N/P Reducing Pellets ("Solid Vodka") - "Wow" ... 3 month update

[purplepolypeater]

is anyone testing phosphates as well? afterall this product claims to reduce both and i am very interested in using this soon if the results prove fruitful.

[Delphinus]

Unfortunately I decided not to bother with phosphate testing. I always get a zero phosphate reading when I do a test, but I do get non-zero nitrate readings, so I chose to focus on what I can actually track. I don't know why it is that I always test out at zero for phosphate. I feed fairly heavy so you'd think there would be some, but I've used all different kinds of test kits and even a meter and the results are always the same. It could be the ball of chaeto I grow in the sump does a better job of sucking up PO4 than it does NO3.. that's the only theory I have on that.

For what it's worth it is on the eve of day 28 here, so I might as well post the NO3 numbers I got this morning. The tank seems to have clamped itself at 10 in the last week. I got a few readings of 7 on the weekend but they were sporadic readings, ever since then I can't get a reading of sub-10.

So I think what's happened is the pellets and tank have hit upon the equilibirium point seeing as it hasn't really dropped below 10 in any significant sense in the last two weeks. In other words, the amount they are able to reduce are matched with the amount the tank can produce. I had been using half the recommended dosage for starters for both pellets and zeolites, just to ease the tank into things ...I think it's time that I up the amounts to the recommended dosages and see how it continues on from there. So that will be this week's project.

[Lance]

Originally Posted by purplepolypeater

is anyone testing phosphates as well? afterall this product claims to reduce both and i am very interested in using this soon if the results prove fruitful.

I never bother testing for phosphates. I've always got a "0" reading on both Salifert & Elos kits. I know there are phosphates in the system bound up in the rock, algae, etc. I find you need a top grade tester to measure phosphates.

[Delphinus]

Oh FWIW, another observation. Some of my fish seem to enjoy eating the mulm. So it's not just coral food, it's fish food too.

The mulm production is INSANE. I hope it's doing good for inhabitants because there is a lot of it and it does increase your skimmer output. So the downside is more work, the filter socks need cleaning twice as often and the skimmer needs cleaning more often as well. Wish I had a wetneck skimmer.

[OceanicCorals-Ian-]

We have just received another order of Pellets, they are ready to ship!

[banditpowdercoat]

Originally Posted by purplepolypeater

is anyone testing phosphates as well? afterall this product claims to reduce both and i am very interested in using this soon if the results prove fruitful.

I will test PO4 as well. I am leaving for home today, will test and start my own thread for ease and less clutter. I am sure I have some PO4 reading. It was .03 in Dec

[OceanicCorals-Ian-]

As read on Reef Builders.



Biopellet reactor in the works by Aquarium Specialty and NextReef


Hot on the heels of the announcement of Fauna Marin Zeo-Matic 2 Reactor we come to learn that Aquarium Specialty is working with NextReef to develop of fluidized Biopellet Reactor. It only makes sense that the North American distributor of the Dutch Biopellets would team up with the media reactor specialists over at NextReef to take the initiative in developing a product that would optimize the performance of the solid-carbon-dosing Biopellets. At the outset the Biopellet Reactor will only be available in bundles of two sizes: the smaller bioreactor with the half liter of biopellets and a larger version that will come with the full liter of the biopolymer pearls. No word on whether the media reactor will include integrated or external flow adjustment or a water pump but it better include the former, preferably in a well designed integrated form like a wedge pipe or a dial (we’re looking at you Scott!). Word is that NextReef should be receiving their Biopellets very soon to test out on the prototype reactors. Keep it locked to Reef Builders for forthcoming pics and/or vids of the new biopellet reactor in action.

[Phanman]

Anyone know if any place in calgary is selling this yet?

[OceanicCorals-Ian-]

Originally Posted by Phanman

Anyone know if any place in calgary is selling this yet?

I have two orders going to Calgary if you would like to hop on board.

Cheers!

Ian

[Delphinus]

Week 6 update.

So, sometimes you learn things by trial and error. My last week's efforts to double up the media in the reactor have had a paradoxical effect. I doubled up both the zeolites and the N/P pellets and the resulting mix is noticeably restrictive on the velocity of water running through the reactor. In turn, the bacterial mulm released upon agitation is on epic levels, far more than the tank inhabitants consume - and this in turn is contributing to a build up of nitrate back in the tank.

Meanwhile, those who are running the pellets in reactors on their own report continued reductions.

So, I will be separating the two media types into different reactors. I have a spare phosban reactor I can use for starters and will see where things go after that. I will elect to sustain or suspend zeovit independently of this. I suspect at this point that the mulm from the pellets have coated the zeolites rendering them ineffective.

"In conclusion": although I think I don't have enough datapoints to make a solid recommendation on whether it's worthwhile or not to run pellets AND zeovit together; versus just one or the other... however I do think there is a definite trend here that we can make a recommendation against running both types homogenously in the same reactor vessel.