Refugium with chaeto or bio-pellet reactor

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by davej

Denny a question for you.
I have been dosing vinegar on the 4 week schedule like you suggested.
Really happy with how things are looking.
Have been at 0.4 ml for about 3-4 weeks so far.
Phosphates read near zero to zero but nitrates hover around 10 ppm.
Don't have a large bio load and I think I feed fairly light.
Running an omega 150 for a skimmer and cant seem to get a good dark skimmate out of it always seems to skim fairly wet weak tea colored fluid.
Could this be a factor?
Could it just be too much skimmer for my setup?
Should I bump the vinegar up a little more?
What level do you settle in at on a daily basis?
Is it the 0.4 or different?

If there's no signs of stress then you can go higher for sure , once nitrates drop to zero you can always slowly cut back , just watch your ph and if you need to spread your dose out.

If phosphates are too low you can always feed a little more or cut out gfo if running it

Your skimmer is most likely a factor , skimmate should be dark almost black you'll know when it's working , I don't think that skimmer is overpowered fwiw but still you should be able to tune it to do it so there's an issue there IMO .

Keep an eye out for the signs of too much like white films on the glass or cloudy water and keep an eye on your livestock

I've made it to 1ml per gallon on setups and on average about 0.4 ml per gallon so the numbers can vary from system to system but you can fine tune it and it's a little forgiving

Once you find your mainatance dose it's pretty set and forget

[davej]

Originally Posted by reefwars

If there's no signs of stress then you can go higher for sure , once nitrates drop to zero you can always slowly cut back , just watch your ph and if you need to spread your dose out.

If phosphates are too low you can always feed a little more or cut out gfo if running it

Your skimmer is most likely a factor , skimmate should be dark almost black you'll know when it's working , I don't think that skimmer is overpowered fwiw but still you should be able to tune it to do it so there's an issue there IMO .

Keep an eye out for the signs of too much like white films on the glass or cloudy water and keep an eye on your livestock

I've made it to 1ml per gallon on setups and on average about 0.4 ml per gallon so the numbers can vary from system to system but you can fine tune it and it's a little forgiving

Once you find your mainatance dose it's pretty set and forget

Ok cool, just bumped it up to .5 to see how it goes
I am dosing over a 5 hour period with 10 equal doses, definitely have some white film in the sump where it is being dosed but main tank and water still nice and clear. will work on skimmer output

[reefaddik]

Here is a couple pics of my refugium set up in my basement below my display. It's the way to go hands down.

[hfp75]

Do both... put the refugium before the pellet reactor. that way there is nutrients for the algaes (from the nutrient rich return tank water)... then run it through a biopellet reactor and aim the return from the reactor to the intake of the skimmer. DONE!

This way you will have some chaeto/caulerpa and all the critters that are good - not practical to export all the nutrients this way but a few. Use the Pellet reactor to get rid of the bulk of the nutrients... probably leaving a bit of PO4 and then in the last chamber run a small pump 300 gph through a TLF150 with Rowa (just gate it back for the right flow)..... your return water (to the tank) should be very clean....

Start with 1/2 of what is recommended for the biopellets and see what happens to your nutrient levels (give it a few weeks for bacteria to grow).... remember that some NO3 and PO4 is not bad.... I keep my NO3 @ < 10 (average 5) and my PO4 at <.1

I am using this method... everything is happy and I dont need to fuss with dosing anything.... super easy and simple - reactor is always running. Bacteria grows & dies off of the pellets as nutrients allow, it is like a shock absorber.... and you don't need to mess with it.... it just runs - with vodka and sugar you are always messing with the dosing and it can be a PITA...

Just my opinion....

[trilinearmipmap]

Biopellets = flavour of the week a few years ago. I have read enough tales of disaster with biopellets. Might work for some, too complicated and expensive for me.

The combination of skimmer + fuge has worked well for years for many including myself. Multiple benefits of a system like this. Low to no cost. Less potential for disaster. Pods = extra benefit.

To keep a reef long term you need a low maintenance low-worry solution. Due to extreme workload I have not even looked in my bucket fuge for several months. A couple of days ago removed a huge clump (1/2) of the chaeto. Takes care of itself.

Anyway just my opinion.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by trilinearmipmap

Biopellets = flavour of the week a few years ago. I have read enough tales of disaster with biopellets. Might work for some, too complicated and expensive for me.

The combination of skimmer + fuge has worked well for years for many including myself. Multiple benefits of a system like this. Low to no cost. Less potential for disaster. Pods = extra benefit.

To keep a reef long term you need a low maintenance low-worry solution. Due to extreme workload I have not even looked in my bucket fuge for several months. A couple of days ago removed a huge clump (1/2) of the chaeto. Takes care of itself.

Anyway just my opinion.

Macro algae= poor form of nutrient export

Bacteria = efficient form of nutrient export


Biopellets is just another form of carbon dosing for any one to say its a flavor of the month obviously do not understand how it works , or hasnt been Around since that month ......it's not a magical plastic that can turn on you in a heart beat its a biological process involving bacteria and with a little chemistry is easily maintained


Some of the greatest reef minds in the world acknowledge bacteria as
THE most important part of a ecosystem , so why wouldn't anyone want to expand their knowledge on what they can do and put them to work?


It's hard......actually no it's not lol set up a doser and follow a routine it's actually pretty easy and there's no guess work unlike growing algae or putting your hopes into a skimmer alone (I assume you read the skimmer thread right as it also happened in that month)

A successful reef can happen many ways but there is always room for improvement


We advance in this hobby year after year and while some people will tell you the earth is flat and to just take their word for it ....or.....you can go out and find the facts your self and maybe you'll discover the world isn't so flat after all

[Aquattro]

My opinion is choose neither, until such time as you determine you need something. Keep in mind, that pic you posted was not the result of choosing a bio-pellet option. It's careful husbandry tied to lighting, flow, feeding, stocking,etc. You need to get it all right to get that tank. If you find a couple months in that you can't control nutrients, then look at options to deal with it. Carbon dosing is a good option.