Questions about Bio-pellets

sewerman45 · #1 12-16-2015, 09:39 PM

I have been trying to use bio-pellets for a bit now and have had nothing but problems. I was hoping someone wiser than me could give me some pointers.

I am using a Innovative Marine MiniMax All-In-One Media Reactor - Mid Size and NPX Bioplastics for bio-pellets.

The main problem I'm having is that some of the pellets seem way lighter than the others and stick to the top of the reactor as soon as there is any flow through it. It is really finicky to adjust and I can't seem to find a right amount of flow that tumbles the pellets and also doesn't stick a ton of them to the top. I ended up taking the reactor offline after I was getting a ton of algae from the pellets clumping a ton. I can't remember what it's called when the pellets don't tumble and go bad but as soon as I took it offline all my problems went away. I tried soaking the pellets in water for awhile before adding them but that didn't help either.

I have restarted the reactor with only about a teaspoon of pellets but it's still happening. I really wanted something little that I could set and forget to help keep down nitrates but so far it hasn't turned out that way. I use Rowaphos in a phosban reactor as well for phosphates and it's working great.

Do I need a bio-pellet reactor? Is it worth the effort? Should I be using something else?

Thanks.

albert_dao · #2 12-16-2015, 10:51 PM

Check your kH first. If it's not in between 7.0-8.5, you're going to have problems including an even formation of bacterial films on each pellet.

sewerman45 · #3 12-16-2015, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by albert_dao

Check your kH first. If it's not in between 7.0-8.5, you're going to have problems including an even formation of bacterial films on each pellet.

Interesting. I don't test my KH at all. Not something I thought about. Do I need a test kit for that? I might have one kicking around from my fresh water days.

Reef Pilot · #4 12-16-2015, 10:59 PM

How long did you soak them for? Should be at least a day or two in water before using in the reactor. Be sure to get them tumbling immediately after pouring into the reactor, or they may start clumping. Once they are tumbling, they should be good for a long time.

And yes, should check your kH.

sewerman45 · #5 12-16-2015, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reef Pilot

How long did you soak them for? Should be at least a day or two in water before using in the reactor. Be sure to get them tumbling immediately after pouring into the reactor, or they may start clumping. Once they are tumbling, they should be good for a long time.

And yes, should check your kH.

I definitely didn't soak them long enough. I only soaked them for an hour or so. What controls KH and what do I need to do to maintain it? I feel silly... another parameter that I wasn't checking.

albert_dao · #6 12-16-2015, 11:29 PM

KH is probably the single most important ion to monitor in SW aquariums. Let's put it this way, Ca, Mg, K+ too low/high? Animals become unhappy. kH out of whack? Everything dies.

Pick up a test kit for kH; I'm partial to the Salifert one. Easy to use, relatively inexpensive. You'll want a firm grip on what kH is and how it interacts with other major ions. Here is an article to get your started:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

Ram3500 · #7 12-16-2015, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sewerman45

I definitely didn't soak them long enough. I only soaked them for an hour or so. What controls KH and what do I need to do to maintain it? I feel silly... another parameter that I wasn't checking.

Depending on your system you might not have to dose kh/alk as long as you change you water once a month or every few weeks. If you are considering on have a sps tank you will have to add a dosser to keep you alk stable or all you sps will not be happy. When carbon dossing / bio pellets you need to keep you parameters close to NSW If your alk gets over 9 you risk burnt tips of your sps.

Myka · #8 12-16-2015, 11:27 PM

Those MiniMax reactors don't do biopellets very well. I imagine it will be very finicky to get them tumbling right.

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kien · #9 12-17-2015, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sewerman45

.. as soon as I took it offline all my problems went away..

^-- this :-)

However, if you do decide to continue down this path, I would definitely echo a few things that were already recommended.

1. Soak for longer. I always soak for 24 hours or more. Be sure to stir occasionally.
2. A larger reactor. When I started using bioplets I used a TLF (Two Little Fishes phosban 150) reactor. It was OK to start out with but I still found it a challenge to keep the pellets tumbled. Those things are pretty small and I couldn't put a lot of pellets in them. I can't imagine using a smaller reactor than it. I eventually upgraded to a larger Vertext reactor that allowed me to pump more flow into the reactor. The key to getting the pellets to tumble is a sufficient flow rate from a feeding pump, plus room in the reactor chamber for the pellets to disperse/move.

sewerman45 · #10 12-17-2015, 04:26 PM

There's been a lot of good info in here. Thanks everyone.

I am going to just keep doing what I am doing and soak my pellets longer. I will also look into getting a larger pellet reactor down the road. If anything goes weird again the first thing I'll do it turn of the pellets.