DIY bio pellet help (what do ya think, complete?)

Hey everyone. So I've built my DIY bio pellet reactor some months ago and it has been working pretty good. I only has half a bag of pellets in the reactor and it was barely tumbling. The reactor is supplied by a quiet one 4000 and now that I added the rest of a 100g bag of tlf bio pellets it is not tumbling at all. I can see the water going through and all the pellets are moving. But it's just like they are vibrating with the water and not tumbling like I know they should. The tube is 4" diameter and about 14" tall. (Go big or go home) Pic below. The pipe that supplies the water goes down to about 1/4"- 3/16" off the bottom of the reactor. I'm at a loss because I would think that the pump I'm running should have enough flow. Is there just not enough pressure coming out the bottom? Does it need to be more of a jet. Oh the plumbing is 1/2" PVC.
Thanks for the advise in advance.

 

So I added a fitting and a reducer to the end to give it a bit more pressure and it works better. Not all the pellets are tumbling. Do you think I should add some sort of cone to the bottom?

 

Alot of the ones I have liked that I've seen and seemed to have the best/ most constant steady tumble all have an inverted cone at the bottom to direct the flow upward a little more.... I don't think it would hurt if you could do it as well. Best case scenario, shake it a little bit and see if the pellets are just kind of gooped up and sticking together.

I have been slacking on getting my DIY reactor finished (good job on yours BTW, definitely better then what I could built) and running so I don't have any 1st hand experience to offer tho unfortunately..... but I've seen both many many times lol

 

I've heard shaking the reactor is not good cause it releases bacteria into tank. Or to much. But a cone on the bottom makes sense.

 

Give it a shake... perhaps you have some clumping going on that is preventing them from moving freely. They should be more than "barely moving" also.

 

Well their not clumped together. I rotated the reactor and all are free there just appears there isn't enough flow. I just don't know how that's possible. I know they should be tumbling a lot more than they are.
Thanks everyone.

 

Do it right and buy a good reactor BRS FTW

 

You can DIY and "do it right". I'm not a fan of that comment under the implication that DIY isn't "as good" as some commercial unit.

 

Not to mention I have been under the impression you have to mod the BRS reactor (unless they have made a pellet one now that I am not aware of) in order to "do it right" with a commercial unit LOL




Will I definitely think you should have enough flow with the Q1 4000, I would try the inverted cone since you verified they are free flowing, just not tumbling properly my thought would be that the flow just isn't as spread out as it could/should be.

 

Alright, well I'm asking for advise from those that might be able to help me with my issue. The way that I built this is very similar to the way commercial grade reactors are built. I am just having an issue that I was hoping someone might be able to give me advise. DIY is a big part of this hobby and I personally enjoy DIY over commercial products. I would even spend the same amount on the materials as buying a new one just because I like it.
If you can help me please comment. If not then ....