Best Bio-Pellet Reactor
 

Hey all. I am looking at getting a Bio-Pellet Reactor and was wondering which one to get. Would be for a 225 gallon tank.

I've seen the BRS, Octopus and Vertex. Opinions?

Thanks.

A few newer designs coming out that take away from the typical updraft problems.
http://reefbuilders.com/2011/12/09/r...ellet-reactor/

The recirculating design is great IMO, you can blast your pellets and not have to have all that water flowing through the reactor, instead you can set your output hose to a nice steady flow.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog...ic-bio-reactor

this is another great design, it is not recirculating, but takes out the flow limits of the downspout.

I was considering using an upflow bubble magnus calcium reactor and modifing it to work like the reef dynamic reactor with fraction of the cost. Just a thought.

Anybody use any of the more regular ones? BRS? Vertext Universal? etc...

I've seen the vetex's at Oceanic Corals and they have a great turnover rate. I use a TLF 500 i've modded to make work, but the Vertex looks like it does a better job right off the start.

I use the Vertex UF-20 and works great for me. You just need to be sure that you use mesh in place of the sponge pads. I have mine T'ed off a return pump, and it comes with a ball valve on the input, so easy to adjust the flow to get exactly the right tumble.

I just have my biopellets in a canister filter lol, but I wanna get a reactor soon too!

NextReef MR1 is my reactor of choice.

double barreled action with dual vertex UF-20s. Love them. Throw away mesh and use enkmat though.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_0459.jpg

What is enkmat??

Sorry, enkamat and it is this: http://www.colbond-geosynthetics.com...A7enkamat.html

Or, go to Michaels craft store, head to the knitting department and get a sheet of knitting mesh and cut it into a circle to replace the reactors foam.

http://image.made-in-china.com/2f0j0...G-XIN-M-3-.jpg

Oops! I just realized I had a brain fart and said throw away MESH. What I meant to say was throw away the FOAM pads that it comes with and replace it with a meshy material. My bad!

To bad you couldn't edit, huh?:lol:

don't even go there! :twised:

.. there's already a thread for that :lol:

:surprise:

Oh, OK, your enkamat looks like the stuff to use for mesh mods for skimmer pump impellers. I used the round mesh from Michaels, cut down a bit to fit. Works good, and never clogs, but fine enough to hold the bio pellets. I notice that Vertex now has their own mesh inserts.
http://www.jlaquatics.com/product/vt...io+Peller.html
But much cheaper to DIY.

OH SNAP! I had no idea they had these! I gotta get me some. The knitting mesh works yes, but one thing I find is that stuff gets trapped inbetween the existing perforated plate and the knitting mesh that you put over that plate. It drives me nuts cuz the holes don't line up so there is the high potentially for clogging of organisms like sponges and crap. A dedicated meshed plate like this would be ideal in my experience with these reactors. Should reduce maintenance. Gonna get me some 'o that!

Very cool indeed, I will have to compare my MR1 to the vertex's as I have 3 of them here for oxymoron's tank, hope they will work as I too agree with you Kien.

Check out this one, seen it in the SaltySupply on sale news letter today.

Spins the biopellets similar to the one in a previous post.

http://www.saltysupply.com/JNS-Alpha.../jns1111-p.htm

I'm thinking of just getting the vetex UF-20. From what's been said, as long as I get the right mesh for the top/bottom it works really well?

Any final comments?

Will one work for a 225 gallon?