Solid Carbon Dosing with EcoBAK

If you have ever thought of vodka dosing but were turned off by the cyano potential from feeding your water column, the new EcoBAK ULNS pellets from Warner Marine should peak your interest as a solid carbon dosing alternative. Hitting the stores WITHIN A WEEK, the EcoBAK uses a different polymer than the NP pellets out now and is made with dry extrusion resulting in a very porous pellet with high surface area that is not water soluble and only decomposed by bacteria making them a food source and substrate. If this is not enough, how about a 12 month lifespan and 1 unit (good for 50 gallons) priced at $19.99. If you have high nitrates, phosphates or algae galore, EcoBAK could be a savior. These little pellets may be a huge, huge deal.


EcoBAK by Warner Marine


And I heard that a certain 3reef member has been testing these for a few weeks now? 8) When is the review coming buddy? ;D

Warner Marine Web site:
www.WarnerMarine.com - Warner Marine

 

Thanks for posting this, Matt. It is definitely exciting news. However, there is something about this "solid vodka" pellets that I don't quite understand. If these are simply a porous carbon source for bacteria to colonize and grow, are they significantly different from regular GAC that we keep in our tanks? Once the pores of the GAC are full (after a week or two), we know that bacteria colonize the GAC and contribute to biological filtration. Is this very different from what happens with these new pellets? I ask because I am hoping to hear what the advantage is so that I can go out and buy the new stuff - but I need to know the advantage of the new over the old first....


Thanks, and sorry for the long post.

 

I am very excited about this. I have not been testing yet.... But Mr. Brown should have mine at my door today. I'm going to do a full write up and review regularly and run them in place of my GFO I don't have a nutrient problem, but want low levels and it would pay for itself if I can not run GFO. Not to mention the other advantages of a food source and the ability to FEED MORE and still maintain low N and P levels.

 

Much different. The bacteria consume the pellet. Itr is a food source for them. The bacteria themselves take nitrate and phosphate out of the water column to grow. Same as Carbon dosing of vodka, vinagar, sugar...ect.

I will still be running GAC. GAC removes metal asnd pollutants out of the water. It is chemical filter, not a biological one. The bacteria that colonize it is regular nitrogen cycle bateria and only do so by particulate matter bing caught up in the GAC. It is a secondary process that is not beneficial to what we do with GAC. In fact, many GAC makers recommend frequent chnages and short run durrations to keep GAC from going biological.

 

i wish i could have tested them i have high nitrates in a big tank i have if they brought them down any in that tank the would be worth buying.

 

So, Are these to be used as a measured dose like with Vodka, or will they only be consumed at the rate needed, so as to avoid overdosing? Are these recommended for use with a reactor?

 

Well... WM did not invent biopellets... there is another brand out that has been in use for about 4-5 months now. Reading up on those... that is the whole point of this. No dosing....no overdosing. Bacteria growth is limited by N and P in your tank. Also, the pellets, or carbon source... are not in your "tank" so no overdosing and dangerous bacteria blooms. These pellets are run in a reactor....WM says there can be run in a bag in the sump. So the bacteria live on the media in the reactor... not in the water column.

Talking with Jon Warner... he says his 500 ml run in a 90g tank has been depleted about a 1/4" in his reactor in 6 months. Obviously consumption rate will be dependent on what your N and P levels ar ein your tank. His was low to begin with as is mine.... so consumption should not be that great.

 

What do you mean by 1 unit? Does this mean it comes w/ a reactor? Kinda confused by the 12 month supply and 1 unit.

Could you use this as substrate in a fuge?

 

1 Unit is 250ml.... good for 50g... $20

 

That is what i thought and that I was reading that sentence incorrectly. Which I was.

Do you think this could be used as a refugium substrate...kinda like a DSB.