Questions about Bio-pellets

[sewerman45]

I have been trying to use bio-pellets for a bit now and have had nothing but problems. I was hoping someone wiser than me could give me some pointers.

I am using a Innovative Marine MiniMax All-In-One Media Reactor - Mid Size and NPX Bioplastics for bio-pellets.

The main problem I'm having is that some of the pellets seem way lighter than the others and stick to the top of the reactor as soon as there is any flow through it. It is really finicky to adjust and I can't seem to find a right amount of flow that tumbles the pellets and also doesn't stick a ton of them to the top. I ended up taking the reactor offline after I was getting a ton of algae from the pellets clumping a ton. I can't remember what it's called when the pellets don't tumble and go bad but as soon as I took it offline all my problems went away. I tried soaking the pellets in water for awhile before adding them but that didn't help either.

I have restarted the reactor with only about a teaspoon of pellets but it's still happening. I really wanted something little that I could set and forget to help keep down nitrates but so far it hasn't turned out that way. I use Rowaphos in a phosban reactor as well for phosphates and it's working great.

Do I need a bio-pellet reactor? Is it worth the effort? Should I be using something else?

Thanks.

[albert_dao]

Check your kH first. If it's not in between 7.0-8.5, you're going to have problems including an even formation of bacterial films on each pellet.

[sewerman45]

Check your kH first. If it's not in between 7.0-8.5, you're going to have problems including an even formation of bacterial films on each pellet.

Interesting. I don't test my KH at all. Not something I thought about. Do I need a test kit for that? I might have one kicking around from my fresh water days.

[Reef Pilot]

How long did you soak them for? Should be at least a day or two in water before using in the reactor. Be sure to get them tumbling immediately after pouring into the reactor, or they may start clumping. Once they are tumbling, they should be good for a long time.

And yes, should check your kH.

[sewerman45]

How long did you soak them for? Should be at least a day or two in water before using in the reactor. Be sure to get them tumbling immediately after pouring into the reactor, or they may start clumping. Once they are tumbling, they should be good for a long time.

And yes, should check your kH.

I definitely didn't soak them long enough. I only soaked them for an hour or so. What controls KH and what do I need to do to maintain it? I feel silly... another parameter that I wasn't checking.

[Myka]

Those MiniMax reactors don't do biopellets very well. I imagine it will be very finicky to get them tumbling right.

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[albert_dao]

KH is probably the single most important ion to monitor in SW aquariums. Let's put it this way, Ca, Mg, K+ too low/high? Animals become unhappy. kH out of whack? Everything dies.

Pick up a test kit for kH; I'm partial to the Salifert one. Easy to use, relatively inexpensive. You'll want a firm grip on what kH is and how it interacts with other major ions. Here is an article to get your started:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

[Ram3500]

I definitely didn't soak them long enough. I only soaked them for an hour or so. What controls KH and what do I need to do to maintain it? I feel silly... another parameter that I wasn't checking.

Depending on your system you might not have to dose kh/alk as long as you change you water once a month or every few weeks. If you are considering on have a sps tank you will have to add a dosser to keep you alk stable or all you sps will not be happy. When carbon dossing / bio pellets you need to keep you parameters close to NSW If your alk gets over 9 you risk burnt tips of your sps.

[Myka]

Just curious, if you don't test anything in the tank, how do you know you need to use biopellets? You do know that biopellets are used to reduce nitrate and phosphate, and you don't want either one to be zero, so you could cause more trouble than good by adding biopellets if they aren't needed.

If you want SPS, you'll definitely need to buy test kits for calcium and alkalinity, and should also get magnesium. Nitrate and phosphate are also important to monitor for SPS. As already mentioned, keeping a very close eye on alkalinity is the most important parameter for SPS (aside from the tank getting too hot or something haha). I also like Salifert test kits. They are easy to use, accurate, and reasonably priced. Don't bother with kits like Nutrafin or API.

