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Trying out biopellets in a Nuvo 16g


OCNcheffy

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So I purchased the IM mini-max reactor for my Nuvo 16 and my LFS had mentioend to give biopellets a try over GFO. Now after I had set it all up and dialed in the flow, I've been hearing that this is a huge mistake without a skimmer...

 

Can anyone chime in on this, and let me know if I need to stop running biopellets? They've been going for about 24 hours now. My end goal is to control phosphates and nitrates even though mine are fairly low currently. Would GFO just be better in general for a small nano tank like mine?

Thanks

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12_egg_Omelette

No man, just do wanter changes. Bio-pellets remove nitrate to phosphate at a 16:1 ration. So their phosphate removing power is negligible, and they won't actually do anything at all if you have a phosphate deficiency. So if your nitrates are high but you already run a bunch of GFO and have no phosphates, all the bio-pellets in the world won't remove those pirates on bit.

 

Also yes, you must use an oversized skimmer is you're using bio-pellets to remove the bacteria, in fact your bio pellets output should go right into the skimmer.

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Simple water changes works wonders, especially with your small tank. And yes a skimmer is important. I used to run pellets, but stopped and running chemi-pure blue. It has phosphate remover in it!

 

Slow typer.... 12 egg beat me to it.

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I do weekly 2 gallon water changes currently. I just wanted something in place as well to even improve things further. Would biopellets have caused me an issue though? Just curious.. Or would they have simply not done very much. I've heard of tank crashes with biopellets too.

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So I purchased the IM mini-max reactor for my Nuvo 16 and my LFS had mentioend to give biopellets a try over GFO. Now after I had set it all up and dialed in the flow, I've been hearing that this is a huge mistake without a skimmer...

 

Can anyone chime in on this, and let me know if I need to stop running biopellets? They've been going for about 24 hours now. My end goal is to control phosphates and nitrates even though mine are fairly low currently. Would GFO just be better in general for a small nano tank like mine?

 

Thanks

 

You will crash the tank without a skimmer, turn them off.

 

Biopellets provide a carbon source and as they break in the amount of bacteria and mulm created will increase until it overloads the tank. The first sign will be snot everywhere, which you can do even with a skimmer running (like I did). Carbon dosing and skimmer go hand in hand. Remember the bacteria consumes nitrate and PO4 (Good!) and creates waste as all living things do. Without a way to remove this waste on a regular basis you'll quickly run into trouble. A skimmer removes the waste efficiently while water changes will remove some of the waste with the water removed.

 

So, IMO, get a skimmer or stop running them.

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12_egg_Omelette

Sometimes, we look for the answer we want to hear. The common consensus from all the posts provided above highly recommend you don't run without a skimmer. Do you have a quality water testing kit? If not I would look into that as well, if you can't handle any issues you're having with regular water changes then I would look at a couple solutions prior to adding bio-pellets as well.

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Steensj2004

Dogs or cats? Quick choose one.

 

JUST THE TIP!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awe, damnit, I ####ed that up, didn't I? Lol

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You will crash the tank without a skimmer, turn them off.

 

Biopellets provide a carbon source and as they break in the amount of bacteria and mulm created will increase until it overloads the tank. The first sign will be snot everywhere, which you can do even with a skimmer running (like I did). Carbon dosing and skimmer go hand in hand. Remember the bacteria consumes nitrate and PO4 (Good!) and creates waste as all living things do. Without a way to remove this waste on a regular basis you'll quickly run into trouble. A skimmer removes the waste efficiently while water changes will remove some of the waste with the water removed.

 

So, IMO, get a skimmer or stop running them.

Wouldn't adding a low amount of biopellets benefit my tank instead of crashing it? I can see if I loaded up and filled my reactor with the recommended amount, it would cause issues, but having maybe half the amount , I might see some improvement. I tested my water yesterday with a Red Sea test kit and I'm maybe at 2ppm for nitrate as it was barely a shade of pink. My tank is already doing fine but I was just curious to test out biopellets since the LFS who are quite knowledgeable said they've only ever seen improvements with carbon dosing.

As long as I keep up with my water changes which are 2g every Sunday, that would supplement your skimmer need. But hey, I'm only here to ask opinions from you folks, and I appreciate everyone's input. If I DID want to continue with biopellets, just to see what would happen. What would be the first warning sign that I need to remove them? Would it be the mucus from the corals that you had mentioned?

Worst case scenario, i'll just run carbon and GFO like everyone else. :)

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Nope....never run biopellets without the discharge runnning into a skimmer. Your tank will eventually crash if you dont. In fact you would be hard pushed to find a skimmer effeciant enough for a nano to run biopellets....maybe an aquamax hob if you are lucky.

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Wouldn't adding a low amount of biopellets benefit my tank instead of crashing it?

 

Why would a small amount work, what would be different from a large amount? They will be eating PO4 and NO3 and creating waste, waste that will need to be removed. Technically I'm sure you could get some kind of system to work with water changed but at this point I'm not sure what your goals are. What benefit would they have over water changes? Biopellets create waste, just like fish. Different food, but still waste that must be exported. Imports and exports have to be equal, period. Biopellets just change the path, but not the requirement to export.

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12_egg_Omelette

Wouldn't adding a low amount of biopellets benefit my tank instead of crashing it? I can see if I loaded up and filled my reactor with the recommended amount, it would cause issues, but having maybe half the amount , I might see some improvement. I tested my water yesterday with a Red Sea test kit and I'm maybe at 2ppm for nitrate as it was barely a shade of pink. My tank is already doing fine but I was just curious to test out biopellets since the LFS who are quite knowledgeable said they've only ever seen improvements with carbon dosing.

As long as I keep up with my water changes which are 2g every Sunday, that would supplement your skimmer need. But hey, I'm only here to ask opinions from you folks, and I appreciate everyone's input. If I DID want to continue with biopellets, just to see what would happen. What would be the first warning sign that I need to remove them? Would it be the mucus from the corals that you had mentioned?

Worst case scenario, i'll just run carbon and GFO like everyone else. :)

The first warning sign is everyone on here telling you not to. OCN, I don't want to come off as sounding harsh, but I think you need to understanding the science behind how things work and why and when things are beneficial. If you're asking about the early warning signs you're not very familiar with what the product is intended to do therefore should not be using it. I think this goes hand in hand with the dogma of never dose what you don't test for.

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Alright I took your suggestions and removed biopellets and added 2 tbsp of GFO as per Bulk Reef Supplies calculator to my reactor on a "boiling" tumble. Hope this clears up my dusty glass issue and brown sand that my strawberry conch tries to keep clean.

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12_egg_Omelette

I think this is a great start. I hope it didn't come off as harsh. I just don't want you to crash your tank from superfluous bacteria.

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