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biopellet reactors
- Thread starter AJ1080
- Start date
No two systems are exactly alike, but I have been running bio-pellets for about 8 month's now, and I didn't replace either my GAC or GFO. Although I did start of by re-purposing my BRS GFO reactor as a pellet reactor for a few month's during the start up phase. I have since brought my GFO back on line when installed a made for bio-pellet reactor. I did however replace my fuge. So, I used the pellets to replace my macro algae.
i got tired of spending money on GFO/Carbon and neglecting to change them out. I know I know you are supposed to stick to that regimen but life interrupts. Anyways I harvest the chaeto and I now just run biopellets. So for me - i keep those two going, but no more GFO/Carbon.
I don't think any one magic pill works - if gfo/carbon works for you - then I would suggest sticking with it. There are plenty of threads out there where people went too far with carbon dosing and had spikes in cyano and RTN.
I don't think any one magic pill works - if gfo/carbon works for you - then I would suggest sticking with it. There are plenty of threads out there where people went too far with carbon dosing and had spikes in cyano and RTN.
It's an A or B situation, run one or the other, but not both.
However, they do recommend a transition period between them, where you run both (in separate reactors) and decrease the amount of GFO as the bacteria populate the bio pellets.
I read this front to back yesterday. Good read - http://www.3reef.com/forums/warner-marine/official-ecobak-thread-103809-5.html
It seems like it can take 4-8 weeks before the pellets mature enough to take over the load.
When I was reading up on DSB/RDSB and LR requirements there was a heated "discussion" about bacteria and a theoretical max per tank. Basically, the one side stated that you can only have a certain amount of bacteria in a closed system and more LR/sand (surface area) would not lead to more bacteria/filtering.
So, I wonder how true that is and if using these pellets/media lessens the need for as much LR given that it is being used by the bacteria as food.
It seems like it can take 4-8 weeks before the pellets mature enough to take over the load.
When I was reading up on DSB/RDSB and LR requirements there was a heated "discussion" about bacteria and a theoretical max per tank. Basically, the one side stated that you can only have a certain amount of bacteria in a closed system and more LR/sand (surface area) would not lead to more bacteria/filtering.
So, I wonder how true that is and if using these pellets/media lessens the need for as much LR given that it is being used by the bacteria as food.
Here's some more reading:
http://kb.marinedepot.com/article.a...ium=email&mc_cid=4104eabaa1&mc_eid=deb9a37904
http://kb.marinedepot.com/article.a...ium=email&mc_cid=4104eabaa1&mc_eid=deb9a37904