Rice to Replace NP Pellets?
 

I thought I would give this a go on a tank to see the results after reading this thread.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1878307
Kevin

Although i still have 2 L of unused pellets, i hope this will work.

Interesting, will keep an eye on that one for sure.

Why wouldn't this work. It might take the bugs longer to breakdown the starch but it is the same as biopellets. They use molasses in bioreactors on large scale.

:pop2:

Ahhh, don't tell me this... I have 5-6 litres of NP BioPellets, enough for eternity... Didn't want them to be unavailable for some strange reason.

Now you can use RICE!!!! I will be watching this also.

God Damn It, who knew

you know what the downside is here

if we went from rice to pellets then we have rice to eat!
but from pellets to rice doesnt give us anything to eat... :(

rice!
 

well just read the thread sounds interesting i might have to fire up my spare reactor so a half cup per 50-60 gallons seems to do it

So is it as good as pellets?

It seems the problem with the rice is that it does contain phosphorus. Also it may break down too quickly or not quickly enough. It also contains many other trace elements, vitamins etc.

Not saying it won't work though.

Personally, I would wait a while longer till these rice experiments have some more results on which to base your decision.

After all, just because a few reefers are doing it, doesn't mean it will work in the long run. Are you willing to risk the thousands of dollars & the health of your tank's inhabitants on something like this?

I'm not. If it proves to be a success eventually, then go for it. But why jump on the bandwagon when you don't know where that wagon is heading? Could lead to a crash instead of a cheap replacement for these biobeads.

I would have to agree with Anthony on this, although i have a theory coming from a biology/chemistry prospective. Since we dont know the rate at which the rice will break down and not forgetting that organic (rice)matter breaks down differently than inorganics (plastic), there needs to be a way to calculate how much rice to use per gallon at start up and how long til the "media" needs to be changed. I can see rice going somewhere if we can control the break down rate, if too much rice was to be added without a means of controlling the break down you'll be adding a ton of ammonia into the tank along with nitrates and phospates. It would be like adding a bunch of pellet food into a reactor and watching it break down over time, possible cyano outbreak along with all the algae...that would be a pain to cleanup after.

Just another reason for my wife to get mad about me taking things from the kitchen...

--turkey baster
--baking soda
--measuring cups
--mesh strainer (for fish food)
--bottle brush (for cleaning skimmer cup)
--paper towels
need I list more?

Honestly dear, I have no clue where tonights dinner went...

I'm going to try and speed the process up... I'm going with Minute Rice... LMAO!!!

I tried wild rice, but prefer not to support such an industry, so now its farmed rice only.

So if you use AROMATIC Rice will this mean that your tank serves also as a POTPOURRI? Just wondering...

This Rice method is NOT something I am promoting just something I am trying out. I have tried the NP Pellets, the Vertex Pellets and am trying the Rice. So far nothing in my opinion compares to the Vertex Pellets. My Rice experiment compares with the initial phases of the NP but I have found an exponential difference with the Vertex Pellets; as far as volume of bacterial Mulm and nitrate level reduction.
Kevin

Hats off to you for being the pioneer on this Kevin. It's things like this that keep pushing this hobby forward. The way I figure, rice can't be that bad, we're growing coral with driveway ice melter and baking soda, and knocking out excess nutrients with vodka, sugar, and vinegar. Seems like the sky is the limit, all it takes is someone with the balls to give it a shot. Keep it up buddy!

FYI
Biopellets are organic (not inorganic). They eventually dregrade to short chain hydrocarbons. They may be degraded slower because it is a manmade material. Rice is basically starch..a much more food friendly material.

Biodegrade-able plastics is as you said organic with filler added, but the difference is it won't rot like raw organic compounds when exposed to moisture . A biodegrade-able plastic has more characteristic to inorganic plastic then raw organic. That was what I was trying to get at and why I suggested a control method

Kevin its cool to know that your testing the rice theory, this is coming from me as a hobbyists but let us know the long term effect is. I've been following the thread on rc since the first day really cool thread to read through

sorry plastic is organic

Kevin,

Any new developments?