I could not agree more with what you are saying here. I ran Bio pelets for a year and had zero nitrates. I over feed my fish who are fat and very healthy. I have now changed to an algae filter on my display tank as I wanted to see what kind of results I would get with that, and moved the pellets to my frag tank. Both tanks sit a zero nitrates and have for a long time. So yep, you have hit it right on the nail with this video, in my opinion. I love your videos, even when I may not agree with them they give food for thought. Keep making them, please!
I used Bio-pelets on my main tank for around a year with zero nitrates and water changes done every 3 months or so. I changed it for an algae skimmer and moved the pellets to my frag system and both systems have zero nitrates. I never dosed with bacteria, and I honestly can't see the need for it as they breed without help. Seems like a waste of money to me, but if it works for you, great! Love your videos, keep it up!
I totally agree with the well fed fish comments. Well fed, fat fish are healthy fish. I have run bio-pearls for a long time with zero nitrates, heavy feeding and an over stocked tank. :-( I switched them a couple of months ago for an algae scrubber which also gives me zero nitrates. I'm not sure which I prefer, though the algae scrubber costs a bit less to run I think.
Thank you, man ,for this video. I was hesitate to buy biopellets reactor and you helped me to get decision. Also my English is improved, I heard a dozen times your video to understand it. I am from Poland. One more time thank you for your time.
Great video, thank you.. I'm a heavy feeder. I've been in this hobby now approaching a year next month.. Made a lot of mistakes, but finally slowed my role and forced myself to become very patient. I've had ich twice in less then a year both times missing most of my fish... When I added fish back to my system, I did it slow, and maxed myself out at 11 fish. My system is a 65gallon system with a 15 gallon sump. I feed larry's and prime flakes at least 4-5 times a day collectively. Fatty, meaty fish to me, are healthier fish, and will fight off diseases better. Fingers crossed so far so good, I've had fish back in my system now for 2months. My phosphates are high which I'm combat with Rx phosphate drops.. And instead of doing a round of drops I'm doing it daily. I started with 10 drops and increase everyday by adding one drop. My nitrate are also high but I'm doing 15gallon water changes weekly.. This maintenance schedule that I am referring to I started two weeks ago..
11 fish in a 65g tank, and you're changing 60g a month. Nitrates should be coming down. You probably know this, but even though you are putting in food 4x or 5x a day, you can put in smallish portions. Think of snacks versus dinner. At night I put in quite a bit of food, but during the daytime it's less fare. Phosphates: Be sure to test your tank and find out the value. If the tank measures .5ppm, use 39 drops that night after lights out. The next day test again and it should read near zero. Phosphate Rx isn't designed as a daily regimen the way you described, adding another drop each day (10 today, 11 tomorrow, 12 the next, 13 after that...) If you can determine that perfect amount needed, I'd suggest you drip it in once a week. I *only* use it when my tank needs it, it's not a regular maintenance item in my daily/weekly routine. I dose about 5x a year, or every 10 weeks. When the test kit indicates I need to dose, that's when I dose. When it has removed PO4, I don't need to dose.
Sounds good.. I'm going to be doing my second 15g water change in two week.. I'm not at 60 yet, but will be in two more weeks.. And thank you for the advice on the Rx, I didn't think I was meant to be used be way I was utilizing it. I'm switching from ai sol's to hydra 52's not the hd's and I'm nervous lol, not to mention it's not to user friendly on the apex fusion app.
Question, I'm not sure if you know about green spotted mandarins, but here's my question.. I've had one know in my tank for two months.. I've seen him everyday since I've added him to the tank. It's going on two days know that I haven't seen him.. Is it normal for for the green spotted mandarin to hide for periods of time? Or should I been concern and assumed he died and start looking for him? And help would be appreciated, thanks again.. Glad you got your small flood taken care of.
While they can be shy, the only way to say for sure would be based on how it looked in recent weeks. If it looked thinner, it could have been starving. If it was fat, maybe it's just reclusive. Or it jumped. Or it was eaten. It's all guesswork at the moment. They do need lots of live rock (not dry rock that has begun to become live) to forage upon. Adding pods to your tank after lights out would be helpful. Here's my article: www.melevsreef.com/node/719
Thank you so much... I do have established live rock in the tank, and he did look skinner in the last few weeks. I don't think he jump, I have a canopy on my tank, but I guess anythings possible..
OMG...thank you so much for this particular video. I agree with you on all counts. I have been running biopellets for years and love them. I had some growth issues a few years back and everyone told me to remove the BP because there was "no way" it was caused by too much light. long story short...removing the BP was horrible and adding them back fixed so many issues...oh, and turns out I had too much light...lol. Also...i recently had my DAS EX1 skimmer die on me. my skimmer is external and the recirculating pump was too rare to find a replacement for. it was a step up for me years ago when I installed it...but I just replaced it with a new (brand new in the box) reef octopus and it's like I a whole new world for me. I thought I was skimming good before...i never knew that the tank could look so good. the biopellets are being skimmed properly and the water is better than ever, clearer, the fish are happier, the glass stays clean longer, the sand is turning white again...and the corals and frag tank are growing and look incredible. you are right about everything in this video...as usual. thanks again.
great video I have also had my bacteria die off of the pellet reactor. I shut down the reactor for 2 days. bio pellets started turning red. I am so glad you shared that adding bacteria your tank is necessary. I'll be in San Diego in 3 weeks can't wait to hear you speak.
I used to vodka dose, then moved to biopellets. I'm using an aquamaxx reactor and I love it. I started out with a small amount of pellets and worked my way up so I consistently have 2-5 ppm nitrates
Great info, I've been running pellets for years only issue has been keeping the pellets moving and not clumping. By the way I totally agree with your philosophy on fat fish. I've caused more issues trying to get sick fish out to a quarantine tank than just reducing their stress and keeping them well feed with a variety of foods. food,
Small update everyone: Yesterday I was cleaning off the top plate in the reactor and then thought to myself "what if I didn't install this top plate after all? The reactor is very tall, and the biopellets are at the bottom with plenty of water above them. They aren't going to float up and out, that's for sure." So for the time being, I'm going to run it without the plate. That should avoid the blockage that occurs over time.
I advice against that in my case anyway, my reactor wasn't that big, and for some reason or the other when the level of water in my sump went down while I was away for 3 days, the pellets just got shoot out into the sump!! I blame my reactor for that: :D but hope it works with you, and if it did, I'll try a taller reactor, even my stand is very short! :/ ps: I like your channel, and the way you give information with ease and via experience with your own tank! :thmbsup: mate
So it siphoned them out? Crazy. I just checked on them last night, tumbling fine and probably 15" of water above them. My tubing goes into the bubble tower, so in theory it can't siphon down far enough because my tubing isn't underwater. I'll have to test that and see what happens, to check if you are right in my configuration. Thanks!
I just checked it last night, since it just runs on autopilot. I tested the nitrate level of the 400g + 60g since they both share the same sump and biopellet reactor. Nitrate measured 1 ppm with an Elos test kit, which I tested twice. When I looked in the reactor, it was essentially empty. Time to refill it with more media. :)
Best video about bio pellets ever is on lafishguys channel from reef dynamics. After watching that I feel it's a must to have a recirculating reactor and feed the effluent into the skimmer. I've yet to try it but I definitely plan to in the near future.
Listen, I totally agree with you. I agree that well fed fish are strong fish and can fight off disease. I introduced a new fish into my display tank that was quarantined for a month. Its a long story but that quarantined fish I believe had Ich despite my quarantine process. I added it because I didn't see any Ich. It died a week later but gave my yellow tang Ich very badly. I'm talking 20-30 white spots. I upped the feeding to approximately 4-5 smaller to medium sized feedings a day compared to 1 or 2 feedings max and fed it garlic as well. I was in fear that the tang was toast but after a week of feeding very heavy all day, (I also was home a lot that week to make it possible) it recovered almost completely. After a week and a half to two weeks later there wasn't a spot of Ich on the tang even though it was COVERED in Ich prior. Feed Feed Feed. Small feedings all day vs one large meal. Firm believer in that. Fish are grazers in the wild. Export and deal with the nutrients but feed those bad boys.
Marc, I always learn so much from the vids. Keep it up buddy. I really appreciate the effort you put into what you do for the hobby to educate and suggest based on real world experience. From a fellow Dallas reefer, might be able to say hi at Macna...once I win these tickets!!!
Hi Marc, great vid as always. I am currently running the Prodibio regimen (Digest, pTim, Stronti, Iodi, Vits, and RB) and looking to fire up a BP reactor in the next week or so when my upgraded return pump arrives (to run off a manifold). My question is do you need to continue dosing the Bioptim with biopellets? The BPs are now the food source for the bacteria correct? Thanks!