SPS are high-demand corals, some less so than others (like birdnest, poccilopora, stylopora, montipora). In order to be successful you either need horseshoes up your butt or you need to watch the water parameters. :D

[sewerman45]

Sorry for not providing all the information. This is all making me more confused.

I am dosing Calcium, Alk and Magnesium with a 2 part dosing system and an automated doser. I am testing for the above as well as phosphates (which are not measurable in my system anymore) and occasionally nitrates. My controller also measures PH. I do have pretty low nitrates but am getting some algae growth so I added bio-pellets. All other parameters are right in the range of the above mentioned article which I often consult.

What is KH and how does it interact with Alk and PH? I am having a hard time finding any info on KH specifically.

[mrhasan]

Sorry for not providing all the information. This is all making me more confused.

I am dosing Calcium, Alk and Magnesium with a 2 part dosing system and an automated doser. I am testing for the above as well as phosphates (which are not measurable in my system anymore) and occasionally nitrates. My controller also measures PH. I do have pretty low nitrates but am getting some algae growth so I added bio-pellets. All other parameters are right in the range of the above mentioned article which I often consult.

What is KH and how does it interact with Alk and PH? I am having a hard time finding any info on KH specifically.

Unit of alkalinity (alk) is dKH (degree of Carbon hardness), measured in dKH or ppm. Hope that clears up the confusion. If you are measuring alk (since you are dosing the big three), then you are measuing dKH.

[sewerman45]

Unit of alkalinity (alk) is dKH (degree of Carbon hardness), measured in dKH or ppm. Hope that clears up the confusion. If you are measuring alk (since you are dosing the big three), then you are measuing dKH.

Ok. This makes way more sense. KH is alk. Thank you. I was so confused for a bit there and now am more than a little embarrassed.

So I guess that my alk isn't causing any kind of problem with the bio-pellets and I should just soak them longer so they stop clumping at the top and maybe look into a better reactor. Does anyone having suggestions for a better reactor? Or should I just stick it out and use this one... or is it even worth using one when my phos is undetectable and have pretty low nitrates?

[mrhasan]

Ok. This makes way more sense. KH is alk. Thank you. I was so confused for a bit there and now am more than a little embarrassed.

So I guess that my alk isn't causing any kind of problem with the bio-pellets and I should just soak them longer so they stop clumping at the top and maybe look into a better reactor. Does anyone having suggestions for a better reactor? Or should I just stick it out and use this one... or is it even worth using one when my phos is undetectable and have pretty low nitrates?

There are people who hates biopellets and then there are people who swears by them. Biopellets seems to be one of those things which, if you can make it work, works but otherwise screws up the whole tank. My experience with biopellets was bitter and hence I moved to zeovit.

Maybe post the values of your ca,alk and mg here and people will be able to help you more. Occasionally, wrong bacteria can start feeding on the biopellets and cause the system to crash so you have to make sure biopellet is being used by the right nitrifying bacteria but first and foremost important thing with any ULNS system is to make sure that the big three are in NSW range, alk being the most important one. It has to be between 7 to 8, you can probably push it to 8.5dkh. And tumbling is very important for biopellets.

There are quite a handful of biopellet reactors on the market so choose whichever is suitable for the amount of pellets you use and the size. I think vertex has some nice ones.

[Myka]

I see no reason to use biopellets if there is no issue with elevated NO3 or PO4. I swear by biopellets in situations where a tank needs to be cleaned up, but once a tank is cleaned up, biopellets aren't necessary or even particularly useful IMO. Biopellets can be very aggressive.

If you like the idea of a bacteria and carbon source system, check out Prodibio BioDigest and BiOptim. You only dose them once every 15 days (just pour it in the sump), and it is not aggressive like biopellets. Anecdotally, it seems to help keep the good bacteria population up which helps to keep bad bacteria populations down. I've been using it for a few years now.

[albert_dao]

I suspect that a probiotic system is not for you if you haven't yet gotten a firm grasp of the basics. That's just asking for a disaster.

[Stnbrgn]

If you're looking for a good biopellet reactor I'd recommend the Reef Octopus Biochurn reactors, such as the 90ext, it's a set it and forget it reactor and it's very easy to clean and maintain.

