the official ECOBAK thread...

Discussion in 'Warner Marine' started by Jon Warner, Feb 3, 2011.

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  1. Jon Warner

    Jon Warner 3reef Sponsor

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    ecoBAK starts working around 4-6 weeks and ecoBAK PLUS in 2-3 weeks, so I wouldn't expect to see any low nutrient issues just yet. And as long as you feed your system you will never have "too low" nutrient issues.
     
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  3. rcflyer1388

    rcflyer1388 Bubble Tip Anemone

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    Jon, I am looking into going back to using biopellets with my newest set up. I've used NPX pellets before with my old system and I didn't like the results much. My current set up of 90 gal, I have a refugium and oversized skimmer to maintain my nitrates undetectable and Phosphates at around .04-.06ppm with Red Sea Test. Would I be able to get away with using just 250ml of ecobak plus for my 90 gal system and throwing it all in there at once since I already have a fairly low nutrient system? My ultimate goal is to ditch the fuge and put my recirc skimmer in it's place so I don't have to worry about overflowing while away on my work trips.
     
  4. OnlyTono

    OnlyTono Spaghetti Worm

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    Just wanted to update my progress at week 5 or so. I upgraded my bio pellet the reactor yesterday to accommodate the final 1/3 does of pellets. I installed a NextReef SM1 reactor and added the final 200ml, for total of 600mL of ecoBAK. It replaces a smaller Phasban 150 reactor.

    When I started, I had a pretty good GHA outbreak beginning to really take hold. During the past 5 weeks, the GHA hit a peak and got really bad until about 2 weeks ago when it started to recede. Now. it's nearly completely gone in the Display tank. I did a number of things from manual removal (mostly unhelpful), reducing the amount of food, more water changes (total of 58% in May), and of course running ecoBAK.

    Nutrient levels in the water column are way down and clarity is pretty amazing, except on the days the pistol shrimp feels the need to remodel. :)

    Other observations:
    My fuge is almost overrun with what looks like cyano, and some other slimy bacterial growth. I'm assuming this may be do to the lower flow in that area. Since the Display tank is so clean right now, I don't think I'm going to disturb the fuge to much other than to clean the glasss. I'll just wait it out and see what happens.

    I also see that the Cheato and calipatria micro algae in the fuge has suddenly kicked into high gear. Not sure why, but they are both growing faster then it had in the past.

    Skimmate has stopped being so dark, but still have pretty good production. I'm guessing as the nutrients in the tank reduce, so does the bacteria on the pellets?
     
  5. Jon Warner

    Jon Warner 3reef Sponsor

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    Give it a try, 250ml is a little light for a 90 gallon system but it's a lot better than 0ml. And yes, get that skimmer in it's place!!
     
  6. ncfishguy

    ncfishguy Astrea Snail

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    Any long term users with some updates
     
  7. OnlyTono

    OnlyTono Spaghetti Worm

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    I've been running them for a little over a year - since May 2014. They worked really great and for a period of time I had a good balance between PO4 and NO3. PO4 was hovering just around .01 - .03, while NO3 holding steady 1.5-2ppm. I had good growth in both SPS and LPS corals, and the tank was for the most part algae free, except in the refugium, which is where I wanted it.

    But, recently the pellets seem to have stopped working and I think it might be because they worked too good.

    My PO4 is now completely undetectable with any test kits I have tried, and the NO3 is running out of control - pushing around 20ppm. The research I've done suggests that the tank is PO4 deficient, which has caused the bacteria on the pellets to either stop producing or just die off. As a result, there is no reduction in NO3. The only fix I can come with is to somehow raise my PO4 until the bacteria reestablish themselves so that they can again begin consuming both the PO4 and NO3.

    Once the PO4 dropped to nothing, I did observe that that pellets no longer have that "stickiness" and my skimmer production reduced by about 3/4.

    You can view my log on NO3 from my AquaticLog.com profile at:
    http://www.aquaticlog.com/showcase/parameter?kind=Nitrate&aquariumId=2396
    You can see how right around mid April, it shot up.

    Not sure this is helpful but that's my experience so far.
     
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  9. ncfishguy

    ncfishguy Astrea Snail

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    Thanks that's very help full !
     
  10. jbraslins

    jbraslins Teardrop Maxima Clam

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    I've heard of some tanks to be NO3 limited, and not reducing PO4 cause there's no NO3 left for bacteria to consume. Some people actually dose nitrate. I've never heard of the opposite scenario like you describe. I guess theoretically it's possible. From my reading, most of the bacteria in question consumes much more NO3 than PO4, like 20:1 ratio. So introducing just a little more PO4 should greatly reduce NO3.

    How much do you feed your tank? Maybe you should just feed it more.
     
  11. rcflyer1388

    rcflyer1388 Bubble Tip Anemone

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    That's what happened with mine. It became Nitrate deficient and PO4 started creeping up. I have since taken down the pellets and went back to dosing carbon. I've been having great results with Nopox from Red Sea. Let's me tweak the system to how I need the parameters to be kept and all my cyano and weird algae went away as well. Manually dosing enabled me to stop dosing for a few days to let nitrates climb a little. Can't say that was associated with the biopellets, but it sure is a coincidence. Since then my nitrates have been close to 0 with Salifert tests and phosphate a steady .04 ppm. All the sps look happy and colorful.
     
  12. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

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    Anyone ever have a cyano bloom after running gfo with pellets? I added gfo in another reactor since my nitrates have really low but phosphate was high. 2 weeks after adding gfo and now I have some red cyano. Its got me scratching my head. Did I upset a balance of bacteria by adding gfo?