GFO or Bio pellets????

[wbeacham]

Getting reactors together for my new 100 and want to know the best method or the method most of you folks use to control nitrates and phosphate. First time venturing into reactors and would like the advice.

 

[jbdreefs]

I use gfo and carbon currently. It seems like the biopellets work well, but I've read reviews that say they have some long-term undesirable effects. However, I have no experience with the pellets, so don't rely on my info. Hopefully others will chime in... if i had to guess, the undesirable effects probably stemmed from other tank husbandry issues rather than purely the use of the pellets.

 

[ripped tide]

I'm on team biopellet. Let the rust mines rot.

There are potential undesirable side effects, but like JBD said, it probably has something to do with over all husbandry.


I have had then running over a month. I took my gfo offline after the first 2.5 weeks of running biopellets. Haven't looked back yet. Po4: 0.03

 

[wbeacham]

Do you run a UV as well? I have read about them killing off the bacteria thus rendering the pellets or the UV useless.

 

[ripped tide]

No uv here. I have a seperately fed reactor that I run rox 0.8 carbon and run a reef octopus skimmer.

 

[jumplittlechloe]

I use GFO and carbon. I like that I control the dosage and can make adjustments according to testing. If you are into "set it and forget it" biopellets may work. However, in using this method phosphates can run higher than some with SPS corals may desire (greater than .03). To my understanding this has to do with the ratio between nitrate and phosphate consumption by the bacteria (you need nitrate for your bacteria to build to then consume phosphate). Check into PO4x4. It is renewable and doesn't clump in reactor. I have also heard that it does not release as much iron if that is a concern.

 

[ripped tide]

I agree that gfo is way more controllable.

I was turned off from gfo because:
I used the BRS dual reactor, and it clogged a lot.
Got tired of changing gfo, not because the gfo exhausted, but because it would block up and kill the flow. No matter how hard I tried, once it blocked up, I couldn't get it to tumble properly again.
Talk about mess. Red dust an residue everywhere.
Stripped my po4 down to 0.00 and all my corals went through an un happy phase/lost color.
This deserves two spots: the mess

Bio pellets are not controllable. If they don't recieve appropriate flow, can produce hydrogen sulfide. If you don't have a good skimmer, you will probably fight cyano. All the downsides biopellets are the same as dosing any carbon source.

I decided to try them on a wild hair, and I was sick and tired of gfo. I'm happy now.

Edit: Some people run gfo in conjunction with biopellets.

 

[thanh386]

Lesson from ripped tide . Don't be cheap

Edit: I use gfo and I like it

 

[wbeacham]

I think I will do 2 BRS reators for better adjustability and run GFO and ROX 8.0. I will also plumb in for a future UV when I can afford it....

 

[sgt_slaughter]

wbeacham;742127 wrote: I think I will do 2 BRS reators for better adjustability and run GFO and ROX 8.0. I will also plumb in for a future UV when I can afford it....

BRS even recommends using two separate reactors rather than 1 dual chamber for the main reasons: The dual chamber gets blocked up, requires more tuning and maintance. The carbon tends to need to be changed more often than GFO and clogs more easily. You really just need two different types of flow for the two types of media.
Btw, yes I'm a GFO person.

 

[ripped tide]

Gfo is tried and true. There is garaunteed knowledge that it will reduce po4.

The logic behind biopellets make sense, but all experiences are different.