is it safe for pods?

[scotty b]

would it be safe to run a bio pellet reactor of of my return line from my refugium or would it kill pods?

 

[zombie]

Im sure it will kill some but its probably in line with the number of pods that get killed by skimmers. I doubt it will hurt enough to notice as long as only a small portion of the return line flow goes through the reactor and not all of it.

 

[scotty b]

its on a small tank with out a skimmer. i would say 2/3 of the flow is true the bio pellet reactor

 

[scotty b]

sorry its messy atm still getting every thing set up the way i like

 

[scotty b]

[attachment=67159:name]

 

[zombie]

That much reduction in flow might cause some issues. On that principle alone, I would get a separate pump for the reactor. Even a cheapo home depot pond pump would do.

 

[robert.talarico]

its on a small tank with out a skimmer. i would say 2/3 of the flow is true the bio pellet reactor

I absolutely would not run a bio pellet reactor without a skimmer. The increased bacterial biomass will cause a drastic decrease of O2 in your water column. That decrease will cause stress and death to your inhabitants. You need that skimmer to add the O2. Plus you will want to export the incorporated nitrogen and po4 that you are cultivating by organic carbon dosing or biopellet use. Efficient skimming allows such removal. If I were you I'd do more research before using biopellets. You can get the same benefits by vodka dosing which is cheaper and easier to control.

 

[robert.talarico]

So to answer your question, no its not safe for pods. It will kill them and everything else.

 

[scotty b]

any good hob skimmers that can have a air stone instead of air threw the powerhead ? (this is a 10 gallon system)

 

[zombie]

any good hob skimmers that can have a air stone instead of air threw the powerhead ? (this is a 10 gallon system)

Why exactly do you need one with an airstone? I see abesolutely no reason to get a skimmer with that kind of design. The whole point of air going through a pump is so that a needle wheel impeller can break the bubbles down smaller and make the skimmer vastly more efficient.

 

[scotty b]

mainly because the system being small i dont have much room for more pumps .
i have a ''T'' fitting with ball valves to split the pump between returning to the dt and the bio reactor

 

[robert.talarico]

With it being such a small system why can't your nutrient export be achieved thru water changes?

For 10gallons I'd recommend an aquatic life 115 skimmer. Those little things produce some sludge. I use one on my 15g aio frag tank.

 

[SynDen]

Ya with such a small system I dont see you needing the bio pellets, especially if you keep up on water changes every week or two, you would lose more then you would gain in the end imo

 

[Walter White]

I totally agree with Robert. I would not put bio-pellets on that tank even if you had a skimmer. If you are looking for some other form of nutrient export why not make a small upflow turf scrubber? Cheap easy and the pods would thrive in it.

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

I think you'd benefit from a turf scrubber or a nice nano skimmer with your set up. The bio pellet, vodka.... Stuff is hard to control even in a large environment. At any rate you'd need a skimmer to take advantage if that system. The reactor would probably not kill your pod population but really isn't worth it for your system. What is it that you want to achieve? With a tank that size you could also easily do a lot of water changes to reduce nutrients without breaking the bank. It's great that you have that fuge under the little tank. That alone gives you more options for pod farming and skimmer/scrubber opportunities.

 

[scotty b]

I just got a good amount of macro algae to add to the refugium . i also went ahead and got a protein skimmer . really like the design of it working wonders already.
Is there any rechargeable media to run in a reactor that would be recommended?

 

[zombie]

You could do carbon and gfo without to much trouble. I doubt either of those would really be necessary for that small of a tank though.

 

[scotty b]

I have gotten a Aqua Urchin in sump protein skimmer

I had tried gfo . i rinsed it real well and about 15 minutes after starting up the media reactor my tank was a horrible red cloud .
would rock rubble be beneficial in a media reactor >?

my goal is to over kill the filtration so tank failure is not a possibility

 

[SynDen]

I have gotten a Aqua Urchin in sump protein skimmer

I had tried gfo . i rinsed it real well and about 15 minutes after starting up the media reactor my tank was a horrible red cloud .
would rock rubble be beneficial in a media reactor >?

my goal is to over kill the filtration so tank failure is not a possibility

If your tank turned red after you put on the reactor, then either you didnt have the sponges in right, or you had the flow way to high on the pump. It should only be enough flow into the reactor to make the top of the gfo layer "boil" slightly. Like slow simmer "boil". You dont want the gfo blowing around or moving to much or it will turn to dust, you just want it moving enough for the water to flow through it.

Over killing the filtration can also be a recipe for failure though imo. If you remove to much nutrients and bacteria out of the water then the things in the tank wont thrive because they dont have what they need. It is kind of a balancing act. I would just start with skimmer and maybe run carbon and then watch and see how your tank does with just that, and if you need to at a later date add some gfo.

 

[robert.talarico]

I have gotten a Aqua Urchin in sump protein skimmer

I had tried gfo . i rinsed it real well and about 15 minutes after starting up the media reactor my tank was a horrible red cloud .
would rock rubble be beneficial in a media reactor >?

my goal is to over kill the filtration so tank failure is not a possibility

Do water changes twice a week and drop a bag of chemipure in. That is all you need and turn those lights off once in a while. That film algae is taking over.