Madreefer]

I'd be all over that if you were out this way

It's not like they're taking up a lot of space. I'll hang on to them and drop them off to you next time I'm out that way