Biopellet help

Need a little help here as I am thinking of divign into the biopellet world. I have never used any carbon dosing method before. For the new setup I am going to run a skimmer, liverock, 3inch sandbed, and carbon in a reactor. That is all that is set in stone for now. I have used phosguard in the past and even a short period with GFO and do not really want either on the new build. IME GFO caused a cyano outbreak and from reading it could be because the red cyano can use iron instead of phosphates for growth unlike true algae. Phosguard is aluminum based and I really dont want aluminum or iron building up in my tank over longe time use.

So biopellets it may be. Anyone have good links for solid information on them?

Also setting up a tank with dry rock should I wait to add the biopellets to let bacteria colonzie the rock first or should I run the pellets from start-up?

What type of pellet is best and why?

What type of reactor is best and why? I see recirculatign reactors cost more, would placign a gate valve on the output as well be an easy mod that makes any reactor basically a recirculating reactor?

Also there should be no problem running the intake off of the return pump line like I will for the carbon right? Just another T in the line with a valve for flow control.

When plumbing, the output from the reactor jsut goes into the equipment section with the skimmer right?

 

I can only suggest on a couple of questions except for one - be absolutely sure the output from the pellet reactor goes into the input on the skimmer section. In terms of what pellets are best - I used a couple of different types and it didn't seem to matter drastically in terms of performance but I'm sure there's strong opinions out there on this - jon warner's pellets seem to have some solid science behind them. I would suggest waiting on starting the pellets after you've cycled because the pellets are supposed to really lower nitrates and you want nitrates to increase during a cycle.

 

thats what I was thinking, thanks OFK

 

There are a few inherent problems with bp's but they can be quite effective when used properly.As OFK states you want the effluent to go in the skimmer.Some people mod there skimmer to accept the effluent directly.Be aware that bp's will lower nitates and phosphates but cannot remove phosphate without nitrate.
Removing nitrate during the cycle is fine so you can start your pellets anytime.The only reason we like to see nitrate at the end of the cycle is because it signals the end of the never ending cycle.lol

 

What are the inherent problems with bio pellets? My main concern is The cyano outbreak they can cause.

 

Thats because when the nitrates are stripped from the water the remaining phosphates can no longer be converted so the use of gfo or other phosphate adsorption medias are still needed to some degree.If they should for some reason stop tumbling and clumping it is necessary to rinse them and start over.The release of hydrogen sulfide is a threat when/if this happens.

 

I too am getting ready to start using pellets. From the research I have done you definitely want to go with a recirculating reactor. They will give you better control of your nitrate and phosphate levels so you don't over strip your system. I ended up spending a little more and purchased a Reef Dynamics reactor.

 

Good start!!

 

I've never heard that about the hydrogen sulfide part. Mine didn't stop tumbling or clump as I have a recirc model but I did find the effluent clogged up a couple weeks ago and I've been having some cyano/dyno problems since. Maybe I should start over.
For OP make sure you get a recirc model or at least modify to make it a recirc model. I have to keep mine at a very slow stream or my nutrients get too low. I ran GFO for about the first 3 months then then stopped the GFO and PO4 went to zero with no GFO. I find that I am alway over shooting or under shooting my sweet spot. It's a little finicky for me and may very well be operator error. For pellets I'm using the ecobak plus.

 

If one starts the pellets at the beginning, how does one know when the cycle has completed? why wouldn't you wait until you see nitrates and then start the pellets?