Vertex Bio Pellets vs. NP Pellets what is the difference

kien · #1 01-10-2011, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris121277

Don't mean to hi-jack your thread.....but I wanted to know, out of everyone here who is now running these type of pellets......did you see a noticeable difference from before you starting running them to after?

I guess what I'm getting at is it worth buying another reactor and running 3? (1 carbon, 1 phos remover and 1 bio pellet)

Did I see a different from before the pellets to now? Yes.

Before running the pellets I had a refugium going with chaeto and my nitrates hovered around 8ppm.

Two weeks after running pellets.

4 weeks after running pellets. "Lo" means undetectable

<ramble>
These pellets are a form of nutrient export and we all know that there are a crap load of ways to export nutrients from our tanks (Refugium with macro alage, zeoVit, mangroves, Vodka, sugar, massive skimming, water changes, bioPellets, etc..).

If you currently do not have ANY form of nutrient export, I think any of the above listed method will work more or less the same (depending on how you implement the methods). There are beautiful tanks out there that just rely on water changes, awesome tanks with just refugiums, awesome tanks running zeoVit, awesome tanks running mangroves, awesome tanks running bioPellets.

As to whether or not it is worth it to run three reactors? I think so yes. In fact I run 4 reactors. Two for biopellets, one for carbon and one for a small amount of GFO. I personally find running biopellets to be the easiest of all the methods. Drop in some pellets, turn on the reactor, tumble away. Top up pellets every few months.

Anyway, that's my experience and opinion

There are still reports of many people trying bioPellets with poor results, but the same can be said with all the other methods as well

</ramble>

chris121277 · #2 01-10-2011, 07:52 PM

Thanks for that man, I've just read so many threads about people saying that there tanks were worse off when running only the Bio pellets, but at the same time I've seen a bunch that said there great as long as you run a phos remove like the BRS stuff.

You are the first to show me test results though, I appreciate that. Now I've heard some people saying they noticed a big difference in there corals.....have you noticed any such change?

kien · #3 01-10-2011, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris121277

Thanks for that man, I've just read so many threads about people saying that there tanks were worse off when running only the Bio pellets, but at the same time I've seen a bunch that said there great as long as you run a phos remove like the BRS stuff.

You are the first to show me test results though, I appreciate that. Now I've heard some people saying they noticed a big difference in there corals.....have you noticed any such change?

Again, I think the same can be said about all the other methods as well. There are a bunch of people who say they tried zeo with poor results, or they tried vodka dosing with poor results, or their refugium gives them poor results. While at the same time there are tonnes of people who do use those methods and get great results

Did I notice a change with my corals? Yup. some of my corals certainly did respond by exhibiting lighter colours. Growth didn't really change though as phosphates were virtually zero in both cases (before and after pellets).

One thing I did notice with the pellets is that while they did great at stripping nitrates, they didn't perform so well with phosphates. I have no idea why. When I started using the pellets I took my GFO reactor off line because the pellets are supposed to strip N and P together. Well, I observed my phosphates climb from zero to 0.14 and hovered around there while just running the pellets. While I certainly wouldn't lose sleep over a phosphate reading of 0.14, I still did not like it so I put the GFO reactor back on line and once again have my phosphate reading at zero. So contrary to what is typically recommended with these pellets I do run GFO as a phosphate remover in conjunction with the pellets.

freezetyle · #4 01-10-2011, 08:11 PM

along with what kien mentioned. i noticed a drastic increase in water clarity

chris121277 · #5 01-10-2011, 08:23 PM

Thank you for takin the time to answer me guys..

and again, sorry for Hi-jacking your thread Grizz

globaldesigns · #6 01-10-2011, 09:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris121277

Thank you for takin the time to answer me guys..

and again, sorry for Hi-jacking your thread Grizz

Personally I don't think you need another reactor, remove the phos remover and use that reactor for the pellets. I personally haven't had any issues with phosphates, so I haven't run anything to do with it. I did have algae, hair algae and others, but running pellets did destroy all that.

Not sure if running Rowa or any other phos remover is beneficial with Pellets, can anyone else pipe in and give any info on running the 2 in the same tank?

blacknife · #7 01-11-2011, 12:28 AM

I dont test as much as I should but i pulled the gfo when i started pellets too.

everything looks better. I do sometimes get diatoms or cyano still<major problem for me before> but after i put the gfo back in this happens less often.

Probably learning beter housekeeping along the path to get my sps frags to do more than just sit there while all the lps and fish are happy as hell.

Coleus · #8 01-11-2011, 01:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

Personally I don't think you need another reactor, remove the phos remover and use that reactor for the pellets. I personally haven't had any issues with phosphates, so I haven't run anything to do with it. I did have algae, hair algae and others, but running pellets did destroy all that.

Not sure if running Rowa or any other phos remover is beneficial with Pellets, can anyone else pipe in and give any info on running the 2 in the same tank?

I also took my GFO reactor off, I think you need both phosphate and nitrate to make pellets work well

The Grizz · #9 01-11-2011, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chris121277

Thank you for takin the time to answer me guys..

and again, sorry for Hi-jacking your thread Grizz

No worries Chris this is good info that I appreciate from everyone. No question on this matter is a bad thing from anyone.

So here is one more, for some reason I don't really know what but I have to ask.......what is GFO? KIEN, RICK.......

I notice a difference as well, my P & N's when I test are undetectable but I still have a little trouble with water clarity. There is always a fair amount of debri floating around my tank. I am going to build a custom tray to hold some floss and maybe strain some of this out.

globaldesigns · #10 01-11-2011, 01:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Grizz

No worries Chris this is good info that I appreciate from everyone. No question on this matter is a bad thing from anyone.

So here is one more, for some reason I don't really know what but I have to ask.......what is GFO? KIEN, RICK.......

I notice a difference as well, my P & N's when I test are undetectable but I still have a little trouble with water clarity. There is always a fair amount of debri floating around my tank. I am going to build a custom tray to hold some floss and maybe strain some of this out.

GFO = Granular Ferric Oxide