Great video thanks Marc. Great as always! perfect timing on this for me. it's been about 4 weeks and nothing yet. i also started a refugium about a week ago. i know these things take time. it's on the 125 gallon tank. i have bacteria coming to seed. in the meantime, it's back to sugar dosing and a water change to get things under control.
@melev'sreef mate love your channel, all your videos are very informative and easy to understand without getting into the technical jargon too much .. im just curious is it essential to dose MB7 every 5-7 days when running biopellets .. and could you possibly give me a link to help me understand the purpose of this dosing and it benefits .. keep up the excellent work mate.
Great video Marc with lots of really awesome information. I mix vinegar with my Kalk and wonder if there would be any issue with pellets. I have run pellets before running Kalk and just want your thoughts. My system is 90 gals. and I only use 80ml of vinegar in my ATO. I have been noticing some rise in nitrate in the last 2 weeks and I am a little cautious about raising my vinegar dosage. Keep up the great work.
Kalkwasser and vinegar are mixed to get the most out of that solution (it helps the kalk dissolve better), but it's not carbon dosing. It will help with alkalinity, calcium and of course buffer pH of the reef. So in that regard, it will care for that demand... assuming it doesn't overdose the tank. Kalkwasser has a pH of 12, so be sure you have failsafes in place to avoid too much being added that could hurt your tank. Also, do your research now so you know exactly how much white vinegar to add directly to your tank if you do see an overdose one day. The white vinegar will bring the pH back down quickly so livestock has a chance to survive. Better to know that now, rather than when you are standing there in shock. Dosing vinegar in RO/DI water can help as a carbon dose, but if you go that route, you'll need to find the sweet spot that drops nitrate and keeps it down. I've only dosed with vodka in the past. Biopellets focus on nitrate mostly, and only partially on phosphate. You can read more on this page: melevsreef.com/articles/biopellets-use and blog.marinedepot.com/2014/05/biopellets-beginners-guide.html
I'm using a large refugium with roller mat filter and still having big nitrate problems tired of the struggle and ready to give bio pellets a try... also bought a oversized skimmer that works great but still having trouble
I run TLF biopellets in a bashsea pellet master 1 reactor with of 12.6 (as i run the red sea's "fast growth" parameters and their full nutrient supplement system) never problem with the acros i have. Ive let my BP quantity in the reactor dwindle as i actually have to battle to keep nitrate and phos even detectible for the the red sea preferred parameters of 1-3 nitrate and .02-.03 phos even with heavy daily feeding of LRS frozen, mysis, and NLS pellets. I highly recommend this reactor to anyone looking.
The reason I included the fact that lower alkalinity is recommended was because overall most people seem to agree on that point That being said, my own reef had a huge alkalinity spike, and even with biopellets I didn't see corals with burnt tips... sometimes my tank tends to be the exception. Thanks for adding your input about 12.6 dKH. Feed moar! :D
I think a bio reactor will benefit me greatly.. Considering my feeding schedule. Bc I'm not willing to feed less. And my coral is doing fine, with the exception of a few pieces I lost when the nitrate started to raise initially. Besides that all good.. I just try to be consistent even bad consistent water parameters are better than being all over the place as far a trying to do to much. I would love to get your feed back as to my regiment.. Thanks again.. And thank you for your videos, your're my favorite channel.
Great video as always! I agree they work out great. Ive been using them for around 5 months now and they've been keeping my nitrates very low. My alk is around 9.5 though and never had any burn out tips on my acropora so far but will keep an eye on it though. Thanks for the tips and continue the great work!
Great video....I just started using bio pellets I'm on week 3... Ugh... I did notice my water looks pretty darn clear of late lol..since starting the reactor I've had to retune my skimmer..but hope this helps my nitrates..
Wow, really digging the regular updates to the channel. Out of curiosity is there a reason why your reactors wall are blue? Is it trying to filter out that wavelength of light? Or just a "snazzy look" thing? I ask because you say if the pellets turn grey remove them, but I'm curious how you can tell they're grey through that.
That brand always used blue tubing. And if the pellets look normal (you see that near the end of the video), you would immediately tell if they were like the dead ones I shared earlier in the video. The mass will be clumpy, gooey, and even through the blue wall would look wrong. A clear reactor would show it better, obviously. If the flow stopped in the reactor for at least a day, I'd collect a sample of the output water in a cup and give it the sniff test. If it smells sour, it's ruined.
Excellent video.I started BioPellets 4 months ago.....Although I have only had the "proper" tumble for a month.My effluent from the BP reactor is throwing off a BP"goo".So I plumbed it right into the secondary input of my Life Reef Skimmer.(It is half way up the body and provides a counter-current skimming action.) Do you see any adverse pump deterioration on your skimmer pump because of the BP goo going into it?
Hi I might have missed the part that anaerobic bacteria will not collinise in the pellet reactor because of the amount of water flow containing oxygen the whole idea of the pellet is that its a carbon source for bacteria the anaerobic bacteria has to be all ready established in the aquarium in the pourus rocks and filter meadia
Love your videos! You talk about the real things that really happen in a reef! You make me know how easy is to mantain a good tank without dying in the attempt! Thnks!
It's not all shiny corals all the time. Real things happen that cause issues, and it's how you deal with them that determines the outcome. I try to never overreact, even when my brain is screaming OMG at me. :)
I'm with you on feeding the fish lots! They get half a sheet of Nori, a bit of pellets via an auto feeder and some frozen at night! Now why do you like bio-pellets over vodka? is there any big advantage? you mentioned you switch a while back so i'm curious why one over the other?
Biopellets are around the clock, and technically you can't overdose them like you could if all the vodka was pumped into the tank accidentally. They work amazingly well. Have you watched this biopellet video yet? Or did you skip over the parts where I explained why they are awesome? ;) I tested my nitrate today twice with an Elos test kit, and both times the results were 1ppm. That's pretty cool considering there are nearly 60 fish in this system.
Oh i heard they are awesome, this is why i'm so curious! So far I have only tried vodka dosing but quiet due to some issue with my yellow tang that i suspect happening form overdosing vodka. I had a DOS setup to evenly dose the vodka throughout the 24 hour period so it was essentially 24/7 at time. I was debating starting it up again in the near future
I still can't tell if you actually sat through the entire video yet or not. But if you feel vodka dosing works well for you, you don't need to switch. For me, biopellets was a nicer choice in comparison since I was using a digital timer and an Aqualifter to dose vodka. That was kinda sketchy compared to running a DŌS pump.
Of course i watched it all! The only reason i quit doing vodka dosing is my yellow tang had yellow blotchy discolorations a few weeks into vodka dosing.. i quit and he cleared up after a few weeks. I read this can happen form overdoing/overdosing your carbon source.. If i start back up I will take it much much slower.. Vodka to me seemed simpler since I already had a doser (and wouldn't need to buy another reactor).. however i was still curious on if there is any real difference or just another way to accomplish the same task. I recently added a chaeto to the tank with a 90W led.. Its been growing insanely fast - So the current plan is to let it go for a month then see how my levels are..then decided if i should try carbon dosing again or not.
Of course I watched it all! If you were doing it with a timer/aqualifter vs a doser than that makes sense. I was dosing vodka for about 6 weeks until my yellow tang developed some orange blotches.. i read this was caused from overdoing carbon dosing and quiet dosing... the tang cleared up over a few weeks and went back to normal... i have been debating trying carbon dosing again but at a much lower/slower rate For now I added some chaeto and a 90W led to the sump (Amazing chaeto growth!) so i'm curious to see how that affects my nitrate levels after a few weeks.. ill likely give it a month then re-test and decided if its still worth carbon dosing. My previous nitrate levels were in the range of "16-32" .. which isnt terrible but a bit lower would be nice. For me Vodka seemed more convenient ($20 bottle and an existing dosing head) Vs buying biopellets and a new reactor.. so i was mainly curious if there was any real/main difference in vodka vs biopellets or they are just 2 different methods of doing the exact same thing.
Not sure you still read all these, but I am thinking about running bio pellets to keep Nitrates and Phosphates in check. I realize bio pellets are more for nitrate, but I understand there is a decrease in phosphate as well. My question is where I put the outflow if I have an external, recirculating MRC skimmer that is fed from one of the two return pumps. If I put the outflow into the return chamber, some of that water will go back into the tank and some will go into the skimmer. Any guidance is appreciated.
Hey Mel, I know it’s old video, but since you’ve mentioned skimmers at the end of the video, I would like to ask how do you feel about ATB skimmers ? Keep on doing what you doing :) love your channel
Hi Melev, i am new to your channel, also for the reef tanks, just wanted to say that i enjoyed your rich video, and actually benefit a lot, specially that since day one a year ago after cycling my new tank my nitrates are always on the high side, so finally i decided to use Bio Pellets reactor, and its running for one week, so far nothing changed with parameters, i guess i need to wait 4 weeks as you advised in your video to break in, is that right ?
