Thinking about giving up on vodka for biopellets.....

[9supratt4]

So I have been dosing vodka for a long time now and it seems like it's stopped working. So now I am thinking about going the biopellet route.

I've heard some really bad stories about biopellets and tanks crashing and then I've also heard some really great stories about incredible results. What is everyone's experience here??

Also, there are so many different brands of biopellets...BRS, NP, Aquamaxx, etc.... Are there any differences in them all?? And how much are you supposed to use?? I would probably use them in the extra TLF Phosban 150 reactor I have sitting here.

All advice will be greatly appreciated!!

 

[TanksNStuff]

Well, I just bought a TLF reactor in the GB (which I'll get it at the swap) to start using pellets. I'll let you know how they are working in a month or so.

I have the WM Eco-Bak pellets, which I've heard plenty of good things about them.

 

[9supratt4]

What I'm reading is that the pellets strip the water of all nitrate which then causes SPS to start dying because there is no nutrients in the tank for them to feed off of. Is this true?? Do I need to start dosing something else to feed the SPS if I run pellets??

Also, I'm reading that the pellets don't really pull out all the phosphate so you should continue to run GFO. I thought the pellets were supposed to take care of phosphates as well....

 

[downbeach]

Here's been my experience to date:

http://www.njreefers.org/showthread.php?74843-Starting-Bio-Pellets&p=677657#post677657

 

[9supratt4]

Anybody else??

 

[trivan]

One thing I read is that in a low nutrition environment, your alk needs to be much lower then what is considered normal. Zeo tanks run very low alk. I also read that you end up feeding more to put more for the coral to feed on, ie more fish poop.

 

[9supratt4]

Anybody else have any input on having to feed the tank more for the corals to thrive since the pellets strip the water of everything??

 

[downbeach]

Anybody else have any input on having to feed the tank more for the corals to thrive since the pellets strip the water of everything??

I've been running the pellets for about 3 months now and my feeding regiment hasn't changed. I have a mixed reef with Zoa's, Paly's, Ric's, LPS and SPS with good growth and PE. Also, fish, clams and shrimp all thriving.

PS The biopellets will help with your nutrient problem, and that will help knock down some of the nuisance algae.