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Unread 09/23/2010, 07:21 PM   #101
Toadally
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I just took my pellets offline today after more than 2 months. I was running them in a BRS dual reactor and using a MJ1200. They had completely stopped tumbling and were clumping really bad. I have started using GFO and carbon again in my reactor. I have ordered the Nextreef reactor along with biopellets and a new pump. I will start running them again soon.


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Unread 09/23/2010, 07:46 PM   #102
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Its not so much about the reactor guys. Think of the pellets like media in a calcium reactor. Basically they just need interaction with the water so that they can dissolve over time as the bacteria you are culturing uses them up. The only reason we switch the sponges out in a standard reactor is because since they last for about a year and shouldn't be removed during that time the sponge would eventually clog up and the reactor would back up.

Also a quick update. As I mentioned early in this post I have never had a PO4 test but I knew my phosphates were high because...well my corals were brown. Its been a few months since I started running the pellets and I received my hanna po4 checker yesterday. I'm proud to say that the color is returning back into my coral, i've had to increase my additive dosage because i'm clearly getting more growth and my no3 and po4 are both sitting comfortably at 0 (although most likely slightly higher in po4). So far these pellets have made an impressive and very drastic change in the condition of my tank. I would never go back to vodka...


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Unread 09/25/2010, 05:47 AM   #103
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Its been five days since my slime post and they are still totally caked up. Im still getting flow but its just flowing up one side of the pellets. Maybe I put in too much? I put in the full 1000ml in a geo 420 reactor for my 180 gallon tank with a 75 gallon sump.


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Unread 09/25/2010, 08:40 AM   #104
Genetics
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Originally Posted by jverna1 View Post
Its been five days since my slime post and they are still totally caked up. Im still getting flow but its just flowing up one side of the pellets. Maybe I put in too much? I put in the full 1000ml in a geo 420 reactor for my 180 gallon tank with a 75 gallon sump.
A liter of pellets is quite a bit for a 180g tank. I would take some out to try to help with tumbling or try to increase flow rate through the reactor.


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Unread 10/20/2010, 09:09 AM   #105
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I have had high Phosphates in my reef currently on my 120 gallon I'm running 1.0 ppm. I will order the Pellets and see how it goes after a few months. I'm expecting big things.

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Unread 10/20/2010, 08:37 PM   #106
nozleman
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Ok here we go!! I have 140g SPS tank and received my Ecobak Pellets today, 500ml. in a reactor. All SPS look bad.
phosphates-----1.
nitrates---------25
Lets take bets, how long before these go down?


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Unread 10/20/2010, 09:00 PM   #107
sedor
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Don't be too anxious for results. Just like everything else it takes time and with the bio-pellets it generally takes a month before they really start working on your system. My only explanation for this is because it takes time for the bacteria cultures to start to build and consume the polymer that the pellets are made out of.

Its been a while since I posted an update and the reason for that is because there really isn't anything to post. The pellets have been working perfectly for me now for months. In fact I tested my NO3 and PO4 yesterday and as always my NO3 is 0 and PO4 is 0.03 on a Hanna Checker. Coloration of my coral is greatly improved and now I am started to research ways to intensify those colors. My system is requiring more Ca and Alk that it previously used which tells me that growth is being increased. I am absolutely satisfied with this product. For those who just jumped in on this thread at the last page, I am personally using the Warner Marine Ecobak Pellets.


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Unread 10/20/2010, 09:59 PM   #108
langtudatinh01
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Thanks Sedor, i just started yesterday. one day on my journey. i try to encourage more growth and colors for the sps too. I will keep update as well. so far nothing change. my water is still crystal clear. i also run GAC at the same time. i stopped GFO since sunday.


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Unread 10/22/2010, 09:44 AM   #109
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I been running ecobak pellets for a month now, the first thing i noticed was my filter socks where turning black. i guess its all the bacteria full of nitrate/phos.


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Unread 11/29/2010, 03:21 AM   #110
Rotknee
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Moar...Moar...

So when do you start to add more pellets?

I been using the EcoBak pellets for a little more than 3 months now. I started with the full litre in a NextReef SMR1 reactor and my guesstimate is that I have about 70% of what I started with.

All parameters look good and I want them to stay that way.


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Unread 11/29/2010, 03:43 PM   #111
staggeringwade
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Just an update.
After taking advice from you guys I have not messed with anything over the last two weeks. Following the advice I did reduce the biopellets from 750 ml to maybe like 250 ml.
My water cleared up (no more bacterial bloom) and everything in the tank looks happy and growing well. GHA has died off substantially but still hanging on.
I checked my PO4 last night and it is at .002 -hanna meter.
So I'm guessing that since I reduced my biopellets I'm kinda starting over again.
I am still running GFO and Carbon.
My question of the day for everybody is how much did PH drop when adding BIO pellets?
Does the PH remain lowered even after using pellets for months?