Another great video Marc. Am I correct in saying that you do not use any GFO/Phosphate media and just use phosphate RX when required. I'm looking at implementing the same idea on my new 6ft long/shallow. Thanks man
Thank you, for this video. I seen a lot of your videos and they are very informative. This one specifically helped me understand the way bio pellets work before I start using them. I just wanted to ask in regards to the skimmer and aquarium I have. I have the Fluval M90 (36 gallons) with an upgraded skimmer (Tunze 9004). I read good reviews about the Tunze 9004 and decided to go with it for my aquarium. Do you believe this is a good enough skimmer for this system? I would like to get your input on this.
Hmmm. I'm not positive about that one. I've seen some Tunze skimmers in the past, but nothing really impressed me about them - I just felt like they didn't match the rating. Keep in mind I'm comparing their design to bigger bulkier skimmers. Sorry I can't be more helpful about this one.
put all that stuff in the bin go with natual sea water from a clean sourse 25 years in to useing it never had any problems with fish or corals no chemicals i do a 10% water change once a week where i am in the United kingdom comes in at 1.024 at 23c - 24c great video i all so feed my fish a lot and still keep a crystal glass like water.
Howdy from Mississippi, So I am using a phosban 550 with now a 500GPH power head and I still can't get my biogen beads to roll like I see in other videos. They have been running for about 30 minutes and are kinda rolling but not like in your video. Do these things break in? or is the 1/2" line really restricting the flow of the pump? It's only 1/2" since thats how the unit is made with. Thanks and your info has helped our 125 gallon tremendously from green hair algae to this info on biopellets.
my tank is about a year old now and its cycled. I'm battling with high phos and nitrates. does it with nopox and it brought phos slowly down, but nitrates are still high. i started a bio-pellet reactor, do I still need to use microbacteria still if the tank has add microbacteria??
I have a red octopus skimmer and honestly never put out very much junk out of the water is always a tea color type of water, btw mine is already discontinued (was $290 when I purchased) any good model that you recommend from red octopus. Also I didn’t understand quite frankly, where did you pour your media bacteria, inside the reactor or just in the water? Thank you!
My skimz bio pellets reactor came with foam, so I should remove it? That's why I have to raise from time time the pump because it clogging. Thank you so mush for sharing this.
I was thinking about building a tube that will direct feed into my skimmer from the bio pellet reactor...Do you think that is unnecessary or perfect? My only concern is finding a way the the skimmer can still pull from tge sump and receive from the media reactor.
Thanks for the video. I'm going to try Biopellets again. I tried to make my own reactor reusing a two little fishies reactor. I have a 180 Gallon tank.What size/brand reactor do you recommend?
I'll have to save this for future reference.. I've been surviving off water changes thus far. Almost dred the day I get a tank that water changes are not plausible lol
They aren't cycled at all; this isn't the A-N-N thing. Just get them tied into the system, and add bacteria weekly to populate them and in about four weeks they will begin to kick in. I explained the process in the video. :)
Hey Mark, I’m getting ready to set up and AIO 25g lagoon 24x20x12 would you know or be able to recommend running a small bio pellet reactor and skimmer? I know in nano tanks ppl say just do more frequent water changes but the bio pellet reactor and skimmer seems “fun” to tinker with and enjoy the benefits of less nitrates.
I've been running my bio pellets for over 8 weeks and I haven't seen any change in nitrate levels. Not sure what could be going on. The only way I can get nitrates down is water changes.
How have you managed to keep nitrates at 3ppm with a bio pellet reactor? I heard that its really hard to do. Please give me some advice as I'm thinking about adding one to my tank.
Is that working in freshwater tank? I setup Aquamaxx reactor 10 days ago, currently at 50% biopellets capacity and my nitrates are not going down a bit, they're creeping up as before reactor was installed. I understand it may take few wks to kick in but then why dosing 25% a week when forst dose make no difference. What am I missing?
I just relocated from another state so everything is new and I have not set it up. I have my rocks recycling in tubs. Thanks for your quick response by the way I love your videos and you have a lot of knowledge. Is there another reactor I should get? I have the calcium. I was looking at algea reactors. I still have my old skimmer ATI BUBBLE Master 250, but I will not be able to get the waste holder or neck cleaners or can I? My tank was moved from Texas and than Washington and each time It was set up for me; but now I'm into the DIY lol so I'm seeking a lot of advice. Ohh I now have the rollermat vs the socks and I'm redoing my lights with the maxspect ethereal. I'm also rebuilding the stand and canopy. HELP LOL SMH. I do love it!!!
SO many changes! lol I like a reactor for biopellets, for carbon, and a calcium reactor. You can get the Skimmer Swabbie and waste collector from Avast Marine. Gotta run...
Yes upgrading everything all at once. I say I will be done in like 10 years lmao!!! lol. I like the NYOS you have. But I'm redoing my stand and canopy in popular wood with all the fancy gadgets and carvings. So I'll do NYOS at a much later date. Take care and thanks again for the info.
Thank you for your videos. I haven't done a water change in over 10 months, I use a super reef octopus 5000 , a 50gallon remote refugium with 60 pounds of miracle mud and also an algea scrubber in my 210. Lol. I also have a lot of tangs. :)
In my experience with bio pellets I found them to be problematic. I used them in conjunction with MB7 and I don't know if i wasntt dosing MB7 enough because I had this really white stringy bacterial bloom a few times. My corals didnt seem to be bothered by it but it was like a hair algae almost in texture only clear/white that grew all over the suface of the rock and glass in the tank. So not sure what the bacteria was but it seemed to be out competing the MB7 so I pulledthe pellets out and went to ZEO. This was back in like 2009 or 2010. I looked up your video cause I am starting to hear about some of new bio pellets which are black that also remove phosphate. I guess the assumption is there is GFO mixed in.
There are some All-In-One brands of biopellets. However, as they tumble and grind, I'm wondering if the GFO fines would get into the system. If they are exporting the effluent toward the skimmer's intake, that would help. You did have a bacterial bloom going on. That's not typical though with biopellets, but I've seen it occur in some tanks. Usually they had to really get proactive or even setup the tank all over again to get rid of that stuff.
The reactor i used seemed to work pretty decent. . I always had the exit pointed right at the skimmer intake. Its been basically a decade now so much more is known. My last complaint would be the reactors. I don't think anyone is making a reactor that works perfect for pellets. I would have thought by now one of these skimmer companys would have came up with a reactor specifically made for pellets where they are forced into the skimmer like a ozone port or something along that line. The only company I see making a solid Pellet reactor is JNS. Id love it if you could get one and review it for me before I buy it lol
Question : If my nitrates get too low for my liking, like I want to keep them around 10 and it gets 0 or there about, then what to do, completely take out the reactor ? or take out 70-80% of media and let 20-30% inside ? and the pellets that are taken out, can they be reused if they are dried out after taking out or better use new media ?
I've heard about them, I've seen a couple, but I've never used one and thus don't have any input one way or another. Single-pass reactors have worked well for me.
Mine never smelled after not moving , u know after top plate got clogged, I still dose prodibio, but my nitrates are 12-16 ppm, can't get them down, I use to keep Dkh around 8, but now 9-10 with better growth, my local lfs runs pellets with dkh 11-12!! No burnt ends either... I think every tank is unique,do what's works!!
It would be really nice if we had a hard fast rule of absolutes. Everyone has a different method that works for them. That's hard on those with experience, imagine being a newbie trying to sort out all these opinions we offer.
i bought the reef octopus bio-churn biopellet recirculating reactor 120 for my 300 gallon reef tank. I also purchased the Skimz Monzter NM152 External Nitrate Reactor did I over do it since both lower or eliminates Nitrates?
+Bosco C I haven't seen the need. The AIO pellets might grind the gfo right off and send fines into the display, perhaps. These work great for nitrate control.
I am looking into starting a tank, you make it sound like all of the equipment you show is absolutely necessary. Well I don't have room for a sump, would be nice but not going to happen. So am I out of luck on success?
Not necessarily. The equipment I use makes the hobby easier for me, but you can keep it very simple and focus on water changes and have a very nice aquarium too. The more stable your water parameters, the better your success rate.
Hi, Great video. I have 40 ppm nitrates coming out of my tap from a well and store and heat water In a separate storage tank. Can a bio pellet reactor be used for the storage tank or will it only work in a cycled tank? Should I also use a reactor on my fish tanks? The funny thing is that if I get the nitrates down in the fish tank then do a water change from the storage tank without getting those nitrates down then all I'm doing is adding nitrates back. Any recommendations? BTW, this is freshwater. Thank you
I wish I could help you, but I have zero experience with freshwater. I do know that Seachem's Prime will lock up ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and even chloramines. 1 capful treats 50g of water, so it is very affordable. The other thing you could very likely do is run a RO system, which takes out a lot of impurities from the water. Saltwater tanks use RO/DI water, which is pristine water with nothing in it. Freshwater may need a little bit of the things we strip out. I'll have to ask a buddy who knows freshwater in and out, and get back to you.
i've been running BP for 3 years on 300g SPS system. had initial problems getting them to 'kick in'; ultimately required i modify the reactor (RD 500 - r.dynamics' largest) to allow for increased flow rate as well as cutting back on UV. went from 100ppm too now at undetectable NO3 and run GFO as needed to keep PO4 under.06ppm. problems i've had mostly due to biofilm sludge caking reactor plumbing (like snot) requiring weekly break down to clean reactor (nasty). either due to hvy bioload, BP breaking down too rapidly, or insufficient flow through reactor. i've been running increased flow through lately (same volume of media) and keep on feeding.
