Rice to Replace NP Pellets?

[reefermadness]

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.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

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.

[OceanicCorals-Eugene-]

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

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.