Keep in mind I'm running a 4 year old LPS & SPS tank with pretty good results, corals never die they some have just stayed kinda ugly brown.
While I was running a Turf Algae Scrubber my ph stayed at 8.3 ish all day everyday. This was do to having a fan blowing down the screen to cool the system down from hot bulbs and to cause evaporation then kalkwasser top off water would keep the PH in check.
So now I have no TAS and my PH has stayed at 7.8 since removal of TAS and addition of bio pellets.
So my point is do I freak out or do I just sit back and not worry about keeping a ph of 8.3 ish?
My biopellet reactor outputs the water right into my Euro Reef skimmer pump.
I am also running a Life Reef calcium reactor which also lowers ph.
Everybody tells me I need a PH of at least 8.3 to keep sps and LPS.
It seems like ph stability is more important than big daily swings.
It has been a good two months since my PH has lowered and I don't see any negative effects yet.
I placed a big fan over my sump weeks ago to help evaporate water but it does not work at all like the TAS did.
Thanks


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Unread 12/01/2010, 08:42 AM   #112
falconut
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sedor - Do you just run the EcoBAK pellets or do you run GFO (or similar) too?

I've been running 500 ml of WM EcoBAK for 5 months on my 90 gallon tank along with 1/3 lb of GFO changed every 1 - 3 weeks. My NO3 measures 0 - 0.5 (Salifert) and my PO4 measures 0.00 (Hanner PO4 Checker) and my algae issue seams to be gone. I just turned off my GFO reactor yesterday and I'm hoping my levels will stay down with just the EcoBAK. That's what I was originally shooting for when I started running the pellets.


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Unread 12/01/2010, 01:53 PM   #113
Stuart60611
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Quote:
Originally Posted by falconut View Post
sedor - Do you just run the EcoBAK pellets or do you run GFO (or similar) too?

I've been running 500 ml of WM EcoBAK for 5 months on my 90 gallon tank along with 1/3 lb of GFO changed every 1 - 3 weeks. My NO3 measures 0 - 0.5 (Salifert) and my PO4 measures 0.00 (Hanner PO4 Checker) and my algae issue seams to be gone. I just turned off my GFO reactor yesterday and I'm hoping my levels will stay down with just the EcoBAK. That's what I was originally shooting for when I started running the pellets.
Although I am not Sedor, I can share with you what I have found in this regard. I find that ecobak really does not do a great job of lowering phosphate from elevated levels. However, I have found that once you lower your phosphate levels through other means, such as GFO, ecobak works really well at maintaining already low phosphate levels. I had extremely elevated phosphate levels. I reduced them via GFO/water changes and have had great success keeping them low without GFO or frequent water changes. I did wind up adding additonal ecobak to do so, but once I found my sweet spot in terms of the amount of ecobak to keep on line and pump flow rate my phosphate has remained low even without GFO or frequent water changes.


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Unread 12/02/2010, 06:55 AM   #114
falconut
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Stuart60611 - Great to hear. That is exactly what I'm hoping for. I'll just keep monitoring mine and see if it's working to keep it where it is.


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Unread 12/02/2010, 07:59 AM   #115
swissgaurd
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Quote:
Originally Posted by falconut View Post
sedor - Do you just run the EcoBAK pellets or do you run GFO (or similar) too?

I've been running 500 ml of WM EcoBAK for 5 months on my 90 gallon tank along with 1/3 lb of GFO changed every 1 - 3 weeks. My NO3 measures 0 - 0.5 (Salifert) and my PO4 measures 0.00 (Hanner PO4 Checker) and my algae issue seams to be gone. I just turned off my GFO reactor yesterday and I'm hoping my levels will stay down with just the EcoBAK. That's what I was originally shooting for when I started running the pellets.
did you ever get the red algae on the sand bed


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Unread 12/02/2010, 01:03 PM   #116
denash24
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I had been using WM bio pellets for about 3 months but as of last week I shut the reactor off. I lost a few SPS and some others were bleaching, I tried everything to resolve the problem but could not figure out what was causing it, till last week when as a last resort I shut it off and within a week the color has returned and all SPS have better PE. Sooooooo no more bio pellets for now, I'm going back to cheato, I did notice that the glass grew algae quicker and I now have some brownish spots in what was a super clean bottom but the purpose of this hobby is to keep corals not spotless sand.


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Unread 12/02/2010, 01:55 PM   #117
Stuart60611
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Originally Posted by falconut View Post
Stuart60611 - Great to hear. That is exactly what I'm hoping for. I'll just keep monitoring mine and see if it's working to keep it where it is.

Just note that my phosphate levels did start to creep back up once I lowered them through other means even though I had the recommended amount of ecobak on-line. However, once I again lowered them through other means and added more than the recomended amount of ecobak I managed to keep my phosphate low without GFO or frequent water changes.


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Unread 12/02/2010, 08:25 PM   #118
sedor
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All I can really share in regards to biopellets and PO4 is that I was first interested in trying out the pellets because of their ability to remove both NO3 and PO4. I was a big time vodka doser, and haven't seen a nitrate in my tank for years and years, but PO4 was always an issue of me. I have never run GFO and always just tried to control my PO4 by natural means of feeding the right amount and doing water changes. Unfortunately I was dealing with those nasty brown corals that we have been stuck with at some point or another. A month after I first put the pellets online the color seems to shoot back into my corals and my PO4 levels shot way down. Its been almost 6 months now and my PO4 still seems to stay undetectable and my corals continue to look better and better each day. FWIW, the biopellets are all I run. I don't use carbon or GFO in my system...simply because I don't feel like I need to.