Quick question....when you fill up a brand new tank....everything is new....would you fill up with tap water and treat is as you go along and then add and mix salt...or do you start straight from RODI water?
I would fill the tank up with saltwater (mixed up using RO/DI). There's never a good reason to use tap water. I know it takes longer, but this is a hobby about patience. :)
Hi Mark, great video. I am currently running the a biopellet reactor (about 6 months now) in my red sea reefer 250, but I have not dosed bacteria (Prodibio or Microbacter). My nitrates are at 20 and phosphates are at .32. Do you think I should start dosing Prodibio in conjunction with the biopellets and get a better result? Should I dose Phosphate Rx to lower phosphates as well? In addition, I'm also running a Clearwater Algae Scrubber that I clean out every 2 weeks or so. Thanks for all your informational videos. Very helpful.
Hey Marc, I just set up my bio pellet reactor couple days ago. The water is fed through one of the manifolds from my return pump, and the output from my bio pellet reactor is just by the intake of my return. I know bio pellets and skimmers goes hand in hand, like you explain in the video. But, what's the idea behind having your bio pellet output tube by the intake of the skimmer? .. Or am i thinking too much into this and it really doesn't matter too much haha
The output of the biopellet reactor should be flowing toward the intake of your skimmer. The stuff coming out is what I export immediately, and ultimately what benefitted my reef when I had a problem (mentioned in both videos). I wouldn't have the effluent going to the return pump.
Hey Melev love the vidoes tried pellets/pearls before never had much success but im going to do with with microbacter 7 this time and see if that helps. Can i ask can you run carbon with pearls. I have removed rowaphos and turned of my uv also, Thanks
melevsreef Ohh yes they are in different reactors. Never had success with bio pellets before and my MB7 arrived 10 mins ago woohoo lol hoping they will start working now. Will keep you updated.
I just re installed my JBJ Chiller and forgot to rinse out since last using it. I started it back up and smelled all the rotten egg smell from the water that was inside that went into my tank. I think that having my Biopellets and Reef Dynamics 180 skimmer saved my RSM 500s Tank. What do you think about the Reef Dynamics 180 skimmer?
Reef Dynamics is the same company Euroreef was previously, same owner. Very good skimmer. Man, that sucks about the chiller, and another thing to warn people to avoid thanks to your message. It's so important no stagnant water enters the system, and there are several places where this can happen.
I do believe in feeding fish in adequate amount, rather than under feeding them. As far as a fat fish being healthy, Maybe I really don't know. But when it comes to dogs, I can tell you a fat dog is not a healthy dog. Anyways thank you for the informative video. I aways enjoy your videos.
Been running pellets for 6 months and they haven't done a thing but I haven't been dosing bacterial. I was under the assumption it just took a little longer to start.
Make sure they are tumbling, that the top plate isn't clogged, and dose bacteria weekly. What is the current nitrate level in your tank? Besides measureable lower nitrate, you should see a gradual depletion of pellets over time. If they are the exact same as when you set them up, they've done nothing.
The nitrates are sitting at 8 with the red sea kit. They are tumbling good no clogs plus its a recirculating reactor I was under the assumption that I didn't have to dose bacteria it would just take longer to populate now seeing that hasn't work I try dosing.
great video and very informative, I just started using the same biopellets in a avast spyglass reactor. I'm currently trying to figure out how to make the reactor output dump.in the skimmer intake. I use a bk mini180 and the intake is currently facing the me so I can see if snails make it near. I'm also trying to figure out how flow should go through the reactor
+melevsreef thank you for the reply, must be nice to have so that space to work with. I'm thinking to try something similar with my reactor with a T and a pipe through it. currently my reactor is in recirculation mode, do you suggest to run it as a reactor and not in recirculation mode? have a look at the avast spyglass reactor and tell me what you think www.avastmarine.com/products/spyglass
Thanks for the link, I'd not seen that one yet. I know some companies have done recirculating with the ability to dial in the output for real nitrate control, but I've only run single-pass reactors myself.
Hi Melev, I got a small UF-1 Somatic Universal media filter and im planning on using it on my new 55g tank. In your opinion would it be more valuable to run BioPellets, Carbon, or GFO in it. The tank is yet to have livestock so I do not know its needs but it will only have a wrasse and a few algae eating thing. I personnaly would default to carbon or a purigen type media,but I find the water clarity from them is short lived and pricy.
Carbon is for water clarity, biopellets for nitrate reduction, and GFO for phosphate binding. Since the tank is new and livestock hasn't been added, carbon (GAC) seems like the best option for now.
Biopellets are amazing at keeping nitrates at zero. I've been using them for 3 years now after I struggled with Nitrates forever before that. Since using them though, I haven't had to add any more. I have maybe 200 ml in there on my 65 gallon and they never seem to need topping off. Anyone have a similar issue? I do the entire BioKit Reef dose every 2 weeks too and I still never have to add any more biopellets. Also, for the BioKit Reef from Prodibio, do you just put them all in at the same time and leave the skimmer off over night? Thanks.
You've been running the same batch for three years? That's surprising. And they are tumbling? Regarding Prodibio, turning off the skimmer for a couple of hours is a good idea so you don't export what you just added.
Mark was wondering if a 10 micron filter sock would filter out the waste of a bio pellet reactor? I know it's recommend to route the out put of the reactor to the input of the skimmer however the pellets can cause more skimmer maintenance, so my thought is have the sock catch most of the gunk then the skimmer takes care of the rest
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I could not agree more with what you are saying here. I ran Bio pelets for a year and had zero nitrates. I over feed my fish who are fat and very healthy. I have now changed to an algae filter on my display tank as I wanted to see what kind of results I would get with that, and moved the pellets to my frag tank. Both tanks sit a zero nitrates and have for a long time. So yep, you have hit it right on the nail with this video, in my opinion. I love your videos, even when I may not agree with them they give food for thought. Keep making them, please!
one of the best videos i have seen on bio pellets
Dr. Loaf's Salty Box how??? I don't know why everyone loves this dude...u don't need constant bacteria dosing to successfully reactor
*Cool, I'm not the only one winging it. This vid full of justification of anecdotal science is awesome!*
lol!
I used Bio-pelets on my main tank for around a year with zero nitrates and water changes done every 3 months or so. I changed it for an algae skimmer and moved the pellets to my frag system and both systems have zero nitrates. I never dosed with bacteria, and I honestly can't see the need for it as they breed without help. Seems like a waste of money to me, but if it works for you, great! Love your videos, keep it up!
I totally agree with the well fed fish comments. Well fed, fat fish are healthy fish. I have run bio-pearls for a long time with zero nitrates, heavy feeding and an over stocked tank. :-( I switched them a couple of months ago for an algae scrubber which also gives me zero nitrates. I'm not sure which I prefer, though the algae scrubber costs a bit less to run I think.
Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Thank you, man ,for this video. I was hesitate to buy biopellets reactor and you helped me to get decision. Also my English is improved, I heard a dozen times your video to understand it. I am from Poland. One more time thank you for your time.
Good luck with your aquarium. Thanks for watching all the way from Poland! :)
Actually I am watching from California, here is my home now :)
Great video Mark. i''ve been using biopellets for about 3 years now and have never had any nitrate issues
Thanks for sharing most valuable tips that originate from your preventive and corrective actions.
Great video, thank you.. I'm a heavy feeder. I've been in this hobby now approaching a year next month.. Made a lot of mistakes, but finally slowed my role and forced myself to become very patient. I've had ich twice in less then a year both times missing most of my fish... When I added fish back to my system, I did it slow, and maxed myself out at 11 fish. My system is a 65gallon system with a 15 gallon sump. I feed larry's and prime flakes at least 4-5 times a day collectively. Fatty, meaty fish to me, are healthier fish, and will fight off diseases better. Fingers crossed so far so good, I've had fish back in my system now for 2months. My phosphates are high which I'm combat with Rx phosphate drops.. And instead of doing a round of drops I'm doing it daily. I started with 10 drops and increase everyday by adding one drop. My nitrate are also high but I'm doing 15gallon water changes weekly.. This maintenance schedule that I am referring to I started two weeks ago..
