Banner image

Bschowa's current build thread (1 Viewer)

Jonty said:
Oh and stop running GFO till PO4 creeps up and then slowly restart the GFO if biopellets can't keep up. AIO pellets make life a little easier for me as I don't need to run GFO in its own reactor any more
Click to expand...

Would I see bad affects if I grabbed some aio (brown ones) pellets and switched over this weekend or do I need to switch over as the current ones I have get used up?

Also I don't know if it is relevant but my ph swing is 7.86 at the low end snd 8.02 at the high end. I still mean to pipe my skimmer Intake outside my house to try to raise that up but up until recently everything was doing great
 
That Ph swing is pretty typical, I would not sweat it. No bad effects going to AIO at this point as it will take a couple of weeks for the new pellets to kick in which will allow nutrients to rise a bit leave a 1/4 cup of the old Biopellets in place to help seed the new AIO pellets.
 
Keep in mind if using aio the effluent needs to go over a sock or some other mechanical filtration as there is a lot of chaff which breaks off the pellets.
 
What is the brand/type of biopellet reactor set up there? Is it sold like that or has it been modified?

You effers and your AIO pellets...the wagon wobbles.
 
Thanks everyone I will pick up some aio, I thought they were so I was running the effluent trough a sock and it already clogs every 4 days so I will continue that process.

The reactor is an aqualund he is a guy out of Wisconsin that makes them, very similar to the reef dynamics reactors for half the price
 
Out of curiosity- 1) running Biopellets and/or zeovit is essentially a form of carbon dosing correct? 2) If they run much better in low alkalinity environments, are you still dosing Calc? Doesn't that risk causing larger swings of pH? 3) what does it mean that biopellets and zeovit causes a low nutrient environment? is this just low nitrates or does this mean less available food in the water column? Do people avoid having softies and LPS in these systems as they seem to prefer "nutrient rich" environments?
 
rlinusc said:
Out of curiosity- 1) running Biopellets and/or zeovit is essentially a form of carbon dosing correct? 2) If they run much better in low alkalinity environments, are you still dosing Calc? Doesn't that risk causing larger swings of pH? 3) what does it mean that biopellets and zeovit causes a low nutrient environment? is this just low nitrates or does this mean less available food in the water column? Do people avoid having softies and LPS in these systems as they seem to prefer "nutrient rich" environments?
Click to expand...

1) Yes, biopellets and the Zeovit system are both carbon dosing.
2) Calcium and carbonates still must be added as they are still depleted by calcifying organisms at a similar rate. A slightly lower alkalinity will have an effect on the buffering capacity, but not a cause for concern.
3) "Low nutrients" refers to a state where there is low residual nitrate and phosphate in the water column at any given time. These levels are usually higher than, but approaching the actual conditions on the reef. Though it's said a lot, I don't think it's true that LPS and soft corals require nutrient-rich environments. They can certainly tolerate those environments better and sometimes seem to prefer it, but they don't need to be ruled out.

edit: sorry if we're going too far off topic
 
Last edited:
Bschowa said:
I think Marty might have ran pellets and scrubber at the same time but I am not positive,
Click to expand...

Yup, my experience was not positive but a. I had no luck with any carbon dosing method b. my tank load is well outside the 'normal' reef tank bio load. I didn't want to chime is as a negative nanny, bio pellets/carbon dosing works great for some systems and not great for others.

FWIW, I don't recall any noticeable behavior/output changes of the ATS with or without any given carbon source.

FWIW part 2, the ATS didn't fix my problems either so they suck too! :)
 
Last edited:
In theory a super efficient bio pellet system would make it hard to get ATS running well. I assume that you also skimmed heavily? Zeovit systems require heavy skimming, do other bio pellets also want to heavily skim?
 
General common theory is bio pellet systems need skimmers, in fact it's common place to run the bio pellet reactor output directly into a skimmer input. On one hand, makes sense exporting the bacteria and such on the other hand seems counter productive as the bio pellets carbon source is really for the whole tank not just the bacteria what live on the pellets themselves.

That contradiction aside; there is a big thread on RC about carbon dosed systems with no skimmer.
 
ChristopherKriens said:
Can you elaborate on this?
Click to expand...