In regards to the question about how often to change them out. I was originally instructed by the manufacturer that I wouldn't need to change them out for about a year and so far, about half way there it doesn't look like I am going to need to add anymore anytime soon. This of course is tank specific and yours might be different than mine. Until I start noticing that the pellets are not doing their job anymore by means of testing for both NO3 and PO4 I will continue to have faith in them.

As a final thought, since this is sort of an update anyways. Aside from everything I just said...I am starting to have some algae show up on my rockwork, mostly green turf algae and I am also noticing some cyano on the sandbed. Really its not that big of an issue, but I don't know whether to blame it on the pellets or because my halide bulbs are overdue for a change. I am starting to notice about a 50/50 success rate among people who have used bio-pellets. I place myself among those that are satisfied and will continue to use the product because for me its working great. This is just a theory, but I have a feeling the pellets are working better in my system than in others because I am not pumping a ton of flow through the reactor. I use a maxi-1200 and upon glancing I can't even notice the pellets visibly tumbling. I think that a lot of folks think they need to see the pellets jumping all over the reactor and this may not allow them to settle enough to be beneficial in feeding the bacteria cultures in the system. Again, that is just a theory...


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Unread 12/02/2010, 08:29 PM   #119
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Oh, and one more thing in response to the question about PH dropping. I never noticed a PH drop in my tank when I employed the pellets, but your could easily be the result of a bacterial bloom that is happening while the bacterial cultures build and it should go away soon. A pH of 7.8 is low, but not too low and IMO stability is a lot more important in the long run. Don't fuss too much about that number as long as its not jumping all over the place from day to day. Most peoples tanks fall down in the high 7's at night anyways when the lights are off.


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Unread 12/03/2010, 11:55 AM   #120
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Thanks for the updates. I can see my pellets moving, I have lowered the flows from time to time. I was definetly running too much flow in the beginning. I'm now thinking maybe I should slow the flow down a little again. I have a MJ 1000, throttled back and a TLF 150 Reactor. I believe that the pellets are good as long as they're in there, that they slowly desolve. Once the quantity gets less, just add more.

My chaeto has even appeared to stop growing again. This is the case with the other funky algae growing in the refuge too. I believe my mangroves are slowly growing still. Maybe my PO4 is really close to the 0.00, I keep getting on my Hanna Phosphate Checker. Almost all my algae has disappeared, except for a few small spots in some darker places.
I have gotten a little reddish cyano on one rock near the bottom, but I am due to change out my bulbs too. So, it could be that. I've been running the pellets for 5 months and this is the first time I had any cyano.


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Unread 12/03/2010, 12:52 PM   #121
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Is there any before and after pictures?


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Unread 12/03/2010, 01:59 PM   #122
falconut
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Is there any before and after pictures?
Not sure if you were asking me, but here are some of the areas of algae in my tank taken around the beginning of July '10:



The worst was the rock in the 3rd photo. You can see the glass had algae on it in the 3rd photo, some places it was a couple inches long. I don't have any after photos, but it's all gone in these areas, even the glass.


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Unread 12/03/2010, 09:45 PM   #123
langtudatinh01
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so, i have been running WM biopellets for 2 months now. all of my sps are looking great and growing fast. on the other had, my LPSs are struggling and start to show some recedding. Does this happen to anyone else? i tested my water today. PH 8.3, calcium 420, ALK 7.5, i do not test phosphate. Since the algaes are dying and the sps are coloring up, so i dont think i have an issue here. any suggestions? thanks. oh, i do see some films of bacteria on the sand bed. Could this is the cause?


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Unread 12/04/2010, 10:03 AM   #124
sedor
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The pellets themselves couldn't actually be doing any harm to your coral because their sole purpose is to feed a bacteria culture that will consume nutrients in your water column. Your LPS struggling are likely the result of something else, possibly they need to be fed more often, maybe they need slightly more nutrients etc etc. The films of bacteria on the sandbed will go away with due time, this is just because the cultures are stabilizing in your system.


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Unread 12/04/2010, 11:50 AM   #125
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Hi all, just wanted to give my results using WM EcoBak pellets since the beginning of august. My tank is 160g system and I used about 750ml as directed by Jon Warner. My no3 was 25 and po4 was 0 salifert. I was running these pellets in a BRS reactor and they just seem to clump up and go around the outside after a while, just saying I should have bought the right reactor in the first place and not blaming it on the WM pellets. I had GHA and Red slime show up after a month in use, did some water changes and siphon out what I could but it would keep coming back, so I turned it off a few weeks ago and let everything settle down a bit. I'm on my fifth day now dosing VSV recipe and things are looking pretty good for now but I will keep my fingers crossed.


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