Bandit's "lentil Bean" experience. N/P reducing pellets

[banditpowdercoat]

OK, I've been saying for quite a while that I'm going to do my own N/P pellet thread. Well, here it is. I waited so long because I had to completely tear down the tank and move it to refloor the living room. Well, it's done and everyting is in the tank now. Just need some aquascaping... I'll take some N/P measuments tomorrow, when the cloudyness has gone and skimmer settles down from the move.

I had a extreme case of hair algae in the tank too. I quickly plucked a heaping bowl of it during teardown. We'll see how it helps

[banditpowdercoat]

OK, measurements taken. Please be gentile with me... This was just after a complete tank drain/refill. About 20% W/C done at that time.


Sg 1.024
Ca 410
Po4 0.1
Mg 1330
Ph 7.8
Dkh 10.8
N03 25

[banditpowdercoat]

Well, I had a Epic Bio pellet disaster! I did not put any foam on the outlet side of my Phos reactor, so the water flow was low. Abut MJ600 level maybe? I went to work for 2 weeks. Reena doesn;t like touching things in the sump, so no big deal, right.. Well, I come home to the Pellets congealed in a Lump. Clear jelly stuff clogging the outlet tube, and the pellets were BLACK in spots. No flow. they had congealed so much that they blocked pretty much all flow.

Toot to sink to drain. And HOLLY CRAP what a stink!!!!! Was rude beyond rude. 10 min under faucet in a colander, they are looking white again. I cannibalized my other reactors's foam for now, and cranked up the flow. They are tumbling well now. I have a pic on my cell phone, but need to find my memory stick to upload it.

Thought I'd share what happens if you don't have enough flow. Bad stuff ewwww

[hillbillyreefer]

There aren't any worse smells than anaerobic decomp.

Was your tank alright other than the troubles in the sump?

[Ron99]

Originally Posted by hillbillyreefer

There aren't any worse smells than anaerobic decomp.

That's for sure. I could tell you stories about post surgical infections I have seen.......on the other hand; better not to.

[banditpowdercoat]

Ya everything else looks OK so far

[Delphinus]

I'm thinking maybe no more than 1/2 litre should be run in the phosban reactors. I found with 3/4 litre I was getting good tumbling, but after about 2 days I'd get about 1/2" layer of pellets slammed into the top of the reactor and they work pretty good as a filter as it turns out, so despite that most of 3/4 litre was tumbling, the mulm had nowhere to go.

I'm now running a full litre in a MR-1 reactor and the level is less than half of the reactor so gravity is pulling them down well enough, and they are churning like crazy with a MJ12. No output foam or even the little output grate, it just exits straight to sump. Problem free so far.

So I think a phosban reactor can be run but it's crucial not to overload it (like I did). I'd say no more than halfway up with pellets when churning. I think fewer pellets is no big deal, they'll still work the same, but you just have to top up more .... but this is less of a concern than them gumming up and accumulating mulm.

Hope yours runs better from here on!

[ksalt]

Originally Posted by banditpowdercoat

Well, I had a Epic Bio pellet disaster! I did not put any foam on the outlet side of my Phos reactor, so the water flow was low. Abut MJ600 level maybe? I went to work for 2 weeks. Reena doesn;t like touching things in the sump, so no big deal, right.. Well, I come home to the Pellets congealed in a Lump. Clear jelly stuff clogging the outlet tube, and the pellets were BLACK in spots. No flow. they had congealed so much that they blocked pretty much all flow.

Toot to sink to drain. And HOLLY CRAP what a stink!!!!! Was rude beyond rude. 10 min under faucet in a colander, they are looking white again. I cannibalized my other reactors's foam for now, and cranked up the flow. They are tumbling well now. I have a pic on my cell phone, but need to find my memory stick to upload it.

Thought I'd share what happens if you don't have enough flow. Bad stuff ewwww

Could you please post the new levels, if they have changed up or down??

Thanks.

[banditpowdercoat]

Well, a 1 month update, Levels are improving Both Nitrate and Phos have dropped, despite my little misshap. The pellets are tumbling nicely in the reactor for 2 weeks now, no mulm buildup. Alk droped a little though.

Sg 1.025
Ca 380
Po4 0.03
Mg 1330
Ph 8
Dkh 8
N03 5-10