stagnant biopellets

christyf5 · #1 07-25-2010, 09:53 PM

So I just returned from 10 days of holidays and discovered that while I was gone I managed to leave all the valves on my sump manifold in the closed position, leaving my biopellet, carbon and phosban reactors all full of stagnant water. That was 2 hours of cleaning, smelly yuck and black influent and effluent lines.

I turfed the carbon and phosban as they're easily replaceable but am wondering if there is anything to do to rescue the biopellets, they have a bit of a green hue to them. I've rinsed them really well and have them soaking in RO water but I'm wondering if its worth it to continue using them.

Any ideas?

Delphinus · #2 07-25-2010, 10:55 PM

Don't really know for sure but I think they'll probably be OK. Rinse them off as best you can, it will stink (been there done that a few times now myself), maybe run them off a bucket for a day before restoring them onto your tank.

Welcome home eh. I just spent two days camping in an area where there was no cell coverage. Was never more than 45 minutes away from home, but as soon as I discovered no cell service I thought "Uhoh, what's going to happen." Sure enough on the drive home and got into coverage area again both cell phones starting picking up on the frantic voicemails my dad left me on Saturday, my FW tank had a mini disaster / overflow. As far as I can tell his jury-rigging did manage to limp the tank along onto today and now I have a nice little tank restoration project that I need to get going on today but I seem to be putting off. On a plus side, I just installed a door handle on my tank room. Maybe the FW tank project will be the answer to my empty dosing jugs.

Lance · #3 07-25-2010, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christyf5

So I just returned from 10 days of holidays and discovered that while I was gone I managed to leave all the valves on my sump manifold in the closed position, leaving my biopellet, carbon and phosban reactors all full of stagnant water. That was 2 hours of cleaning, smelly yuck and black influent and effluent lines.

I turfed the carbon and phosban as they're easily replaceable but am wondering if there is anything to do to rescue the biopellets, they have a bit of a green hue to them. I've rinsed them really well and have them soaking in RO water but I'm wondering if its worth it to continue using them.

Any ideas?

Yup. I read up on this as I had the same issue. A good rinsing and they're good to go.

Mandosh · #4 07-26-2010, 12:24 AM

Sorry for the off topic question... Are you running both phosban and pellets? Everything I have heard suggests not using pellets and phosphate reducers together. I was never sure why though.

christyf5 · #5 07-26-2010, 12:32 AM

Thanks Tony and Lance, sure be a shame to have to toss them with how much they're worth. I'll just soak them for awhile.

Mandosh: I did run the pellets without phosban as the rule however I wasn't seeing the results that others were and my phosphate levels were starting to creep up and I had algae growth so I put the phosban back online. To be honest I can't say I've been all that thrilled with the pellets and the phosban has probably being doing the bulk of the work.

Lance · #6 07-26-2010, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christyf5

Thanks Tony and Lance, sure be a shame to have to toss them with how much they're worth. I'll just soak them for awhile.

Mandosh: I did run the pellets without phosban as the rule however I wasn't seeing the results that others were and my phosphate levels were starting to creep up and I had algae growth so I put the phosban back online. To be honest I can't say I've been all that thrilled with the pellets and the phosban has probably being doing the bulk of the work.

Give them time. I've found the pellets to work very well. It's probably in your thread somewhere but what kind of reactor and pump and how much pellets are you running?

christyf5 · #7 07-26-2010, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance

Give them time. I've found the pellets to work very well. It's probably in your thread somewhere but what kind of reactor and pump and how much pellets are you running?

I run the Phosban POS, ahem, I mean 550 and I have no idea how much pellets are left, I think I initially bought the 1L package.

I'm sure the pellets kicked in at some point but I was unwilling to relinquish the phosphate reducing power of phosban. And my cyano/algaes never did fully go away which is why I'm not so thrilled with the pellets.

Lance · #8 07-26-2010, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christyf5

I run the Phosban POS, ahem, I mean 550 and I have no idea how much pellets are left, I think I initially bought the 1L package.

I'm sure the pellets kicked in at some point but I was unwilling to relinquish the phosphate reducing power of phosban. And my cyano/algaes never did fully go away which is why I'm not so thrilled with the pellets.

I started them in a 550 as well. Wasn't happy with it so I bought the Vertex UF-15 and filled it right up with pellets. I've got a Sedra 5000 powering the Vertex, a BRS reactor with carbon and the 550 with carbon. The pellets tumble great. Are your pellets tumbling well?

christyf5 · #9 07-26-2010, 02:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lance

I started them in a 550 as well. Wasn't happy with it so I bought the Vertex UF-15 and filled it right up with pellets. I've got a Sedra 5000 powering the Vertex, a BRS reactor with carbon and the 550 with carbon. The pellets tumble great. Are your pellets tumbling well?

Yeah they seem to be tumbling okay, I can hear them racheting around in there but they're not flying around like in some of the videos.

They still friggen reek of sulphur, I dunno about reusing them.

Lance · #10 07-26-2010, 02:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by christyf5

Yeah they seem to be tumbling okay, I can hear them racheting around in there but they're not flying around like in some of the videos.

They still friggen reek of sulphur, I dunno about reusing them.

Maybe try running the reactor overnight in a bucket of water and add some carbon.