[kien]

.. as soon as I took it offline all my problems went away..

^-- this :-)

However, if you do decide to continue down this path, I would definitely echo a few things that were already recommended.

1. Soak for longer. I always soak for 24 hours or more. Be sure to stir occasionally.
2. A larger reactor. When I started using bioplets I used a TLF (Two Little Fishes phosban 150) reactor. It was OK to start out with but I still found it a challenge to keep the pellets tumbled. Those things are pretty small and I couldn't put a lot of pellets in them. I can't imagine using a smaller reactor than it. I eventually upgraded to a larger Vertext reactor that allowed me to pump more flow into the reactor. The key to getting the pellets to tumble is a sufficient flow rate from a feeding pump, plus room in the reactor chamber for the pellets to disperse/move.

[sewerman45]

There's been a lot of good info in here. Thanks everyone.

I am going to just keep doing what I am doing and soak my pellets longer. I will also look into getting a larger pellet reactor down the road. If anything goes weird again the first thing I'll do it turn of the pellets.

[maron6977]

Since we're on the topic of bio pellets - how much should be in the reactor ?
Go by manufacture suggested amount or just keep testing nitrates ?

[Reef Pilot]

I only fill mine about once a year or longer. I pour in as much as the reactor can tumble easily, up to 1000 ml. The pellets gradually gets consumed until there is only a small amount left tumbling at the bottom. I check nitrates about once a month, and they are always zero.

Having said that, when you first start out, you want to go slow, maybe 2 - 300 ml to start and gradually build it up as the bio pellets start to work. That can take from several weeks to a couple months. This is when you should check nitrates more frequently and they should slowly come down to zero.

I decommissioned my bio pellet reactor a couple years ago, just to see what would happen. It took a couple months for the nitrates to gradually build up again. Then it took a couple months after I reinstalled it to get my nitrates back to zero. And my SPS weren't happy about that either.

[maron6977]

Thanks Walter .
Can I put too much in reactor ? As long as tumbling - good to go ?

[Reef Pilot]

Yes, once it is working. But like I said, start off slowly. Your instructions should say that, too, I would hope.

[swimfan]

I came across a good video on YouTube. Mods delete this if I am violating any rules please. There is a video in which the la fish guys interview Jeff Macare Jeff was the founder of reef dynamics, and one of the companies who builds recirculating reactors. Jeff explains why he feels a biopellet reactor should recirculate and proposes some of the reasons why he feels people have negative experiences with Biopellets. I ended up buying a reef dynamics bpr500 and so far love it. It went online on November 1st, and starting last weekend, finally started to lower my nitrates and phosphates. Love the fact that the tumble rate and effluent flow rate are independent of each other. Happy to hear a happy biochurn customer. Liked the look of them, just couldn't find many reviews. Good to know in the future.

[Myka]

You can post the link to the video.

I have a Reef Dynamics biopellet reactor too. I also much prefer being able to control the effluent.

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[swimfan]

Not sure why but my iPad won't let me add a link, but it's lafishguy episode 107 and there is 2 parts. Definitely swayed my vote for a recirculating reactor. Good to hear the biochurn is another option, because Reef Dynamics is no longer in business, and his reactors are becoming hard to find. another reason I like Biopellets as a form of carbon dosing is I have my effluent line "T"ed into my skimmer intake, so hopefully some of it is removed through skimming, with other forms of carbon dosing I feel as though some of the bacteria might not be consumed by the corals, settle somewhere in the tank and reintroduce the nutrients. That being said I can't be sure how much of that bacteria is skimmed out. I can say my skimmer definitely has increased in skimate production two weeks after starting up the reactor.

[Aquattro]

Im using a modified TLF reactor, half full, no issues. Works great, cost 10 bucks.

[Myka]

Not sure why but my iPad won't let me add a link, but it's lafishguy episode 107 and there is 2 parts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UtgjkEg8EY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsR9HFVpijE

:)

[maron6977]

Great info , thanks !