Bio Pellets

[Treebeard]

I have decided to try using bio-pellets and buy a Cad Lights Conic Bio-Reactor (on sale at J & L) and wondering what kind of bio-pellets to buy for it. Is one brand better than another?

[Bblinks]

I use vertex since they are 100% PHA bio-degradable polymer and they are easily accessible from most LFS. When you first start the system, go slow and use about half the recomanded doage. I like to add some zeostart or microbacter 7 to boost it but its not a necessity.

[asylumdown]

from what I understand they're all pretty much the same polymer

[Baldy]

I no longer use biopellets due to a bad experience with them. I was using npx bioplastics. I wouldnt recommend them.

[waynemah]

I found they did a great job with nitrates but lacked when pulling out phosphates. Keep them tumbling and they should work well, also start with a small amount and work your way up. If they clump at all, they aren't tumbling enough.

As far as the brand, I believe the vertex ones are a good choice!

[viperfish]

I swear by them. I am using the Vertex pellets on both of my tanks. If you know someone running them, get a couple of scoops of mature pellets to add to your new ones, it will speed up the seeding process.

[mikepclo]

I used Vertex pellets with MB7 & Zeobak to jump start it with no issues. I believe vertex recommends it to prevent Cyano bloom which is one of the issues people have with BP. As Bblinks mentioned, slow and less is the key to prevent any problems.

[Treebeard]

Thanks for the tips!

[e46er]

I used to use vertex pellets for a fe years.
Then my sump cracked and since my reactors were off a manifold from my return pump they also got shut off.

My tank has never looked better. 3 months later i got the new sump up and running and just added carbon and GFO tank looks much better.
In the end Im happier without pellets and i had them tumbling maybe some MB7 along with them might have helped but I would be hard pressed to run them again

[reefermadness]

The key to pellets is 1 - never use them as a problem solver ie. add them to a tank that is high in nitrate and phosphate. This can cause bacteria blooms and other problems. They are best to add to a tank that is somewhat low in NO3 and PO4 and will help to keep these low 2 - FEEEED....now that you have a way to keep NO3 and PO4 low you need to feed the tank more....maybe even get more fish.

ALso like mentioned you may find you still need to run a small amount of GFO.

The nicest tanks Ive seen have had plenty of fish, feed lots and yet still have clean water...biopellets helps you do this.

[Reef Pilot]

The key to pellets is 1 - never use them as a problem solver ie. add them to a tank that is high in nitrate and phosphate. This can cause bacteria blooms and other problems. They are best to add to a tank that is somewhat low in NO3 and PO4 and will help to keep these low 2 - FEEEED....now that you have a way to keep NO3 and PO4 low you need to feed the tank more....maybe even get more fish.

ALso like mentioned you may find you still need to run a small amount of GFO.

The nicest tanks Ive seen have had plenty of fish, feed lots and yet still have clean water...biopellets helps you do this.

Huh?? I had a tank that was very high in nitrates (up to 100 ppm) and phosphates. That's why I started bio pellets and then GFO later. Nitrates are now zero, and phosphates near zero. And I never had any bacteria blooms or other problems. The key to that is dosing MB7, and lots of it at the beginning, starting 2 weeks before the bio pellets. I recently started growing SPS, and they are doing great, too.

[reefermadness]

Your right....never is a strong word and you cant draw hard lines in this hobby. Peoples can have different experiences but the fact remains that many people have had problems adding biopellets to tanks with high NO3 and PO4.

I still dont recommend it ...but yes it can be done. Did you have many corals at the time? Also did you use less biopellets than recommended?

[chris121277]

I just thought I'd share this here....I can't take credit for this, but it is the best Bio Pellet explanation that someone has ever given me.

I use biopearls and really happy with them but yet my system is heavily feed.
To make them work you need to keep and maintain the Redfield ratio (C 106 :N 16 1) to keep them going at full tilt the redfield is just a ball park figure but it’s the same basic principle to any carbon dosing system liquid or solid. For it to work effectively the reactor effluent needs to be directed to an oversized skimmer on a wet skim (which is where most of the work is done) and they need to be tumbled hard to bash the mulm which forms on the outside of the pear/pellet (This is generally noticed by clumping of pellets as they stick together) This mulm is then feed to the skimmer, this removes the phos, nitrates and bacteria that bind to it and exposes new areas for bacteria colonise keeping it fresh and continually growing.

If the system Nitrates are too low it will not tackle Phosphates properly and then the GFO should only be used to bring phos back in to line should it run out of kilter with nitrates.

My system runs at 10ppm Nitrates, 0.08ppm Phos.

But taking the Redfild in my system....

