biopellet users

have been tossing around the idea of starting biopellets for nitrate reduction. I currently run UV, carbon and gfo filters. Of course use only RO/DI water and do frequent water changes. My goal is to be next to zero nitrate (I know almost impossible) and have been looking around. We are going to dose vodka and microbacter 7 but would be happy with an easier way.

What product does everyone use. Has anyone heard/use
Two Little Fishies NPX Bioplastics Nitrate & Phosphate Reducing Polymer Media, Biofiltration & Nutrient Control > Biological > Filter Media > Saltwater Aquarium Supplies

the other product I was looking at was Brightwell Katalyst (link on that page also)

 

I use brightwell bio pellets. I seeded the tank with microbacter7 for a month. Plus I dosed vodka until they kicked in or everything turns zero.

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Has anyone concidered a alge scrubber (just my thought). Please keep us informed if you do use the pellets I would like to know if there worth the money or not?

 

ive been using the Ecobak for about a month now. they are kicking in. I show zero nitrates and .03ppm phosphates right now. I am using GFO as my phosphates were thru the roof.

 

Zero nitrates are not impossible... quite the norm for most. First of... zero nitrates is a misnomer... "zero" means there is no free nitrates floating around a test kit can measure.... that in no way means there are "zero" nitrates in the tank.

Everyday food is added and pooped out nitrates are being produced. That nitrate is then taken up by bacteria, algae or removed with water changes. If nitrates production is equal to nitrate reduction, the net result is a zero on the test kit.

Your goal is to let as much nitrate reduction happen naturally in live rock and sand beds and macro algae in the fuge. If that is not sufficient, then square that away. First you need to look at nutrient import and make sure you are not feeding too much.

After that employing pellets is another use of bacteria to take up nitrates and phosphates. They can only grow, or compete, with what N and P are available, then they are "exported" by the skimmer. If you have all those things going then they will compete with what is there and thats it. The net result will be "zero" nitrates, no algae in the display tank, and very low nutrient water for your corals.

 

actually I should clarify myself....I know it is a norm for most tanks, but what I am wanting to do is have majority SPS tank with a bunch of non-photo corals....things that require a heavy amount of phyto feedings. I want to get another sea apple, a bunch of dendro, sun polyps, black octopus polyps, carnations etc. When I had my sea apple (before I gave him away when my tank broke) he required a lot of phyto and other supplements to keep him alive...this resulted in a lot of excess nutrients and rise in my nitrates.

Thanks everyone for the info....I am still considering what to do. We have our nitrates down very low right now, but I want to keep them down as we are getting a big shipment of corals soon We are going to start dosing the microbacter and vodka now that we have them down this weekend, however I am still thinking it would be a wise investment to start biopellets...esp since I already have the extra reactors lying around! The other thing we are considering is since we both want SPS tank, and we both want non-photo corals, just adding a second tank for the non-photo corals.......


the other thing, we do have plenty of LR....it is a 135g tank and probably have 150lb lr along with 120lb of live sand. Unfortunately we are still having to build back the live rock again and the sand is brand new. We lost a lot of the good stuff on the rocks over the summer when our tank blew a seam and we stored it in salt water for 6 months...without much bioload We are adding more rock from our other tanks to help increase it but it is a slow process

 

I don't see the need to even start with Vodka. When I started my pellets, I did use Microbacter.... but many said it was not needed. I really just did it to feel better. what ever.

Pellets are quite promising and so far seem to be delivering as advertised. Long term is still unknown. Sounds like all your other stuff is in check and I think the pellets will do for you what you want. I had some cyano till it all got regular... and I was dosing a lot of stuff for corrals... eggs and rotties and phyto. But I was happy with the results. Sounds like it will work for you.

One thing I found though is that if you make a tank solid for SPS... most other things are not very happy. Flow is too much for anything fleshy. Skinny LPS seemed to do the best. Feeding is going to be good for both things you want... but for flow and light alone... two separate tank will probably have the best results.

 

+1

 

I actually purchased the bioplastic media today. We are currently at 15 nitrates and am working on water to do another 30g change tomorrow. Once that is done will start the bioplastic pellets. I am only going to do half the suggested starting amount as recommended by the LFS owner who has been using it in his tanks. He said otherwise you will cause everything to bottom out to fast. He said once the levels are at zero, we will need to feed more heavy to keep the bacteria levles up in there. Definately point the outflow tube towards the skimmer to get the most effecient skimming as possible.

Do you all still run your carbon and gfo when using the biopellets? To me it seems like once you get everything under control (do not have a phosphate issue.....no algea what-so-ever) it seems like this might compete with each other and cause it to swing too low.

What about dosing microbacter with it....will this help keep the "good bacteria" up?

Have been thinking, and am considering just waiting for the non-photo tank as a seperate tank. I really want to get a blueberry gorgornian and those require near constant feeding drips to stay alive. As that is going to require a seperate tank for sure figure will just do all non-photo in there. I do have a sponge that I am going to keep in my DT

 

Carbon is run for what carbon does. Nothing else does the same job. GFO is case by case. Nitrate and posphate production and reduction are not tied together. You may have excess po4 you may not. You may nutrient limit your macro or bacteria. It just depends. You will still have to test and run gfo if necessary. But you will use less.
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