Starting Bio-Pellets

[downbeach]

As Brian said, it would be best in a single reactor. If you decide to try the dual, you would have to leave the first chamber empty(including the insert) and have a strong enough pump to cause the pellets to tumble, and you'd have to get a bio-pellet insert for that chamber. I started out using a single BRS reactor with the pellet insert, but ultimately bought the RO BM 110 pellet reactor.

Are you using the dual reactor for anything right now?

 

[Hawkeye]

Holy smelly eggs batman...

Lesson #1 - do not overload reactor with too many biopellets.

Lesson #2 - do not smell the black pellets if attempting to clean them...

I nearly feinted.

Tang police

Anyways - I'm out of biopellets...had to toss the entire lot. Mnat where are you with my champion GB stuff? hahahaha.

 

[Mike S]

Lesson #3 if you see a sudden spike in algae growth check to see if your reactor is clogged. I had a rapid increase in cyano over a two week period. Turned out my reactor was clogged. I cleaned up the reactor and the cyano dropped right off. At least I know that the reactor is doing something.

 

[Hawkeye]

Lesson #3 if you see a sudden spike in algae growth check to see if your reactor is clogged. I had a rapid increase in cyano over a two week period. Turned out my reactor was clogged. I cleaned up the reactor and the cyano dropped right off. At least I know that the reactor is doing something.

LOL yes I did notice cyano increase...thought my water change schedule wasn't enough.

 

[Fish Brain]

Holy smelly eggs batman...

Lesson #1 - do not overload reactor with too many biopellets.

Lesson #2 - do not smell the black pellets if attempting to clean them...

I nearly feinted.

Tang police

Anyways - I'm out of biopellets...had to toss the entire lot. Mnat where are you with my champion GB stuff? hahahaha.

I smelled your pain!!! I shut down my reactor, I was planning to give it a cleaning, I let it sit for two days before I got a chance to clean it and noticed the pellets turned black. OMG that smell was beyond nasty!!!!!

 

[Chrisgarrick]

Hey guys read the thread over. In have the dual brs. I'm either going to run first container empty or just split into 2. My question. Is the brs pellet insert different from the standard gfo/carbon? From the pics they are exactly the same....

 

[Fish Brain]

Hey guys read the thread over. In have the dual brs. I'm either going to run first container empty or just split into 2. My question. Is the brs pellet insert different from the standard gfo/carbon? From the pics they are exactly the same....

They look the same because they both have to fit in the same canister, but they are in fact different.

 

[mnat]

The standard one has a sponge on the bottom to keep gfo/carbon in place. This clogs and needs to be cleaned which is fine for gfo/carbon which needs to be replaced almost on the same schedule. With biopellets everyone uses screens that don't get clogged or gunky because you need to let the biopellets stay in there and tumble until they dissolve. They are not replaced on the same schedule as gfo/carbon.

 

[Chrisgarrick]

Just spoke to brs. My dual reactor is 2 months old. I can split it and use for biopellets. Insets etc are exactly the same as their biopellet reactor. Just FYI.

 

[jgraz]

Well looks like I'm ready to join the party. I figure with Xmas coming up I can get everything I need. I'm pretty much between the SRO bio reactor and the aquamaxx bio max reactor. Not sure which one yet. In the mean time I think I'm gonna split me dual reactor and take GFO offline and use that to start up the pellets. Hoping to get things going this weekend or next then by the time I'm ready to add the next batch I'll have a proper reactor.
Anyway what are your thoughts on the two above reactors and if you have any other suggestion let me know.

 

[downbeach]

I'm using the RO BR 110 on my 180, and it's working fine. The Eheim compact pump was a good choice for me too. I have no experience with the aquamaxx.

 

[jgraz]

Thx Jim. I gonna make a decision soon. I've been doing a ton of research on this and it come down to those two. It does seen like the go to reactor is the RO though.

 

[jgraz]

Well i got the reactor up and going. How does the flow look in this pic

I tried to put a video but could figure it out.
Question, those pellets that are above the other seem to be stuck to the tube will they be fine? I've shaken thing as much as I can a some of them just won't come down.

 

[Daniel]

They will come down in time as they get saturated with water and seed with bacteria.

 

[govertical19]

Guys that have been running pellets for some time now I have a couple questions. Do you guys still run gac? I know most people are saying no gfo. Also do you guys dose any bacteria mb7 or zeobac? I have been using pellets for about 2 months now my levels are good phos are at 0. No algae and very very little cyno green... I just can not get rid of it but it is very little.

Also did anyone have to adjust there lighting schedule (less) or lower the intensity of led.? Some people I have read as the water gets cleaner(clearer) have to adjust for this.

In my case I lost some sps I think my water got so clean I stripped the tank. I have since started dosing AA to try to get some levels back in my tank before I start restocking.

 

[fraghunter]

I been running bio oellets for over a year. I do use gfo but my tanks tells me when I run it and once eberything looks good I stop. Running 0 phos is
Not good for any sps you should shoot for .02 it is easily adjusted my feeding more. I do put bacteria in my tank special blend a lot cheaper than the other ones and the same thing. I add special blend more because of my monster skimmer than anything else. Cyno is a bacterial infection and u will never get rufd of it with biopellers skimming light reduction or circulation. Bacter prodcts will help small outbrakes but u will need to use 1 of those antibotics to really rid bad cases cyno outbrakes. I sure all the reef purists will bash me for that but I would doudt they ever got rid of a bad cyno outbrake with out it. So here comes the raft and the bean shooters.lol

 

[fraghunter]

1 other thing I know I swirched from those low churning type reactors to a tornado style which keeps pellets suspended and moving causing less clumping and I have experinced better results in my experince. I use the one on the brs website I have 260 galloon n total water volume and love the product.

 

[downbeach]

Since I started this thread, I've been running them that long. I did put my GFO back on line, after the pellets were colonized, after about 4 months. I'm using BRS HC GFO, and get about two months out of a recharge. You should have a Hanna meter for PO4. I do, once every few months, add a couple ampules of Prodibio's Biodigest, and Biotim to my tank. I did not adjust my lighting schedule, or intensity. What's AA?
As far as the cyano is concerned, here is my canned answer:
I usually take a more holistic approach to these type of problems. There are many factors that can contribute to this problem. Although one may be the overriding factor, you should address each one of them to insure that you have solved this problem. Here is a good article that will help explain the cause and some of the remedies:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/bluegralgae.htm

 

[govertical19]

AA is Amino Acids. I have been dosing the two Prodibio products and I was getting scared that was causing the cyno outbreak. I have been dosing every 15 days.

 

[govertical19]

I was thinking about chemiclean. I figured since most my sps died I was gonna try it. But then that cleans all out all bacteria good &, bad. But if I dose with prodibio or mb7 that would reestablish good bacteria?