BRS reactor for bio pellets

[fatoldsun]

Thanks Jim. Let me see if BRS has any advice. If not I may take you up on that. Besides I still owe you for the other.

 

[HH reefer]

have u tried stopping and starting the flow suddenly, it seems to break the clumps up. thy that a couple times see if u have any luck

 

[fatoldsun]

have u tried stopping and starting the flow suddenly, it seems to break the clumps up. thy that a couple times see if u have any luck

I physically took the whole set up apart multiple times as I changed things - so there were definitely no clumps.

I emailed BRS and, well, I think the whole conversation speaks for itself…(I cleared some of the names and such…)


Wednesday, February 22, 2012 3:11 PM
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 9:14 AM
> To: Customerservice@bulkreefsupply.com
> Subject: Bio pellet reactor (Thread:7681)
>
> Hi
> I was wondering if you had any suggestions or input. I finally
> switched over my GFO reactor to bio pellets using one of the inserts
> you sell. I've had some bad luck getting the media to tumble properly.
> I posted on my clubs board and tried some suggestions from the group
> as well as my own. I switched the pump with the MJ12 on my GAC. I
> switched the reactor bodies. I tried cleaning the bottom of the insert
> with a toothbrush. No matter what I tried I had the same issue with
> all the agitation on the same side of the reactor. In fact when I
> rotated the insert the spot moved so my thoughts are that it relates
directly to the insert. Not sure if you can view this.
> http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee503/dzipin/06e7a754.mp4 I
> adjusted the flow to illustrate what I've attempted to describe.
> Thanks in advance for any guidance.
>
> -Dave
On Feb 22, 2012, at 1:23 PM, "Bulk Reef Supply"
<questions@bulkreefsupply.com> wrote:

> That is actually normal and there really isn't anything you need to
> change with it. The pellets go up, they have to come back down
> somewhere . Water in general travels through the path with the
> least resistance, the side where the pellets are tumbling has the
> least resistance which is why it's mostly there. The tumbling that I'm
> seeing in the video is definitely good enough as they will still give
> the pellets a good turn over as they rotate around.
>
> ~###
> Customer Service Agent & Group Buy Specialist BulkReefSupply.com

-----Original Message-----
From:
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 12:52 PM
To: Bulk Reef Supply
Subject: Re: Bio pellet reactor (Thread:7681)

Perhaps it's not well documented in the video but the backside of the
reactor does not move at all. Also the first 30 seconds or so is at
full-open which is too fast IMO. I've checked out the same setup on a
friends tank and it's far more uniform. This looks as if there is a jet of
flow concentrated on one side of the insert. I'm not sure that would be seen
as normal -are you saying that's what you guys would expect? At the very
least I'm afraid those pellets on the slow/no flow side will clump within
about 2-3 weeks. What I've read suggests that would affect performance.

-Dave

> The wide open flow with the pellets tumbling the fastest is what it
should be. As one side is pushed up, the other side will be slowly coming in
and then starts to tumble. Eventually it'll all get turned over. There
really is absolutely no real way to control where the water travels, it's a
matter of how much bio pellets are in the reactor. Less pellets will have
less weight therefore water may possibly travel equally through the pellets.
With more pellets, water will force its way through and find a weak point.
That weak point will be the area with the least resistance and all the water
will start to channel there as all the weight is pushed to one side.

You can tilt the reactor to change the direction of flow, or use
something like a safety pin to make the slits on one side of the cartridge
bigger, but it's very likely that after a few days there going to just find
a new pattern and look the same with a slightly different pattern. It's
just natural for them to find a pattern. The way yours look right now is
pretty much how I would expect them to look. You're going to have minor
differences depending on level of pellets, orientation, etc but really
doesn't make a difference.

~###
Customer Service Agent & Group Buy Specialist
BulkReefSupply.com



So… do I take the rep’s word for it?????

 

[downbeach]

I did have twice the amount of pellets in the reactor. I think you might have some success using the plastic canvas on the one side that is getting all the pressure. I have some if you want to try it.

 

[HH reefer]

i wouldn't, they should be tumbling in uniform when they clump on one side, which they will. will lead to gasses being released into your tank.

 

[fatoldsun]

I did have twice the amount of pellets in the reactor. I think you might have some success using the plastic canvas on the one side that is getting all the pressure. I have some if you want to try it.

