the official ECOBAK thread...

Thanks Jon, I'm trying to find out if it can run more slowly, from what I understand though its recirculating so the movement doesn't necessarily equate to throughput. I've got a 450 tank so the RO style reactor won't cut it for me and I'm just trying to figure out what will work as I don't want to have to buy something twice, I've been all over the place from looking at the Avast Marine to the SRO stuff then I saw these. Any recommendations you have on larger size reactors would be welcome.

Are there any risks to my taking the 500ml of pellets that I have an adding it to 2500ml of ecoBAK then only replacing with ecoBAK? They'll eventually get consumed I'd think right?

 

To start off with, the DI canister reactors are not very good. For 2.5 liters of ecoBAK I'd check out the SRO BR-3000SS. I've heard very good reviews from users. However it's quite expensive.

The AVAST reactor is a solid design. It appears that the mixing nozzle allows a gentle tumble.

I also like the NextReef XL reactor. It's not as smooth a tumble as the SRO but it's $150 and holds 3 liters.

CADLIGHTS makes great value priced gear but their excellent cone shaped ecoBAK reactor only holds 750ml.

Regarding the other pellets, it's probably ok. Personally I wouldn't do it of course, they are 2 DIFFERENT polymers and I've read the reviews from the other brands. But yes they will be consumed eventually.

 

Thanks Jon as always this is great info! I miss-understood your first response on my earlier post, when you said RO Reactors you meant Reef Octopus in my mind I thought you meant the RO/DI ones... This clears that up and gives me the info I need, I'll be getting your pellets running soon, just need to pick the reactor. I was looking at the SRO BR-3000SS but you are right its expensive... And I was leaning toward one larger pump with a manifold to run several things rather than one pump per....

 

sounds good

 

Jon, I am having a problem with my pellets "sticking" in the reactor and then they just stop tumbling. I had them working at a great slow tumble with about 3/4 the recommended dosage. I added the full dosage and they were tumbling fine then started "sticking" eventually stopping the tumbling completely. Do you have some advice for me? I was so happy with the results, the water was pristine and I had tweaked to get that "just tumbling" flow through.

I've tried reducing down by about 1/4 of the amount. I've cleaned my sponges, reactor tube, and just thoroughly cleaned my pump and it's still happening? It's so weird. I'm using a TLF reactor with eheim 1000 pump....again, it was tumbling fine for a good amount of time in this reactor and I had actually dialed down the pump to get the good tumble. Now, at full force, this "sticking" keeps happening.

Any advice is greatly appreciated. Any reasons for this?

 

sometimes when new pellets are added they may get sticky for a few days. I'd expect the pellets to "loosen up" after a few days... and as long as there is water flowing through a reactor the ecoBAK is working.

 

Ok, I'm having a problem with the dreaded red slime. I'm willing to believe ecobak isn't the cause, but the slime started right about the same time my pellets kicked in. Can too many or too much flow cause red slime? While the pellets may not put anything into solution, it's not impossible to imagine bacteria, if they avoid the skimmer, getting into the and, by death, rereleasing nutrients for other bacteria to feed on.

I've tried my typic red slime remedy, Dr. Tim's refresh. It usually works wonders. This time, after three doses, nothing.

Can you help?

 

ahhh the dreaded red slime. You always have to look at the normal causes of red slime before you look at ecoBAK. And first of those is water flow. Often red slime will establish in lower flow areas. "Dead" areas will accumulate particulate whether that is food or bacterial slough that comes off of the pellets. Also make sure the tumbling ecoBAK is gentle and not aggressive. Keep dosing the probiotic products, increase water flow and make sure you have a gentle tumble of ecoBAK and you should be fine.

 

Jon,

I've always appreciated your advice, but let me add some information to the mix. My tank is 57 gallons. It is bare bottom and I run two MP 40s. Nothing settles anywhere. I'm not sure I could increase the flow. The tank ran for a year without ecobak and without red slime. My nutrients were getting high and I needed to get them under control. I tried vodka and while they came down, the red slime appeared immediately after I started dosing. After a few weeks I switched to Ecobak and the slime never left, just got progressively worse. I've dosed probiotics regularly throughout the life of the tank.

I'm concerned that I'm abusing the Ecobak and that perhaps too much Ecobak or too much tumble is a factor. If not, I'm not sure where to look.

 

A LFS informed me that Biopellets consume trace elements could you verify this?