Reef Octopus BioPellet Reactor Amazing Results!!

[DarthSimon]

Guys,
After years of high NO3 and NO4, I decided to setup a RO Bio-pellet Reactor. Ive tried other forms of carbon dosing, Vodka, Vinegar, but never had long term success.....

I slowly increased over a few weeks up to my 900 ML of BioPellets... Wholy cow!!!

My Nitrates went from 80 to 15-20... 4 weeks..... Hoping this continues... I have a well stocked 220 gallon tank....

[ReachTheSky]

That's great to hear! I plan on using the BR70 reactor with my new build.

[bertoni]

Any changes in coral behavior or coloration yet?

[Buzz1329]

Guys,
After years of high NO3 and NO4, I decided to setup a RO Bio-pellet Reactor. Ive tried other forms of carbon dosing, Vodka, Vinegar, but never had long term success.....

I slowly increased over a few weeks up to my 900 ML of BioPellets... Wholy cow!!!

My Nitrates went from 80 to 15-20... 4 weeks..... Hoping this continues... I have a well stocked 220 gallon tank....

Great! How did it affect your phosphate levels?

[Tokyoyankee]

Hey. I got the BRH110 on my tank but be cautious of your dosing. They really stripe the water of nutrients and can cause StN or RTN as I've experience this.

[DarthSimon]

Phosphates are reading .25 or tad less...

What is:

can cause StN or RTN

[bertoni]

RTN is "rapid tissue necrosis". It's a term used to describe a coral's sudden death. As I recall, STN is similar, but implies a different rate of decline.

[DarthSimon]

Yes, unfortunately one piece is melting away...Yellow Fiji Leather... Everything else is fine... Have mostly softies... Zoos....Zenia... Haven't been able to keep LPS or SPS due to high NO3 and NO4....

By the way. All of my fish are looking healthier and stronger... They were looking awful... Had to treat for flukes 6 weeks ago....

[bertoni]

Well, I don't know what might be troubling the leather coral. :( I hope it recovers. You could ask in the soft coral forum.

[DarthSimon]

Bertoni,
I was presuming it was from rapid NO3 reduction...

[mark54321]

What brand of pellets are you using?

[Tokyoyankee]

RTN or STN is when ur sps suffers from tissue lose. The rate of lose varies. The tissue of the sps peels off usually starting at base exposing the white skeleton. With biopellets, the nutrients are striped from the water so quickly that your sps will react in this manner. About two months ago I thoughtlessly started increasing the amount of biopellets in my reactor. That's when everything turned sour. I started carefully measuring and removing the pellets and observed the tank. After a month of adjustments and testing I finally found my sweet spot. Live and learn

[gnu]

Thats great....Wish I could get mine lower. Im stuck at 25 with the BP and a vertex reactor.

[EgmontKey]

I've seen leathers take a beating when a bio pellet reactor is introduced. They can bleach completely white because the water is stripped clean of nutrients required. It sounds like you are getting close to ideal in your water parameters but do yourself a favor and cut back before you get to ideal and really give your tank time to adjust. I'm recommending several weeks of hovering close to ideal but keep some of those nutrients in there. Your corals need some nutrients.

Glad to hear you are seeing good results!

[cephalotus]

Most problems associated with bio pellet reactors including stripping of nutrients too fast or too through can all be eliminated by using a recirculating reactor. It is rather easy to modify reactors to a recirc

[Tokyoyankee]

I wait 3 weeks after each adjustment to see where I truly stand. I think that's why biopellets are so tricky.

[DarthSimon]

What do you suggest I do? Go back to heavier feed? I'm using Bio-Shere.

[Tokyoyankee]

I too use biosphere pellets. Monitor your nitrate and phosphate levels. If their high, measure out what u add with a kitchen scale so that you know how much to remove if thing turn sour. Wait 2 or 3 week and observe and test again before adding more if neccasary. Watch how your corals and tank. I also use GFo for phosphates. The key is to move really slow. If your tank is low on nutrients feed heavier.

[bertoni]

If the leather coral is having problems due to a lack of nutrients, a bit of extra food might help.

[DarthSimon]

Guys,
I'm in need of help... My Protein Skimmer, Reef Octo XP3000 external is going nuts.. It's not over flowing water, but bubbles and foam.. It's popping the lid off... After 6-7 hours the lid is slightly pushed off.. Getting skimate on the outside...

The skimate on the inside is very slimey... It's almost coating the cup, hard to rinse out...

Any thoughts about what is going on??

[mrbigshot]

the skimmer is pulling the excess bacteria from the Bio pellets and all the goodies they produce. you want this or else you could get a wicked bacterial bloom

[Reefnut2010]

Great to hear they worked for you. Like most have explained, the key is going slow and watching the tank carefully. Add or reduce the amount, untill a satisfactory level is reached. Mark it, and you are good to go, unless stocking density changes. The newer recirculating reactors are probabaly the best ones out right now.

[DarthSimon]

This is just nuts!! My nitrates are 0, or close to 0.....
This pic is as of this morning... 2nd Pic.. 2 weeks ago... and 3-4 weeks ago Blood Red...
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mI_T67ctHn4/UI0vcLpuAmI/AAAAAAAAALY/KhcTZAJrDv0/s640/nitrates.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_h63PmKwGWY/UI0w_UKPIyI/AAAAAAAAALk/abWuCIIHGl8/s640/tratesweekago.JPG

Guys,
Should I start thinking about pulling out pellets, or taking reactor offline?

What next??

[DarthSimon]

And this was 4 weeks ago...

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-cDFnAcLTjfE/UI0ylxOPBFI/AAAAAAAAAL8/Hn7x8O2ZbGc/s512/red.JPG

[Tokyoyankee]

Congats

[bertoni]

Cool!

I'd probably leave the reactor alone, but it might be safe to reduce the amount of media in it.

[teog]

Nice. Which model do you have? And what pump are you driving it with?

[Pny]

Nice! Did you monitor your PO4 levels also?

[Raffm22]

My nitrate test from API did the same thing.. All the sudden stopped working. With API test kit it reads 0.. Test with another and it's at 120! Hopefully it's not the same issue with yours. Which brand of bio pellets are you using?