Bio pellet journal

Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#21
#21
Sorry it's been a while figured I wouldnt bore you guys with the regular everyday thing but couple things have changed!! First, added 2 koralia 1650s and a smart wave to the system!! Second, I'm in the process of upgrading skimmers and getting rid of the 2 HOB skimmers and having 2 better skimmers in the sump!! Also starting plans on my lighting upgrade... Once my Chinese LED arrives I'll be making a hanging brace that will hold all 3 fixtures and 2 or 3 t-5 HO bulbs as well. And finally, I got some different salt and did a large water change and holy crap!!! I think the salt was a much bigger issue than I had thought!! Things look amazing today!! Gonna get a FTS tomorrow and run some tests, but I'm on call, so well see what actually gets done...
 
KhensuRa

KhensuRa

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#22
#22
How are you liking the smart wave? I have read a few reviews and people say it is noisy when the hydors turn on and off.
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#23
#23
So far so good. I think I hear what they are talking about... But I noticed one of my pumps wasn't really tight in the base, and I mean REALLY tight. Once I pushed them all in tight, the noise is gone except when your right in front of the tank. For $70, it's awesome! In a few years or when I come across a deal on mp40s or something, I'll upgrade, but for now this makes the coral happier than it was!!
 
KhensuRa

KhensuRa

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#25
#25
Are you getting much of a wave with the smart wave as well? Also, I must have ,missed it but what size tank are you running? Any change in your SPS yet?
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#26
#26
Ok, went from instant ocean to red sea coral pro. Very happy about that change! Not seeing as much wave action as I thought I would, I've got a 1050 and a 1650 on each side of my 120 gal (4x2x2) I think I've got the pumps, I just need to aim and place them better. My acro frag is starting to show some green color and polyp extension!! The milli is def. doing way better!
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#28
#28
Got the salt from BRS. Spent $175 to get the free shipping, but the salt itself was $59. Not sure how much it would have been to ship, but I'm sure not cheap.
 
Dr.DiSilicate

Dr.DiSilicate

Great White Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#29
#29
That red sea pro salt is awesome! The only salt I have used that seemed to actually make a difference. It does seem to take a lot to mix to 1.026. So the price is high.
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#30
#30
Really? I was surprised at how little I used!! The first bucket I put in the 2.25 cups of salt I was used to with instant ocean and stirred it up. Was very surprised when I saw it at 1.040!!! Then I found there measuring cup they provide. Made things a lot easier, about 1.75cups per 5 gal bucket...
 
Dr.DiSilicate

Dr.DiSilicate

Great White Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#31
#31
Really! Maybe I should try it again, I did have a small amount. It is a really great salt. How is the bio pellet journey doing? Thinking of giving it a go.
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#32
#32
Really good! Still playing the waiting game, but already seeing some coloring from some sps that wasn't their before, so I'm excited to get through the 6 to 8 weeks!!
 
Cake_Boss

Cake_Boss

Blue Whale
M.A.S.C Club Member
#33
#33
So I asked ReefDynamics about the po4/no3 removal, I've heard bp remove these at different rates. They said that bp are more effective at removing no3 than po4, actually they said it's roughly a 3:1 ratio.
Assuming this is true, what are you testing at for po4? Is it dropping as fast as no3? Are you going to run GFO or something similar?

One more thing, RD said they will be releasing bp that will help more with the po4.....snake oil?
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#34
#34
I got fed up with GFO. This is my alternative. When I started BP, my no3 was at 5ppm and my po4 was at 1 ppm. I am heavily stocked so I knew that these #s would be and have been an ongoing issue. I would like to get my no3 under 1 ppm and my po4 at .02ppm. From my research, I found that bio pellets will consume both until one is extinguished, so if I see one has dropped, while there is still excess of the other, I will intentionally dose the extinguished one so the bio pellets remain effective until both numbers are where I want them, then I will adjust to keep the numbers steady.
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#35
#35
Oh, and it's hard to say whether or not that is snake oil or legitimate! I think the concept of nutrient export, or consumption, is the same no matter the means you use to do it. How much better one product is to another seems like sales pitches to me, but with the advancement in technology lately, they could have legitimate claims.
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#37
#37
Things are going well, corals look a lot happier already!! A few frags i thought were gone are making a come back, and im seeing some nice color from some of the corals that were previously mundane But according to my water tests, I'm still running at least .5 phosphates and around 5 nitrates. Still got a few weeks until the 8 week mark, then I might add some pellets to the reactor, and I need to modify the carbon reactor.
 
Haulin Oates

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#38
#38
Well, been about 2.5 months since I started and guess what? .5 phosphates and 5 nitrates!! No change whatsoever!! Sps has better color, but I'm not seeing any growth out of them at all. Even having my 2 biggest fish gone hasn't helped at all. Guess I'm gonna have to figure something else out...
 
09bumblebee

09bumblebee

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#39
#39
Blazinjack said:
Well, been about 2.5 months since I started and guess what? .5 phosphates and 5 nitrates!! No change whatsoever!! Sps has better color, but I'm not seeing any growth out of them at all. Even having my 2 biggest fish gone hasn't helped at all. Guess I'm gonna have to figure something else out...
Click to expand...
Red sea no3 and po4 remover. I've gone from nitrates of 25 and phos .5 to 5no3 and .1po4 in a week. I had to cut the dose back to 1/4 now since the levels are getting so low I'm going to maintain .25 no3 and .02 for po4 my phos was so high because it was leaching out of my rock from being high in my old system for so long.
 
Dbarnes

Dbarnes

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#40
#40
Blazinjack;172224 said:
Well, been about 2.5 months since I started and guess what? .5 phosphates and 5 nitrates!! No change whatsoever!! Sps has better color, but I'm not seeing any growth out of them at all. Even having my 2 biggest fish gone hasn't helped at all. Guess I'm gonna have to figure something else out...
Click to expand...
Blazin, keep in mind many bio pellets are not intended to lower levels but more so to keep them maintained, seems like your system is really stable, which in my opinion is better than being unstable with low #s. Try using some dosing to get your numbers down some (notice the word some, ppl try to focus on zero but zero is a mythical number that your system will likely never maintain) then see if your bp maintain that level. Also be sure to add or exchange pellets ever 9-12weeks. Just my thought

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