11 fish in a 65g tank, and you're changing 60g a month. Nitrates should be coming down. You probably know this, but even though you are putting in food 4x or 5x a day, you can put in smallish portions. Think of snacks versus dinner. At night I put in quite a bit of food, but during the daytime it's less fare.
Phosphates: Be sure to test your tank and find out the value. If the tank measures .5ppm, use 39 drops that night after lights out. The next day test again and it should read near zero. Phosphate Rx isn't designed as a daily regimen the way you described, adding another drop each day (10 today, 11 tomorrow, 12 the next, 13 after that...) If you can determine that perfect amount needed, I'd suggest you drip it in once a week. I *only* use it when my tank needs it, it's not a regular maintenance item in my daily/weekly routine. I dose about 5x a year, or every 10 weeks. When the test kit indicates I need to dose, that's when I dose. When it has removed PO4, I don't need to dose.
Sounds good.. I'm going to be doing my second 15g water change in two week.. I'm not at 60 yet, but will be in two more weeks.. And thank you for the advice on the Rx, I didn't think I was meant to be used be way I was utilizing it. I'm switching from ai sol's to hydra 52's not the hd's and I'm nervous lol, not to mention it's not to user friendly on the apex fusion app.
Question, I'm not sure if you know about green spotted mandarins, but here's my question.. I've had one know in my tank for two months.. I've seen him everyday since I've added him to the tank. It's going on two days know that I haven't seen him.. Is it normal for for the green spotted mandarin to hide for periods of time? Or should I been concern and assumed he died and start looking for him? And help would be appreciated, thanks again.. Glad you got your small flood taken care of.
While they can be shy, the only way to say for sure would be based on how it looked in recent weeks. If it looked thinner, it could have been starving. If it was fat, maybe it's just reclusive. Or it jumped. Or it was eaten. It's all guesswork at the moment. They do need lots of live rock (not dry rock that has begun to become live) to forage upon. Adding pods to your tank after lights out would be helpful. Here's my article: www.melevsreef.com/node/719
Thank you so much... I do have established live rock in the tank, and he did look skinner in the last few weeks. I don't think he jump, I have a canopy on my tank, but I guess anythings possible..
OMG...thank you so much for this particular video. I agree with you on all counts. I have been running biopellets for years and love them. I had some growth issues a few years back and everyone told me to remove the BP because there was "no way" it was caused by too much light. long story short...removing the BP was horrible and adding them back fixed so many issues...oh, and turns out I had too much light...lol. Also...i recently had my DAS EX1 skimmer die on me. my skimmer is external and the recirculating pump was too rare to find a replacement for. it was a step up for me years ago when I installed it...but I just replaced it with a new (brand new in the box) reef octopus and it's like I a whole new world for me. I thought I was skimming good before...i never knew that the tank could look so good. the biopellets are being skimmed properly and the water is better than ever, clearer, the fish are happier, the glass stays clean longer, the sand is turning white again...and the corals and frag tank are growing and look incredible. you are right about everything in this video...as usual. thanks again.
Thanks for sharing your experience as well. Sounds like things are going really well.
great video I have also had my bacteria die off of the pellet reactor. I shut down the reactor for 2 days. bio pellets started turning red. I am so glad you shared that adding bacteria your tank is necessary. I'll be in San Diego in 3 weeks can't wait to hear you speak.
Awesome, see you there. :)
I used to vodka dose, then moved to biopellets. I'm using an aquamaxx reactor and I love it. I started out with a small amount of pellets and worked my way up so I consistently have 2-5 ppm nitrates
Outstanding Mark, looking forward to more videos. I have followed you for years and really enjoy your insight.
Great info, I've been running pellets for years only issue has been keeping the pellets moving and not clumping. By the way I totally agree with your philosophy on fat fish. I've caused more issues trying to get sick fish out to a quarantine tank than just reducing their stress and keeping them well feed with a variety of foods. food,
Small update everyone: Yesterday I was cleaning off the top plate in the reactor and then thought to myself "what if I didn't install this top plate after all? The reactor is very tall, and the biopellets are at the bottom with plenty of water above them. They aren't going to float up and out, that's for sure." So for the time being, I'm going to run it without the plate. That should avoid the blockage that occurs over time.
I had the same thought.
I advice against that
in my case anyway, my reactor wasn't that big, and for some reason or the other when the level of water in my sump went down while I was away for 3 days, the pellets just got shoot out into the sump!!
I blame my reactor for that: :D
but hope it works with you, and if it did, I'll try a taller reactor, even my stand is very short! :/
ps: I like your channel, and the way you give information with ease and via experience with your own tank! :thmbsup: mate
So it siphoned them out? Crazy. I just checked on them last night, tumbling fine and probably 15" of water above them. My tubing goes into the bubble tower, so in theory it can't siphon down far enough because my tubing isn't underwater. I'll have to test that and see what happens, to check if you are right in my configuration. Thanks!
How has the reactor, without the top plate, worked thus far?
I just checked it last night, since it just runs on autopilot. I tested the nitrate level of the 400g + 60g since they both share the same sump and biopellet reactor. Nitrate measured 1 ppm with an Elos test kit, which I tested twice. When I looked in the reactor, it was essentially empty. Time to refill it with more media. :)
Best video about bio pellets ever is on lafishguys channel from reef dynamics. After watching that I feel it's a must to have a recirculating reactor and feed the effluent into the skimmer. I've yet to try it but I definitely plan to in the near future.
Listen, I totally agree with you. I agree that well fed fish are strong fish and can fight off disease. I introduced a new fish into my display tank that was quarantined for a month. Its a long story but that quarantined fish I believe had Ich despite my quarantine process. I added it because I didn't see any Ich. It died a week later but gave my yellow tang Ich very badly. I'm talking 20-30 white spots. I upped the feeding to approximately 4-5 smaller to medium sized feedings a day compared to 1 or 2 feedings max and fed it garlic as well. I was in fear that the tang was toast but after a week of feeding very heavy all day, (I also was home a lot that week to make it possible) it recovered almost completely. After a week and a half to two weeks later there wasn't a spot of Ich on the tang even though it was COVERED in Ich prior. Feed Feed Feed. Small feedings all day vs one large meal. Firm believer in that. Fish are grazers in the wild. Export and deal with the nutrients but feed those bad boys.
Incredible video man! thanks for all the great info, I definitely needed to hear this
Marc, I always learn so much from the vids. Keep it up buddy. I really appreciate the effort you put into what you do for the hobby to educate and suggest based on real world experience. From a fellow Dallas reefer, might be able to say hi at Macna...once I win these tickets!!!
That's the spirit! And thanks.
Excellent video! Good info. Firing up a Reef Dynamics reactor this week.
Hi Marc, great vid as always. I am currently running the Prodibio regimen (Digest, pTim, Stronti, Iodi, Vits, and RB) and looking to fire up a BP reactor in the next week or so when my upgraded return pump arrives (to run off a manifold). My question is do you need to continue dosing the Bioptim with biopellets? The BPs are now the food source for the bacteria correct? Thanks!
I run Bioptim and Biodigest like normal. Since they work hand in hand, I never even considered stopping one or the other.
Great video thanks Marc. Great as always! perfect timing on this for me. it's been about 4 weeks and nothing yet. i also started a refugium about a week ago. i know these things take time. it's on the 125 gallon tank. i have bacteria coming to seed. in the meantime, it's back to sugar dosing and a water change to get things under control.
What's the current NO3 level?
80 :(
Been there, done that. It'll come down again.
@melev'sreef mate love your channel, all your videos are very informative and easy to understand without getting into the technical jargon too much .. im just curious is it essential to dose MB7 every 5-7 days when running biopellets .. and could you possibly give me a link to help me understand the purpose of this dosing and it benefits .. keep up the excellent work mate.
Did you happen to see the links in the video's description area? I put a few in there to give you some additional reading info.
Great video Marc with lots of really awesome information. I mix vinegar with my Kalk and wonder if there would be any issue with pellets. I have run pellets before running Kalk and just want your thoughts. My system is 90 gals. and I only use 80ml of vinegar in my ATO. I have been noticing some rise in nitrate in the last 2 weeks and I am a little cautious about raising my vinegar dosage. Keep up the great work.
Kalkwasser and vinegar are mixed to get the most out of that solution (it helps the kalk dissolve better), but it's not carbon dosing. It will help with alkalinity, calcium and of course buffer pH of the reef. So in that regard, it will care for that demand... assuming it doesn't overdose the tank. Kalkwasser has a pH of 12, so be sure you have failsafes in place to avoid too much being added that could hurt your tank. Also, do your research now so you know exactly how much white vinegar to add directly to your tank if you do see an overdose one day. The white vinegar will bring the pH back down quickly so livestock has a chance to survive. Better to know that now, rather than when you are standing there in shock.
Dosing vinegar in RO/DI water can help as a carbon dose, but if you go that route, you'll need to find the sweet spot that drops nitrate and keeps it down. I've only dosed with vodka in the past.