Jim - what do you mean by the "plastic canvas"?

i wouldn't, they should be tumbling in uniform when they clump on one side, which they will. will lead to gasses being released into your tank.

you wouldn't ...what? trust what the customer service rep claimed? or follow Jim's advice regarding the canvas?

 

[HH reefer]

customer service

 

[fatoldsun]

customer service

yep - i wasn't buying his line - like I said, convo speaks for itself....

looks like I'll have to mod the insert or go with one of the reactor mods I've seen....

 

[downbeach]

Jim - what do you mean by the "plastic canvas"?

It's a plastic mesh. If you saw the "basket" that I was using to keep my Agar in on the second floor, that was made from it. I think if you glue a piece of it about half way around the base of the insert, it would allow more of the water to distribute itself to other parts under the insert in the reactor.

 

[fatoldsun]

Well, hope this is better...
http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee503/dzipin/b9dba73f.mp4
I pulled the insert and used a blade to 'clean' up the openings.

This is my skimate after 6 hours. Like a light tea. I was expecting a darker smeller mess

 

[downbeach]

That looks a lot better. Can you tune the skimmer for a drier skim mate?

 

[fatoldsun]

That looks a lot better.

Glad to hear - I was so happy to get it looking the way I wanted I hadn't given any thought to the pace or rate of tumble. It seems to be as it was described - fast enough so that everything is in motion, slow enough that the bacteria can populate.

Can you tune the skimmer for a drier skim mate?

this is sort of why I was chasing the idea of a "better" skimmer. if I dial it back, it does nothing - a dark skimmate collects on the inside of the collection cup neck but nothing makes it over into the cup. When I clean it, I have to wipe it off - it's very thick and sticky but I rarely get anything substantial in the cup. I had it dialed to the point where it was collecting but I had maybe 3 millimeters of skimmate collected over 48 or so hours. I didn't touch anything last night and what you see in the pic is what collected overnight so my guess - the reactor did something to excite the skimmer but it's not really what I'd expect. and as far as adjustment well it was low enough that I got barely anything in 2 days and I'd think if I turned it down more, it would just shut off. maybe I need to tweak the height. maybe a half inch lower will allow what's collecting on the neck to make it over into the cup...

 

[downbeach]

Glad to hear - I was so happy to get it looking the way I wanted I hadn't given any thought to the pace or rate of tumble. It seems to be as it was described - fast enough so that everything is in motion, slow enough that the bacteria can populate.



this is sort of why I was chasing the idea of a "better" skimmer. if I dial it back, it does nothing - a dark skimmate collects on the inside of the collection cup neck but nothing makes it over into the cup. When I clean it, I have to wipe it off - it's very thick and sticky but I rarely get anything substantial in the cup. I had it dialed to the point where it was collecting but I had maybe 3 millimeters of skimmate collected over 48 or so hours. I didn't touch anything last night and what you see in the pic is what collected overnight so my guess - the reactor did something to excite the skimmer but it's not really what I'd expect. and as far as adjustment well it was low enough that I got barely anything in 2 days and I'd think if I turned it down more, it would just shut off. maybe I need to tweak the height. maybe a half inch lower will allow what's collecting on the neck to make it over into the cup...

How much water is the skimmer sitting in? I thing the BM's suggest 9" to 11".

I'll bet that some of the slots in the insert were not fully opened.

 

[fatoldsun]

How much water is the skimmer sitting in? I thing the BM's suggest 9" to 11".

I'll bet that some of the slots in the insert were not fully opened.

I'm not sure exactly - it's been a while since I measured but I believe it's pretty close to 9" I don't care for my little stand so I have been looking for an excuse to make a new one

as for the BRS insert, there is no question that MOST of the slots were closed - poor manufacturing controls if you ask me. and I was most disappointed by the customer service rep's responses. Had he told me what you did, I would have been good to go but to say it looked normal is just ridiculous - I bet the guy from the videos would have known that it wasn't ok

 

[Fish Brain]

You might want a little more flow in the reactor or keep an eye on it and watch for signs of clumping. I had slow tumble like that and wound up with the solid mass of biopellets in my one reactor.

 

[fatoldsun]

You might want a little more flow in the reactor or keep an eye on it and watch for signs of clumping. I had slow tumble like that and wound up with the solid mass of biopellets in my one reactor.

ok, thanks for the heads up - I have it dialed pretty far back - like 40% or less so I have lots of room to amp things up a bit