the official ECOBAK thread...

I'm a nervous nilly. I have EcoBAK running in my tank, a Phosban about 60% full. Its fully fluidized on one side and on the other, it looks like its moving very, very slowly.

The tank is about 4 months old. For the last 4 weeks, 0 nitrates and phosphates. Over the last 3 or 4 days... nitrates are making a return. Should I worry, should I check something, or should I cool it?

 

Premium Aquatics has it in stock as does TB Aquatics, there may be others...

 

You're probably OK, how long have you been running ecoBAK? If you watch the pellets, even the stationary ones should slide over into the movement within a minute or two.

 

I have been running ecobak for a while and it seems to be working very well!

 

I've been running it since I set the tank up. I've had a little reactor trouble however, so had to fuss with it a bit and have only had it in the Phosban a week (I had to mod it a bit to keep the pellets contained without the sponge). Everything does seem to be moving, I just worry about the little bit of nitrates showing up.

 

Okay so call me skeptic but I am not sure until I try this product of course. I still need a reactor and if I get one should I get the GFO and Carbon dual reactor and will it still work with bio pellets IE Ecobak or can I just get a bio pellet reactor and will that work with GFO if I do not like the Ecobak? I am looking at bulk reef supply reactors.

 

dont want to interupt Jon's thread
but did want to suggest that your nitrate removal potential from the ecoBak may be limited by your phosphates
the bacteria need both nitrate and phosphate in addition to the carbon source
so if your running a high volume of Phosban, you may have created a situation that the ecoBAK or the bacteria created due to the ecoBAK are unable to process the nitrate due to the limitation of lack of phosphate

for many people the use of GFO or other phosphate removers when carbon dosing, is confined to when Nitrates are being processed but there is still an excess of phosphate

basically if the nitrate is the limiting factor, they clear up the excess phosphate using chemical means

but if phosphate is the limiting factor - reducing the amount of GFO you are using could mean that the bacteria is then able to process more of the nitrate, due to an slight increase in available phosphate

Steve

 

I've never run a dual reactor set-up so I can't comment on them. I really like the idea of having the pellets in their own reactor with nothing to interrupt either before or after. Also, carbon or GFO will require maintenance. I believe the pellets would work better without being disrupted from having to change out carbon or GFO.

For the few pellet only reactors out there, I believe it's more difficult to convert them to run fluidized media than to convert a fluidized media reactor to a pellet one. All that's required is cross-stitching platform cut to size and a pump rated for a little higher flow then you need so it can be adjusted lower. If you don't like the pellets, put the sponges back and run what you want. HTH

 

+1 Steve too!

 

Oops, I see that I have used my words sloppily and I apologize. While what you say about phosphate being the limiting factor is definitely worth looking into (as soon as my hanna phosphate tester shows up), when I say Phosban, I mean a two little fishies reactor I'm using for the bio-pellets. I am not using any phosphate reduction media, sorry.