Seeding Bio-Pellets
 

I've been reading up a storm on bio-pellets, and I've decided I'm going to try them. I've ordered a recirculating reactor, as I'm wary of overdosing.

This will be going on a system at has a cyano outbreak (going on two months, now). I understand that there is a risk of the cyano populating the bio-pellets, which will magnify the problem in the display system.

I'm thinking that I need to seed the bio-pellets with nitrifying bacteria before the reactor is put into use in my main display system. I'm worried about trying to seed it in the system, as there is no way to ensure that the bacteria I want to seed the pellets will.

Can I just drop the reactor in a bucket of NSW, add Microbacter7 daily, add a bit of fish food to feed the bacteria, and allow a couple of weeks for the bacteria to grow?

There is really no need to seed them. When I first started pellets my tank had a lot of cyano to. I just started with a 1/4 of the reccomeded amount & kept the flow high to keep them tumble good. I think I have gone through at least 8-10 1000ml bags thus far. Just make sure you give them a 24 hr soak in RO water first.

Did you dose bacteria when you started up your reactor, Grizz?

No but I made sure that my tank had been running for at least 6 month+ before going with pellets. If you start to soon you can strip your system of all bad & some good element in the water column very fast, which can lead to a crash. That is also why it is suggested to start of with 1/4 of the rec. amount.

Do you find that you need to run a phosphate reducer in addition to the bio-pellets?

Vertex indicates that a phosphate reducers shouldn't be used with their bio-pellets, but from what I'm reading online, most people find that they still need to run ROWAphos (or similar) to get the phosphate reduction that they're looking for.

Nope I just run pellets & carbon. I do have some HC GFO but have not used any yet.

Very good to know. :) I am hoping to be able to pull at least one of the fluid reactors off the system. It is very squishy in there.

Dave will be building me a new sump, but I imagine it will be a while before I actually have it in my hands, as I've just given him the sketch for it. The more I can get out of the existing sump the better.