Biopellets focus on nitrate mostly, and only partially on phosphate. You can read more on this page:
melevsreef.com/articles/biopellets-use
and
blog.marinedepot.com/2014/05/biopellets-beginners-guide.html
+melevsreef Thank you
A shop!? You have a shop?! Omg! Def gonna check it out.
I'm using a large refugium with roller mat filter and still having big nitrate problems tired of the struggle and ready to give bio pellets a try... also bought a oversized skimmer that works great but still having trouble
What do you think is better Bio Pellets or Sulfur reactor? All your info made me a success at fish keeping!
in my opinion the absolute best method or tool to keep both nitrate and phosphate down completely is a turf scrubber
I run TLF biopellets in a bashsea pellet master 1 reactor with of 12.6 (as i run the red sea's "fast growth" parameters and their full nutrient supplement system) never problem with the acros i have. Ive let my BP quantity in the reactor dwindle as i actually have to battle to keep nitrate and phos even detectible for the the red sea preferred parameters of 1-3 nitrate and .02-.03 phos even with heavy daily feeding of LRS frozen, mysis, and NLS pellets. I highly recommend this reactor to anyone looking.
*alk of 12.6*
The reason I included the fact that lower alkalinity is recommended was because overall most people seem to agree on that point That being said, my own reef had a huge alkalinity spike, and even with biopellets I didn't see corals with burnt tips... sometimes my tank tends to be the exception. Thanks for adding your input about 12.6 dKH.
Feed moar! :D
I think a bio reactor will benefit me greatly.. Considering my feeding schedule. Bc I'm not willing to feed less. And my coral is doing fine, with the exception of a few pieces I lost when the nitrate started to raise initially. Besides that all good.. I just try to be consistent even bad consistent water parameters are better than being all over the place as far a trying to do to much. I would love to get your feed back as to my regiment.. Thanks again.. And thank you for your videos, your're my favorite channel.
Sure, tell me what your routine is.
Good video I started to run a bio pellet reactor and I'll say it works great and learned a few thing from this video so thanks
Awesome Info I have pellets and love using them
After all the equip maintenance, consumables u have to buy, NO POX dosing 1 x a day sounds waaaaay simpler.
I'm going to be trying that one next month. :)
this was really helpfull!! i am starting to set up my 70g cube tank... i want it to be sps dominated.... thnx for this info
Great video as always! I agree they work out great. Ive been using them for around 5 months now and they've been keeping my nitrates very low. My alk is around 9.5 though and never had any burn out tips on my acropora so far but will keep an eye on it though. Thanks for the tips and continue the great work!
Great video....I just started using bio pellets I'm on week 3... Ugh... I did notice my water looks pretty darn clear of late lol..since starting the reactor I've had to retune my skimmer..but hope this helps my nitrates..
as always very informative video, Marc... and love your presentation..
Wow, really digging the regular updates to the channel.
Out of curiosity is there a reason why your reactors wall are blue? Is it trying to filter out that wavelength of light? Or just a "snazzy look" thing? I ask because you say if the pellets turn grey remove them, but I'm curious how you can tell they're grey through that.
That brand always used blue tubing. And if the pellets look normal (you see that near the end of the video), you would immediately tell if they were like the dead ones I shared earlier in the video. The mass will be clumpy, gooey, and even through the blue wall would look wrong. A clear reactor would show it better, obviously. If the flow stopped in the reactor for at least a day, I'd collect a sample of the output water in a cup and give it the sniff test. If it smells sour, it's ruined.
Excellent video.I started BioPellets 4 months ago.....Although I have only had the "proper" tumble for a month.My effluent from the BP reactor is throwing off a BP"goo".So I plumbed it right into the secondary input of my Life Reef Skimmer.(It is half way up the body and provides a counter-current skimming action.)
Do you see any adverse pump deterioration on your skimmer pump because of the BP goo going into it?
Another awesome video! Thanks Marc! I will definitely be running BP on my new tank with your info :-)
Very informational, great video and great channel!
Hi I might have missed the part that anaerobic bacteria will not collinise in the pellet reactor because of the amount of water flow containing oxygen the whole idea of the pellet is that its a carbon source for bacteria the anaerobic bacteria has to be all ready established in the aquarium in the pourus rocks and filter meadia
Great video and great information. Keep these excellent videos coming.
Finally the video! Lol I've been waiting for!
Love your videos! You talk about the real things that really happen in a reef! You make me know how easy is to mantain a good tank without dying in the attempt! Thnks!
It's not all shiny corals all the time. Real things happen that cause issues, and it's how you deal with them that determines the outcome. I try to never overreact, even when my brain is screaming OMG at me. :)
I'm with you on feeding the fish lots! They get half a sheet of Nori, a bit of pellets via an auto feeder and some frozen at night!
Now why do you like bio-pellets over vodka? is there any big advantage? you mentioned you switch a while back so i'm curious why one over the other?
Biopellets are around the clock, and technically you can't overdose them like you could if all the vodka was pumped into the tank accidentally. They work amazingly well. Have you watched this biopellet video yet? Or did you skip over the parts where I explained why they are awesome? ;)
I tested my nitrate today twice with an Elos test kit, and both times the results were 1ppm. That's pretty cool considering there are nearly 60 fish in this system.
Oh i heard they are awesome, this is why i'm so curious! So far I have only tried vodka dosing but quiet due to some issue with my yellow tang that i suspect happening form overdosing vodka. I had a DOS setup to evenly dose the vodka throughout the 24 hour period so it was essentially 24/7 at time. I was debating starting it up again in the near future
I still can't tell if you actually sat through the entire video yet or not. But if you feel vodka dosing works well for you, you don't need to switch. For me, biopellets was a nicer choice in comparison since I was using a digital timer and an Aqualifter to dose vodka. That was kinda sketchy compared to running a DŌS pump.
Of course i watched it all! The only reason i quit doing vodka dosing is my yellow tang had yellow blotchy discolorations a few weeks into vodka dosing.. i quit and he cleared up after a few weeks. I read this can happen form overdoing/overdosing your carbon source.. If i start back up I will take it much much slower.. Vodka to me seemed simpler since I already had a doser (and wouldn't need to buy another reactor).. however i was still curious on if there is any real difference or just another way to accomplish the same task.
I recently added a chaeto to the tank with a 90W led.. Its been growing insanely fast - So the current plan is to let it go for a month then see how my levels are..then decided if i should try carbon dosing again or not.
Of course I watched it all! If you were doing it with a timer/aqualifter vs a doser than that makes sense. I was dosing vodka for about 6 weeks until my yellow tang developed some orange blotches.. i read this was caused from overdoing carbon dosing and quiet dosing... the tang cleared up over a few weeks and went back to normal... i have been debating trying carbon dosing again but at a much lower/slower rate
For now I added some chaeto and a 90W led to the sump (Amazing chaeto growth!) so i'm curious to see how that affects my nitrate levels after a few weeks.. ill likely give it a month then re-test and decided if its still worth carbon dosing. My previous nitrate levels were in the range of "16-32" .. which isnt terrible but a bit lower would be nice.
For me Vodka seemed more convenient ($20 bottle and an existing dosing head) Vs buying biopellets and a new reactor.. so i was mainly curious if there was any real/main difference in vodka vs biopellets or they are just 2 different methods of doing the exact same thing.
Not sure you still read all these, but I am thinking about running bio pellets to keep Nitrates and Phosphates in check. I realize bio pellets are more for nitrate, but I understand there is a decrease in phosphate as well. My question is where I put the outflow if I have an external, recirculating MRC skimmer that is fed from one of the two return pumps. If I put the outflow into the return chamber, some of that water will go back into the tank and some will go into the skimmer. Any guidance is appreciated.
Hey Mel, I know it’s old video, but since you’ve mentioned skimmers at the end of the video, I would like to ask how do you feel about ATB skimmers ?
Keep on doing what you doing :) love your channel
Hi Melev, i am new to your channel, also for the reef tanks, just wanted to say that i enjoyed your rich video, and actually benefit a lot, specially that since day one a year ago after cycling my new tank my nitrates are always on the high side, so finally i decided to use Bio Pellets reactor, and its running for one week, so far nothing changed with parameters, i guess i need to wait 4 weeks as you advised in your video to break in, is that right ?
And make sure you are dosing bacteria on a regular basis too.
Another great video Marc. Am I correct in saying that you do not use any GFO/Phosphate media and just use phosphate RX when required. I'm looking at implementing the same idea on my new 6ft long/shallow. Thanks man
Yes, that is correct. I haven't used GFO in a decade.
Great information!