C (Carbon 106 (as its fixed)) : N (Nitrates 10ppm) : P (Phosphates 0.08ppm(the actual redfield suggests my Phosphates should be 0.6ppm but like I said its not an exact science the only issue comes should my N reach 2ppm or below for that level of Phosphate)

Now the carbon is fixed as its in solid form (if it was liquid form then you would need to calculate what the ration is for you system there are several rules and that help you work that out but over shooting is easy and when the carbon element spikes causing all sorts of issue like bacterial blooms etc. which is why a solid form is better and more trouble free) so its only surface area that limits the colony size of the bacteria and dependant on the system will vary the amount needed as mine is heavily feed i actually run 400ml of pearls for a 130l system (packaging states 100ml per 100ltrs so as you can see I am way over that but 3x the normal requirements).

But this system fails if the ratio goes to far out of whack and although the ratio is quite tolerant once its out of balance the whole thing stops working as it should and typically most people suffer from the N & P going wrong (as carbon can't change its solid form and will be consumed only a rate the bacteria will eat it so to speak, but the N & P is variable and the N need to be kept a min, of 16x the value of phos for it to function fully, that’s why if phos goes above this values the the use of GFO to bring it back down is required). But like i was saying people add pearl/pellets the nitrates come down (too fast) to 0 the bacteria can't fix the nitrogen and phos is left behind and becomes a residual problem.
Once Nitrates in the system reach a point of 0ppm the ratio of phos is then 16x lower than zero? and that don't work. The bacteria has reached a state where is colony can only deal with mopping up tiny amounts of nitrates and even smaller amounts of phos as this suppresses the bacterial colony which is now to small to do anything of any benefit and the whole system stand still which is why some people say it does absolutely nothing for them. This is why understanding a product and how it works for you is important to know and understand.

But when its not functioning right there are two ways of dealing with this....

1 - Remove some of the pearls, bring the surface areas of pellets down to point where the bacterial colony can't consume the full amount of nitrates in the system and allow them to rise a little generating a stronger colony as there is residual nitrates to maintain the colony size and function that will deal with respective phos level at the ration (any phos level over that ratio will need to be controlled using GFO or other phos removers)

2 - Introduce Nitrate chloride to raise Nitrates to a level where a residual presence of nitrates are available for the bacterial colonies to consume keeping the bacterial level good. Nitrates.

TIP OF THE DAY: If you do remove pearls/pellets remember they are just plastic, give’em a good wash and dry them and pop them back in the pot and they will be ready use next time..

You know its working as the skimmer will produce a eggy smelling wet greeny/brown skimmate with minging film across the top, and my system produces about 500-700ml of it every week out of a 130l system and get through about 40/50mls pearls every two months.

I would imaging in a normal reef tank that doesn't get feed to much the ability to drive nitrates down to 0 with it is all to easy but if you can maintain a residual nitrates level 1-5pmm and phosphate at 0.03ppm should serve you well IMO after all the ocean does have nitrates and phosphates in it and despite high level being bad so can 0 levels of it also which is why people often suffer cyno issues as it thrives in nutrient poor environments as the bacteria starts to function more effectively in areas where nitrogen fixing is not happening and the bacteria for cyno and diatoms etc all feed from Sulphur which is abundant in everything so it has a good food source making it a persistent problem. As soon as the redfield ratio is restored the system can stabilise and start to `fix the nitrogen’ and cyno/diatoms cannot be sustained in these environments and more beneficial bacteria can start to colonise.

Quoted from this thread
http://www.reefersparadise.com/smf/index.php?topic=3457.msg50741;topicseen#msg50741

[Reef Pilot]

Your right....never is a strong word and you cant draw hard lines in this hobby. Peoples can have different experiences but the fact remains that many people have had problems adding biopellets to tanks with high NO3 and PO4.

I still dont recommend it ...but yes it can be done. Did you have many corals at the time? Also did you use less biopellets than recommended?
Biggest problem people have with bio pellets is clumping, mulm, and bacteria blooms. All of those can be prevented with the proper use of MB7.

I like bio pellets, just fill up my reactor, and then not touch it again for at least 3 more months to top up some pellets. Can't get any simpler than that. Even my GFO, don't have to change it now until at least 2 months.

Before that I tried all kinds of things, incl a refugium full of chaeto. Barely made a dent. But the bio pellets and MB7 totally cleaned up my tank. Having said that, it didn't happen over night. I started gradually, and it took several months before I was adding the full load of bio pellets. But it sure worked after that.

Amazingly, even with the high nitrates and phosphates before, I was still able to keep all kinds of softies and LPS. But had to do a lot of tank cleaning with a toothbrush and sand vacuuming. with all the algae and gunk that kept growing in there.

Now it is nice and clean, and even detritus seems to have disappeared. I still blow with a turkey baster and brush my rocks here and there to make sure no detrius builds up, but the rocks for the most part stay clean, and just grow coralline algae now.

[pinkreef]

I USE TWO LITTLE FISHIES BRAND, AS IT IS CHEAPER, BUT I THINK THEY ARE ALL SIMILAR. I HAVE TRIED OTHER WAYS TO CONTROL NITRATES AND BIOPELLETS ARE THE EASIEST.

[Parker]

Vertex here as well. As others have mentioned, go slow and take your time with them and you should be fine.