NP pellets and bleaching events

Delphinus · #1 11-12-2011, 03:56 PM

Yeah, I played around with sulfur denitrators in the past. You nailed it in that you really need an ORP monitor for that. I didn't have one and I found it a challenge to dial in a flowrate that would remain steady state and still allow it to go anaerobic. I like the idea of those for something like a large FOWLR or predator tank.

The pellets are a set and forget thing, I like them that way they are super easy - but I just find it odd that there seems to be the occasional claim of bleaching. Very much in the minority but yet still often enough to dismiss it as a coincidence.

whatcaneyedo · #2 11-12-2011, 04:09 PM

I had the same issue while using the vertex pellets. I tried them twice and the same thing happened each time. The first time I used the recommended minimum amount and nearly all of my soft coral plus a few of my LPS began to bleach within a month. The second time I used much less and the same thing happened. I don't know if it was related or not but my montipora also bleached and receded a bit a few months after trying the pellets. While it seems unlikely that they would cause that months after their use I can't come up with a better explanation. My oldest montipora I got back in 2005 and the only time I've ever had any problems with them was when I tried pellets.

kien · #3 11-12-2011, 04:31 PM

Ya it still boggles my mind that results with bioPellets are quite varied especially when you consider that they are supposed to be set and forget. I have been using well over the recommended amount without any issues while some people nearly crash their tanks with just a few pellets. Very strange..

The Grizz · #4 11-13-2011, 02:50 AM

It boggles my mind as well, so I have been thinking of things that could contribute to this but it's only speculation.

I know that Kien runs pellets in conjunction with Carbon & GFO but not sure what he has for a skimmer or what its rated for. Also how much flow he has running threw the pellets and threw his sump and has no issues.

I am running pellets with double the req. flow with an Aqua Medic 2500 pump, Carbon & GFO. My skimmer is rated for 400gph, feed by another AM 2500 & recirculating with the same. For flow I have a 3600 GPH closed loop and a 6500 GPH return pump.

So I am wondering if there is some connection with the way people's tanks are run because no tank is the same. For those having issues let get some info together on each others system to compare and see if we can find a connection.

Just a thought.

pscott99 · #5 11-21-2011, 01:09 PM

Hmmm. My carpet is bleached you can see it in the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOKSY..._order&list=UL

chris121277 · #6 11-21-2011, 01:51 PM

Interesting topic...just tagging along...as I'm considering starting the use of bio pellets

Delphinus · #7 11-21-2011, 05:09 PM

Well just as an update I just drained the reactor of water, then moved the whole kit and kaboodle over to my FOWLR tank. The water is clearer, the nitrates dropped off in a week, I now have zero phosphate levels on there, the cyano is retreating and, although it might just be wishful thinking at this point, I think my valonia (bubble algae) looks like it's retreating as well.

Ha! Too bad I can't keep corals in that that tank (butterflies - corals nummy nummy!).

So the pellets can definitely do a nice job of things.

As to the bleached mini-maxi carpet however ... it's weird. It could be coincidental timing but it just seems like a bit of an odd coincidence. It did continue to bleach for at least a week following the reactor/tank switcharoo. Seems to be holding steady now, and it eats fine so I assume it will be OK..

Bblinks · #8 11-21-2011, 05:39 PM

Close to 14 months ago I started using np pellets which is the original people who came out with biopellets, for the first few month I slowly amped up the dosage to the recommended level without any ill effects. 6months goes by everything is looking fantastic, all the parameters are looking good with the exception of phosphate still hanging around 0.02ppm as per hanna checker, so i descided to run inconjunction with rowaphos which did bring my phosphate down to undetectable by the meter. At this time my parameters were 8DKH 440CAL 1300MAG 0NO3 0PHOS. few months later I switched from npx to vertex pellets and within a few weeks of switch several LPS(brian, blasto, acan...) SPS(acros, millis) started to bleach. a week goes by and 2 sps colonies rtn'd and the rest are still looking pretty bad. I tested my parameter and to be my suprise alk has jumped from 8 to 10.5 for some reason(might just be a stronger mix when I was doing the new batch but I really don't think so.) After talking to a few people on rc and albert from vertex they told me to lower my alk to around 7 and hope for the best. So now 4 months later the 2 rtn sps are dead but all the rest are on the rebound. Also if I might add I also noticed the k level was around 200 ppm which I aided with zeovit k balance which also made a huge difference.
Now with alk rock solid at 7 and k just around 400 mark I have no issue with add any amount of pellets. I like to dose a bit of zeobak to ensure that I don't end up with a mono strain of bacteria, but IMHO pellets work but you need to keep you alk in check and because it stripes out a lot of other vital elements like potassium you should test what you can and dose accordingly.
just my 2 pennies.