To add a biopellet reactor or not??

[denny_C]

Originally Posted by dcw1sfu

I have a 60 gallon tank with a 20 gallon sump. It is a mixed reef primarily with SPS corals. In terms of bioload it is in the medium range. I currently run a reef octopus nwb110 skimmer (I believe its rated up to 100 gallons by manufactuerer and BRS recommends it up to 75gallons). I also am running carbon and GFO in a single reactor, as well as dosing Kalk, Calcium and Alkalinity.

Paramaters are as follows:

Salinity 1.026
Calcium 430
Alk 9Dkh
Mag 1400
PH 8.1-8.3
Nitrates 5 (according to saliferet)
Phosphates 0 (according to ELOS)

Now im wondering if my tank would benefit from a biopellet reactor. Im really not into dosing carbon daily as i just dont have the time for it. I know my phosphates are deffinatley in the 0 range however would my tank benefit by lowering my nitrates?

If i do go for biopellets should i cease using GFO and if so should i do it a period of time before starting biopellets?

In terms of a reactor i was thinking of going with the Vertex 1.5 reactor it actually comes with 500ml of vertex bio pellets as well, and well I can get it locally at my LFS.

to be honest with you your parameters a fine , if anything i would look at dosing vodka or vinegar that ways you can fine tune it to the available nutrients and quit/restart at any given time based on your parameters. both of which results can be seen in as little as a week. the red field ratio isnt exact , in fact it wasn't geared towards our household system or how we carbon dose a reef , in general its just a guide line to show how bacteria consumes and absorbs c/n/p so i wouldn't take it to heart.

all in all though your parameters are spot on , if anything i would tweak them slightly and slowly over time

cheers

denny