Thank you, for this video. I seen a lot of your videos and they are very informative. This one specifically helped me understand the way bio pellets work before I start using them. I just wanted to ask in regards to the skimmer and aquarium I have. I have the Fluval M90 (36 gallons) with an upgraded skimmer (Tunze 9004). I read good reviews about the Tunze 9004 and decided to go with it for my aquarium. Do you believe this is a good enough skimmer for this system? I would like to get your input on this.
Hmmm. I'm not positive about that one. I've seen some Tunze skimmers in the past, but nothing really impressed me about them - I just felt like they didn't match the rating. Keep in mind I'm comparing their design to bigger bulkier skimmers. Sorry I can't be more helpful about this one.
put all that stuff in the bin go with natual sea water from a clean sourse 25 years in to useing it never had any problems with fish or corals no chemicals i do a 10% water change once a week
where i am in the United kingdom comes in at 1.024 at 23c - 24c great video i all so feed my fish a lot and still keep a crystal glass like water.
your videos are the best, easily the best on the net banking long way
Thank you!
+melevsreef That's ok.
Check out my vids is you have time and give me some feedback please
I'll do that later today. :)
I agree.. TH-cam needs to give him an Award....
Why should they give him a award I don't understand that
Howdy from Mississippi,
So I am using a phosban 550 with now a 500GPH power head and I still can't get my biogen beads to roll like I see in other videos. They have been running for about 30 minutes and are kinda rolling but not like in your video. Do these things break in? or is the 1/2" line really restricting the flow of the pump? It's only 1/2" since thats how the unit is made with. Thanks and your info has helped our 125 gallon tremendously from green hair algae to this info on biopellets.
+Chris I don't think the Phosban 550 reactor is suited for biopellets. It's originally intended for GFO media, not solid media like biopellets.
my tank is about a year old now and its cycled. I'm battling with high phos and nitrates. does it with nopox and it brought phos slowly down, but nitrates are still high. i started a bio-pellet reactor, do I still need to use microbacteria still if the tank has add microbacteria??
I have a red octopus skimmer and honestly never put out very much junk out of the water is always a tea color type of water, btw mine is already discontinued (was $290 when I purchased) any good model that you recommend from red octopus.
Also I didn’t understand quite frankly, where did you pour your media bacteria, inside the reactor or just in the water?
Thank you!
My skimz bio pellets reactor came with foam, so I should remove it? That's why I have to raise from time time the pump because it clogging. Thank you so mush for sharing this.
I don't think the foam pad does you any favors.
I was thinking about building a tube that will direct feed into my skimmer from the bio pellet reactor...Do you think that is unnecessary or perfect? My only concern is finding a way the the skimmer can still pull from tge sump and receive from the media reactor.
HI Great video, when using pellets is it best run run a wet or dry skim ?
Thanks for the video. I'm going to try Biopellets again. I tried to make my own reactor reusing a two little fishies reactor. I have a 180 Gallon tank.What size/brand reactor do you recommend?
AquaMaxx makes a decent biopellet reactor, and you'll want one that can hold about 500ml worth of media for a 180g tank. MarineDepot.com sells it.
I'll have to save this for future reference.. I've been surviving off water changes thus far. Almost dred the day I get a tank that water changes are not plausible lol
Water changes are never a bad idea. Come do one for me. :)
i really like this format!
Mark, Do you have to cycle biopellets in a separate bucket or can you just cycle it directly on the display tank?
They aren't cycled at all; this isn't the A-N-N thing. Just get them tied into the system, and add bacteria weekly to populate them and in about four weeks they will begin to kick in. I explained the process in the video. :)
Sorry if you mentioned this in your video and I missed it, but how much flow is necessary for biopellets?
Hey Mark, I’m getting ready to set up and AIO 25g lagoon 24x20x12 would you know or be able to recommend running a small bio pellet reactor and skimmer? I know in nano tanks ppl say just do more frequent water changes but the bio pellet reactor and skimmer seems “fun” to tinker with and enjoy the benefits of less nitrates.
very education video . thanks a lot
I've been running my bio pellets for over 8 weeks and I haven't seen any change in nitrate levels. Not sure what could be going on. The only way I can get nitrates down is water changes.
Do you still use the bio pellets? Do you recommend them to everyone? What are your nitrates at now? Ive heard 0 nitrates is bad.
+Hamza Razak Yes, I still run them. Last test was 3ppm NO3.
How have you managed to keep nitrates at 3ppm with a bio pellet reactor? I heard that its really hard to do. Please give me some advice as I'm thinking about adding one to my tank.
All my advice is in the video, that's why I filmed it. :)
Is that working in freshwater tank? I setup Aquamaxx reactor 10 days ago, currently at 50% biopellets capacity and my nitrates are not going down a bit, they're creeping up as before reactor was installed. I understand it may take few wks to kick in but then why dosing 25% a week when forst dose make no difference. What am I missing?
I don’t know if these would work in freshwater. Mine are in a saltwater reef setup.
I just relocated from another state so everything is new and I have not set it up. I have my rocks recycling in tubs. Thanks for your quick response by the way I love your videos and you have a lot of knowledge. Is there another reactor I should get? I have the calcium. I was looking at algea reactors. I still have my old skimmer ATI BUBBLE Master 250, but I will not be able to get the waste holder or neck cleaners or can I? My tank was moved from Texas and than Washington and each time It was set up for me; but now I'm into the DIY lol so I'm seeking a lot of advice. Ohh I now have the rollermat vs the socks and I'm redoing my lights with the maxspect ethereal. I'm also rebuilding the stand and canopy. HELP LOL SMH. I do love it!!!
SO many changes! lol I like a reactor for biopellets, for carbon, and a calcium reactor. You can get the Skimmer Swabbie and waste collector from Avast Marine. Gotta run...
Thanks so much!!! so I will get a carbon reactor. I didn't have one previously. Thanks again
Yes upgrading everything all at once. I say I will be done in like 10 years lmao!!! lol. I like the NYOS you have. But I'm redoing my stand and canopy in popular wood with all the fancy gadgets and carvings. So I'll do NYOS at a much later date. Take care and thanks again for the info.
Thank you for your videos.
I haven't done a water change in over 10 months, I use a super reef octopus 5000 , a 50gallon remote refugium with 60 pounds of miracle mud and also an algea scrubber in my 210. Lol. I also have a lot of tangs. :)
What's your favorite tang?
In my experience with bio pellets I found them to be problematic. I used them in conjunction with MB7 and I don't know if i wasntt dosing MB7 enough because I had this really white stringy bacterial bloom a few times. My corals didnt seem to be bothered by it but it was like a hair algae almost in texture only clear/white that grew all over the suface of the rock and glass in the tank. So not sure what the bacteria was but it seemed to be out competing the MB7 so I pulledthe pellets out and went to ZEO. This was back in like 2009 or 2010. I looked up your video cause I am starting to hear about some of new bio pellets which are black that also remove phosphate. I guess the assumption is there is GFO mixed in.
There are some All-In-One brands of biopellets. However, as they tumble and grind, I'm wondering if the GFO fines would get into the system. If they are exporting the effluent toward the skimmer's intake, that would help.
You did have a bacterial bloom going on. That's not typical though with biopellets, but I've seen it occur in some tanks. Usually they had to really get proactive or even setup the tank all over again to get rid of that stuff.
The reactor i used seemed to work pretty decent. . I always had the exit pointed right at the skimmer intake. Its been basically a decade now so much more is known. My last complaint would be the reactors. I don't think anyone is making a reactor that works perfect for pellets. I would have thought by now one of these skimmer companys would have came up with a reactor specifically made for pellets where they are forced into the skimmer like a ozone port or something along that line. The only company I see making a solid Pellet reactor is JNS. Id love it if you could get one and review it for me before I buy it lol
Question : If my nitrates get too low for my liking, like I want to keep them around 10 and it gets 0 or there about, then what to do, completely take out the reactor ? or take out 70-80% of media and let 20-30% inside ? and the pellets that are taken out, can they be reused if they are dried out after taking out or better use new media ?
How do you feel about recirculated bio pellet reactors. Where you can control the output and the the tumble? Is it worth it.
I've heard about them, I've seen a couple, but I've never used one and thus don't have any input one way or another. Single-pass reactors have worked well for me.
Mine never smelled after not moving , u know after top plate got clogged, I still dose prodibio, but my nitrates are 12-16 ppm, can't get them down, I use to keep Dkh around 8, but now 9-10 with better growth, my local lfs runs pellets with dkh 11-12!! No burnt ends either... I think every tank is unique,do what's works!!
It would be really nice if we had a hard fast rule of absolutes. Everyone has a different method that works for them. That's hard on those with experience, imagine being a newbie trying to sort out all these opinions we offer.
Question: How do you attach or position the outflow tube so that the effluent all goes into the skimmer?
Oh man I've been saving to upgrade from the 210 to a 400 gallon so I can get a Vlamingi tang (my favorite !!!!)
i bought the reef octopus bio-churn biopellet recirculating reactor 120 for my 300 gallon reef tank. I also purchased the Skimz Monzter NM152 External Nitrate Reactor did I over do it since both lower or eliminates Nitrates?
