Bio-pellets clumping?

[UnknownFish]

I have the TLF 550 with 1L of their NPX pellets and they say to use a pump that is 200-400 gallons in their instructions, I use a pump that is 660 gph and I have dialed it back and they clump, I open it all the way and they still clump, I have tried just about any flow through the pellets and hey still clump, I have had them up and running for about a month or so now, any suggestions, I cant believe that I should need a bigger pump.

Would a next reef reactor work better with the pellets?

[ibefishy]

Did they ever tumble, or have they always clumped together? Mine did that until I took the black foam out of the bottom of the reactor and now they tumble great. Just an idea.

[UnknownFish]

I replaced the foam with the mesh from the beginning, for the first 2-3 weeks they tumbled great, for the last week or so I have had to cut all flow to the pellets and then shake up the reactor for about 10 minutes to un clump them, I have to do this sometimes twice a day.

[ibefishy]

What mesh are you using? I just use the red bottom plate that came with my reactors. I use a maxi-jet 900 and it pushes water thru my bio-pellet reactor and my carbon reactor. Does the clump of pellets rise to the top of the reactor or stay on the bottom?

[UnknownFish]

I am using no mesh on the bottom just the red bottom plate and on top I have the mesh and red top plate, they clump and stay on the bottom.

[UnknownFish]

Forgot, I am using the TLF mesh screens.

[SilverGTS]

Soaking the pellets for a day in RO water helps with the clumping as well

-Chris

[kuyatwo]

Get the next reef or octopus biopellet reactors. When I ran a 550 as biopellet reactor I got the same thing.


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[solitude127]

How old are the pellets? From what I've been reading, this is because there's a lot of growth on the pellets. You may want to try and rinse the pellets.

[BigKahuna]

I did a comparison of the TLF150 vs the new Octo hang on BP reactor:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2052551

From my experience it isn't so much the amount of flow as it is the uniformity that really matters. People mod their flat-bottom reactors with dish-like additions to the bottom which helps get that uniformity. When the water hits something that is flat it is going to create some random chaotic patterns but with a smooth hemispherical bottom for the water to flow against is encourages the water to more uniformly disburse as it rises up the chamber. If you look at the video I made in that thread you can see almost no uniformity in the TLF flow whereas the bottom 1/3 of the Octo reactor is almost perfectly laminar and then it becomes more chaotic for the rest of the 2/3 which is probably what you want i.e uniform on the bottom to not allow the pellets to clump and chaotic on top to get the pellets all mixed nicely.

[UnknownFish]

I am at work and on my phone but I will def watch that video when I get home tonight. Thanks for the help so far, I will get back after I watch the video.

[solitude127]

I thought the 550 reactor has a cone bottom, am I incorrect?

[BigKahuna]

I've never owned a 550 and always thought they were just a bigger version of the 150 which is a round red plate with holes in it about 1/2 inch above a flat bottom where the water exits the down tube. I could be wrong but I think the 550 is the same.

[UnknownFish]

No cone bottom on the 550.

[UnknownFish]

I did a comparison of the TLF150 vs the new Octo hang on BP reactor:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2052551

From my experience it isn't so much the amount of flow as it is the uniformity that really matters. People mod their flat-bottom reactors with dish-like additions to the bottom which helps get that uniformity. When the water hits something that is flat it is going to create some random chaotic patterns but with a smooth hemispherical bottom for the water to flow against is encourages the water to more uniformly disburse as it rises up the chamber. If you look at the video I made in that thread you can see almost no uniformity in the TLF flow whereas the bottom 1/3 of the Octo reactor is almost perfectly laminar and then it becomes more chaotic for the rest of the 2/3 which is probably what you want i.e uniform on the bottom to not allow the pellets to clump and chaotic on top to get the pellets all mixed nicely.

That video is exactly what I needed to see, you sold me on getting a new reactor! Thanks!

[moondoggy4]

I place a small magnet in my reactor and just moved it when they started to clump

[solitude127]

I place a small magnet in my reactor and just moved it when they started to clump

That's a great tip.

[BigKahuna]

That's a great tip.

Yeah, I saw someone mention that magnet tip somewhere but every time I broke up clumps with something hard, a plastic rod in my case, it seemed to cause a major slough-off of material which would send my skimmer into a frenzy. I'm pretty lazy when it comes to maintenance so anything that reduces the amount of time I have to keep after equipment is a plus in my book and using the right reactor for the right media results in better results and less work. You don't even have to spend a lot if money, I didn't try it but it looks relatively easy to modify a regular reactor with a cone at the bottom to get better results. Don't get me wrong, when I used the TLF reactor it worked OK and I did have very good results with nitrate reduction but it wasn't exactly ideal and I couldn't use nearly the amount of biopellets I could in the Octo reactor effectively. If you are getting clumping anything you do to remedy it is a bandaid.

[moondoggy4]

http://www.marinedepot.com/Mag_Float_20_Magnet_Cleaner_(Acrylic)_Algae_Magnets_for_Saltwater_Aquariums-Mag_Float-MF1121-FIMTAMCM-vi.html something like this

[BigKahuna]

The one I almost pulled the trigger on was this pipe cleaner one:

http://www.marinedepot.com/Two_Little_Fishies_MagFox_Magnetic_Hose_and_Pipe_Cleaning_Device_Non_Floating_Algae_Magnets-Two_Little_Fishies-TL3919-FIMTAMCMNF-vi.html

I figured it was small and unobtrusive to leave in the reactor and would be easier to maneuver around the cylindrical reactor. I never got a chance to try one as I moved on to the Octo BP reactor though.