NPX-Xtra Beads BETA testing thread!

[Delphinus]

Pellets arrived on Monday but have not had a chance to get them online until tonight.

The test tank is a 40g semi-cube that houses a pair of clowns, two gigantea carpets, two rose BTA's, a mottled leatherjacket/filefish, a smattering of assorted corals and 3 clams. Due to a bit of neglect on my part (seriously overdue for a waterchange), and a higher than average bioload for this size tank (mysis daily for the fish and 'nems) the parameters have crept up a little and there's a small patch of cyano on the right side glass.

The beads are much smaller than what those who used the first round of pellets available are used to. I called the old ones lentils - these are more like hemp hearts (for you health food fanatics) or maybe slightly larger than sesame seeds. Oh - I know a good comparison - bird seed. This stuff is the same consistency as the seeds I used to feed my budgies I had as a kid.

Anyhow, I added the full 550l to a TLF 150 phosban reactor. The sponges are replaced with quilting mesh pinned to the red plates with zap straps. The feed pump is a MJ12 powerhead.

The MJ12 is too much at full bore (the entire column of pellets slams into the top of the reactor) but seems to be perfect throttled back by valve at around somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 open.

I can't hear any noise from the pellets that Brett was having so I wonder if it was the configuration after all. The only thing is I have two skimmers in vicinity and a couple loud pumps anyhow so I probably wouldn't really notice anyhow if the tumbling gave a rattling sound.

So day 1 params -
NO3 (Elos) - 1.0ppm
PO4 (D-D) - 0.06 P