oops. I missed the part where you said you didn't have any SPS.

Ya, I would agree with those suggesting to keep your BP running in this case. 10dkH isn't really a problem for anything else in the tank. And again, taking BP off-line won't lower your alk.

FYI: There has been lots of complaints on the zeovit forums of the KZ salt being high in alk.

It makes no sense because their system promotes low alk.

I have never used KZ salt, but that would seem baffling to me. It seems in most probiotic systems like BioPellets and Zeo it is recommend to run a lower dkH like 7-8. For them to have a higher alk salt seems counter to that.

Yep. Baffling to me also.

It's the main reason we don't keep it in stock.

I'll mix up a batch and check it once I get some

If it's too high I'll just lower it

Tested fresh mix last night, 8.2.

Link(s) please. :)

They don't cause high alk, but if used in a system with high alk they burn sps

May I ask, what exactly do these "bio pellets", do? I have a chance to have the reactor built into my sump while its getting done but figured no need for it.

Does it even help with phosphate or is a nitrate reducer, which I dont need?
Thanks

Yes, yes and yes.

It eliminates a whole lot less phosphate from the system than nitrate. "biopellets" are tiny little beads of a biodegradable carbon polymer. The principle behind it being that bacteriologically, aquariums are organic carbon limited. Some guy named Redfield figured out that ocean plankton, atomically, are composed of C:N:P atoms at a ratio of 106:16:1. Since then people have extrapolated a dozen ways from Sunday to assume that all microscopic/very small ocean life consumes C, N, and P in similar ratios. While the exact ratios likely vary significantly, the relationship generally holds true.

The idea behind biopellets, or any organic carbon dosing, is that if you provide organic carbon in gross excess, it will no longer limit the growth of aerobic heterotrophic bacteria, which will then consume vast quantities of nitrate, and a much smaller amount of phosphate, roughly in a ratio of 16 to 1, which then gets packaged up in a cellular vehicle that can either be eaten by a coral, or exported by a skimmer. Most people recommend directing the output of the reactor to the intake of a skimmer for this reason.

So while yes, they do consume phosphate, they consume so much nitrate relative to phosphate that nitrate usually ends up becoming a limiting nutrient. People usually find that they still need to run GFO to mop up the excess. There are people who actually dose nitrate directly to try and reduce phosphate (there's a huge thread about this on reef central), but I personally would never in a million years intentionally pour pure algae food in my tank on purpose.

vodka, vinegar, or sugar dosing works on the exact same principle, only in those cases the bacteria have the entire surface area of the tank to grow on. With biopellets the majority of the carbon supposedly stays in the reactor. More like "supposedly" stays in the reactor.

There's as many people who think biopellets are the devil for various and sundry reasons as there are people who use them.