In working with Steve Lund (coral farmer/aqualund maker) and in reading with a few others sources (Randy Holmes, TMZ, yada yada I read way too much) carbon dosing is really fundamentally about building and feeding a population of bacteria that eat 1. bio pellet stuff (sugars and such, don't make me type of the chemical equations for the different methods) and the 2. nitrate/phosphate. So ok, we feed this bacterial population which grows out of natural proportions (our tanks are way out of natural proportions anyways) due to use feeding them but where all does this bacteria live? In reality, and I'm mostly in agreement, it's everywhere in the system - rock, glass and so on not just on the bio pellets themselves. If you think about it, how could what ever is being dosed off the bio pellets really just stay withing the bio pellet reactor itself? Also, other carbon dosing methods (vinegar, vodka, Red Sea N03-PO4x product which a guy had his grad students do a a spectrometer break down of what was in it - vinegar and vodka basically) all work without a reactor, e.g. relay on the tank surface areas for.

In theory, vinegar is actually a 'better' carbon source as it has one less step to be broken down that bio pellets - it's easier for the bacteria to get their food source less chemical reactions required.

In my circumstance, in theory the reason carbon dosing might (might, I call BS on it) was I didn't have enough tank turn over to feed the display tank the bio pellet food stuffs to get the main bacterial colony going. At the time I as doing ~ 3x tank turn over and 6-10x was what Steve was recommending. I struggles with this as sooner or later it would all even out and catch up I figured, correctly or incorrectly who knows. In the end, I'm convinced there is some dependency between carbon dosing and different system setups (rock about, turn over, who knows...) where carbon dosing works for some and not others. I know some really successful folks have had great luck with them and some really successful folks who had no luck.
 
I can't say that I've ever seen pellets work in my system either, Marty. The turnover thing might have merit, as I don't have the largest return pumps. I always wondered if it was my UV killing the bacteria...but Jonty runs a larger UV than I do and his pellets strip the water almost overnight, he always says.
 
marty9876 said:
In working with Steve Lund (coral farmer/aqualund maker) and in reading with a few others sources (Randy Holmes, TMZ, yada yada I read way too much) carbon dosing is really fundamentally about building and feeding a population of bacteria that eat 1. bio pellet stuff (sugars and such, don't make me type of the chemical equations for the different methods) and the 2. nitrate/phosphate. So ok, we feed this bacterial population which grows out of natural proportions (our tanks are way out of natural proportions anyways) due to use feeding them but where all does this bacteria live? In reality, and I'm mostly in agreement, it's everywhere in the system - rock, glass and so on not just on the bio pellets themselves. If you think about it, how could what ever is being dosed off the bio pellets really just stay withing the bio pellet reactor itself? Also, other carbon dosing methods (vinegar, vodka, Red Sea N03-PO4x product which a guy had his grad students do a a spectrometer break down of what was in it - vinegar and vodka basically) all work without a reactor, e.g. relay on the tank surface areas for.

In theory, vinegar is actually a 'better' carbon source as it has one less step to be broken down that bio pellets - it's easier for the bacteria to get their food source less chemical reactions required.

In my circumstance, in theory the reason carbon dosing might (might, I call BS on it) was I didn't have enough tank turn over to feed the display tank the bio pellet food stuffs to get the main bacterial colony going. At the time I as doing ~ 3x tank turn over and 6-10x was what Steve was recommending. I struggles with this as sooner or later it would all even out and catch up I figured, correctly or incorrectly who knows. In the end, I'm convinced there is some dependency between carbon dosing and different system setups (rock about, turn over, who knows...) where carbon dosing works for some and not others. I know some really successful folks have had great luck with them and some really successful folks who had no luck.
Click to expand...

I agree that the metabolization of liquid carbon sources does occur on pretty much any surface in the system or in the water column itself. My understanding was that the pellet biopolymers aren't soluble and don't physically break down, which would prevent them from directly providing a broad carbon source to the rest of the system.

Obviously as carbon is bioaccumulated in the reactor, the bacteria that aren't exported via skimming (or whatever) will eventually die and the carbon that they incorporated can become available to another bacterium somewhere else. In that sense the carbon is widely distributed, but I think it's an important distinction to make. This is just my understanding, but if I'm wrong I'd like to know.

FWIW I have use 4x turnover.
 
I have the same tanks I just need close up pictures of the piping and some of the whole piping system thanks for the trouble

Sent from my SM-N910P using Tapatalk
 
Apparently the Hanna checker reagent I have been using for my alkalinity testing was recalled so I'm hoping that it is not that far off from what that was reading. This may be the cause for my issues if it is way out of whack
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top