Bio pellets, what's your thoughts?
- Thread starter kzoo
- Start date
The whole carbon dosing thing is one I never got into. I looked at it a LOT but never did it. It just seemed to be too much of a PITA to really do and have it work well. Between skimming issues, cyano blooms and "whoops, I just killed my whole tank" it just never seemed worth it to me.
I've found simplicity in watching how much I feed, regular water changes, some macro in the fuge and reactors with GFO/GAC and Matrix.
I've found simplicity in watching how much I feed, regular water changes, some macro in the fuge and reactors with GFO/GAC and Matrix.
I've been running them for almost a year. No cyano issues. I started really slowly with about 1/2 a cup of pellets. Then after four weeks another 1/2 cup was added. I repeated this till I got up to about 2 1/2 cups. I also dosed zeostart and zeoback until I reached the full 2 1/2 cups. My nitrates are undetectable. I do have some phosphate but it's leaching from some dry rock I used so a little GFO is keeping that under control.
I think the biggest key with bio pellets is a good skimmer. Ideally I would feed a recirculating skimmer directly from the reactor. I don't have a recirc skimmer so I made a pvc adapter to channel the reactors output directly into the skimmer pump. Also I run a fairly slow tumble which I'm guessing is about 150-200 gph. It's much less than most people run.
Carbon dosing isn't for everybody. I had good results with dosing vodka just didn't like the hassle of daily dosing. The pellets have been pretty much set and forget.
I think the biggest key with bio pellets is a good skimmer. Ideally I would feed a recirculating skimmer directly from the reactor. I don't have a recirc skimmer so I made a pvc adapter to channel the reactors output directly into the skimmer pump. Also I run a fairly slow tumble which I'm guessing is about 150-200 gph. It's much less than most people run.
Carbon dosing isn't for everybody. I had good results with dosing vodka just didn't like the hassle of daily dosing. The pellets have been pretty much set and forget.
This ^ is the essence of carbon dosing in any form. Good summary, thx.
Regardless of the form of organic carbon used, the principle is to encourage a gradual increase in growth of specific bacteria which help export excess nutrients, and to export them using a skimmer.
Doing it successfully requires both some science understanding and discipline. Most people who fail lack one or both of these.
Also, inevitably most get to a point where they still have some phosphate.
The natural ratios of nitrogen and organic carbon to phosphorous dictate this.
The solution is to add amino acids (a source of nitrogen) with the organic carbon until the phosphorous level drops below 0.5 ppm.
Alternately, some use GFO for the phosphorous control.
The natural ratios of nitrogen and organic carbon to phosphorous dictate this.
The solution is to add amino acids (a source of nitrogen) with the organic carbon until the phosphorous level drops below 0.5 ppm.
Alternately, some use GFO for the phosphorous control.
No, most people that fail do so by adding too much too quickly.
You must be patient and test the levels along the way. Go slowly.
I like to use the analogy of 'flying a plane into the ground'.
You don't want 'no nutrients', or nothing can live. You just want 'low nutrients' and the only way to determine that is to test the water.