I would use one or the other, not both. What is your current nitrate level?
Great video looking forward to seeing you at macna.
Be sure to introduce yourself as the guy with the pink J avatar. ;)
Did you make that reactor? If not what brand do you recommend?
No, this is a Nextreef SMR reactor. You could purchase one by AquaMaxx that would work equally well.
Hi mel, Have you thought of running AIO instead of this normal bio pellets only? Why and why not?
+Bosco C I haven't seen the need. The AIO pellets might grind the gfo right off and send fines into the display, perhaps. These work great for nitrate control.
I know this is fairly old, do you still run bio pellets??
I am looking into starting a tank, you make it sound like all of the equipment you show is absolutely necessary. Well I don't have room for a sump, would be nice but not going to happen. So am I out of luck on success?
Not necessarily. The equipment I use makes the hobby easier for me, but you can keep it very simple and focus on water changes and have a very nice aquarium too. The more stable your water parameters, the better your success rate.
Hi, Great video. I have 40 ppm nitrates coming out of my tap from a well and store and heat water In a separate storage tank. Can a bio pellet reactor be used for the storage tank or will it only work in a cycled tank? Should I also use a reactor on my fish tanks? The funny thing is that if I get the nitrates down in the fish tank then do a water change from the storage tank without getting those nitrates down then all I'm doing is adding nitrates back. Any recommendations? BTW, this is freshwater. Thank you
I wish I could help you, but I have zero experience with freshwater. I do know that Seachem's Prime will lock up ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and even chloramines. 1 capful treats 50g of water, so it is very affordable. The other thing you could very likely do is run a RO system, which takes out a lot of impurities from the water. Saltwater tanks use RO/DI water, which is pristine water with nothing in it. Freshwater may need a little bit of the things we strip out. I'll have to ask a buddy who knows freshwater in and out, and get back to you.
i've been running BP for 3 years on 300g SPS system. had initial problems getting them to 'kick in'; ultimately required i modify the reactor (RD 500 - r.dynamics' largest) to allow for increased flow rate as well as cutting back on UV. went from 100ppm too now at undetectable NO3 and run GFO as needed to keep PO4 under.06ppm. problems i've had mostly due to biofilm sludge caking reactor plumbing (like snot) requiring weekly break down to clean reactor (nasty). either due to hvy bioload, BP breaking down too rapidly, or insufficient flow through reactor. i've been running increased flow through lately (same volume of media) and keep on feeding.
Thanks for sharing your personal experience, Greg.
what is your current Flow Through rate on BP reactor (measuring say ml/min on reactor effluent)?
I couldn't say but I'd guess it's probably close to 500gph.
Quick question....when you fill up a brand new tank....everything is new....would you fill up with tap water and treat is as you go along and then add and mix salt...or do you start straight from RODI water?
I would fill the tank up with saltwater (mixed up using RO/DI). There's never a good reason to use tap water. I know it takes longer, but this is a hobby about patience. :)
Hi Mark, great video. I am currently running the a biopellet reactor (about 6 months now) in my red sea reefer 250, but I have not dosed bacteria (Prodibio or Microbacter). My nitrates are at 20 and phosphates are at .32. Do you think I should start dosing Prodibio in conjunction with the biopellets and get a better result? Should I dose Phosphate Rx to lower phosphates as well? In addition, I'm also running a Clearwater Algae Scrubber that I clean out every 2 weeks or so. Thanks for all your informational videos. Very helpful.
Hey Marc,
I just set up my bio pellet reactor couple days ago. The water is fed through one of the manifolds from my return pump, and the output from my bio pellet reactor is just by the intake of my return. I know bio pellets and skimmers goes hand in hand, like you explain in the video. But, what's the idea behind having your bio pellet output tube by the intake of the skimmer? .. Or am i thinking too much into this and it really doesn't matter too much haha
The output of the biopellet reactor should be flowing toward the intake of your skimmer. The stuff coming out is what I export immediately, and ultimately what benefitted my reef when I had a problem (mentioned in both videos). I wouldn't have the effluent going to the return pump.
+melevsreef oh okay that makes more sense. I biopellet output tube by the intake of my skimmer. thanks marc
Hi I’m confused the bio pellet is for removing nitrate and phosphate too or just nitrate?
Nitrate
Hey Melev love the vidoes tried pellets/pearls before never had much success but im going to do with with microbacter 7 this time and see if that helps. Can i ask can you run carbon with pearls. I have removed rowaphos and turned of my uv also, Thanks
Not in the same reactor. Put the carbon in a different reactor since it won't last nearly as long and needs to be changed out / removed.
melevsreef Ohh yes they are in different reactors. Never had success with bio pellets before and my MB7 arrived 10 mins ago woohoo lol hoping they will start working now. Will keep you updated.
Pros and cons of a biopellet reactor vs nitrate reactor with sulfur?
Do you like vertex? I have a vertex Alpha 200.
+Jonathan Huse Its a good looking reactor.
I just re installed my JBJ Chiller and forgot to rinse out since last using it. I started it back up and smelled all the rotten egg smell from the water that was inside that went into my tank. I think that having my Biopellets and Reef Dynamics 180 skimmer saved my RSM 500s Tank. What do you think about the Reef Dynamics 180 skimmer?
Reef Dynamics is the same company Euroreef was previously, same owner. Very good skimmer. Man, that sucks about the chiller, and another thing to warn people to avoid thanks to your message. It's so important no stagnant water enters the system, and there are several places where this can happen.
Do you know what the proper way of cleaning the chillers are? Maybe running some water and vinegar through it?
I do believe in feeding fish in adequate amount, rather than under feeding them. As far as a fat fish being healthy, Maybe I really don't know. But when it comes to dogs, I can tell you a fat dog is not a healthy dog. Anyways thank you for the informative video. I aways enjoy your videos.
Been running pellets for 6 months and they haven't done a thing but I haven't been dosing bacterial. I was under the assumption it just took a little longer to start.
Make sure they are tumbling, that the top plate isn't clogged, and dose bacteria weekly. What is the current nitrate level in your tank? Besides measureable lower nitrate, you should see a gradual depletion of pellets over time. If they are the exact same as when you set them up, they've done nothing.
The nitrates are sitting at 8 with the red sea kit. They are tumbling good no clogs plus its a recirculating reactor I was under the assumption that I didn't have to dose bacteria it would just take longer to populate now seeing that hasn't work I try dosing.
great video and very informative, I just started using the same biopellets in a avast spyglass reactor. I'm currently trying to figure out how to make the reactor output dump.in the skimmer intake. I use a bk mini180 and the intake is currently facing the me so I can see if snails make it near. I'm also trying to figure out how flow should go through the reactor
Look at the pictures on this page, maybe you can do something similar: melevsreef.com/articles/biopellets-use
+melevsreef thank you for the reply, must be nice to have so that space to work with. I'm thinking to try something similar with my reactor with a T and a pipe through it. currently my reactor is in recirculation mode, do you suggest to run it as a reactor and not in recirculation mode?
have a look at the avast spyglass reactor and tell me what you think www.avastmarine.com/products/spyglass
Thanks for the link, I'd not seen that one yet. I know some companies have done recirculating with the ability to dial in the output for real nitrate control, but I've only run single-pass reactors myself.
Hi Melev, I got a small UF-1 Somatic Universal media filter and im planning on using it on my new 55g tank. In your opinion would it be more valuable to run BioPellets, Carbon, or GFO in it. The tank is yet to have livestock so I do not know its needs but it will only have a wrasse and a few algae eating thing. I personnaly would default to carbon or a purigen type media,but I find the water clarity from them is short lived and pricy.
Carbon is for water clarity, biopellets for nitrate reduction, and GFO for phosphate binding. Since the tank is new and livestock hasn't been added, carbon (GAC) seems like the best option for now.
Thank for your input.
Biopellets are amazing at keeping nitrates at zero. I've been using them for 3 years now after I struggled with Nitrates forever before that. Since using them though, I haven't had to add any more. I have maybe 200 ml in there on my 65 gallon and they never seem to need topping off. Anyone have a similar issue? I do the entire BioKit Reef dose every 2 weeks too and I still never have to add any more biopellets. Also, for the BioKit Reef from Prodibio, do you just put them all in at the same time and leave the skimmer off over night? Thanks.
You've been running the same batch for three years? That's surprising. And they are tumbling?
Regarding Prodibio, turning off the skimmer for a couple of hours is a good idea so you don't export what you just added.
Mark was wondering if a 10 micron filter sock would filter out the waste of a bio pellet reactor? I know it's recommend to route the out put of the reactor to the input of the skimmer however the pellets can cause more skimmer maintenance, so my thought is have the sock catch most of the gunk then the skimmer takes care of the rest
You could definitely give that a try.