My new tank

[AddictedtoSalt]

Leave it and feed more.
You could add more if you want it will drop nite and phos faster. When they reach 0 you will want to feed more. Not necessarily more often just more per feeding.
Also keep in mind if you remove the bp reactor you will most likely get a cyano bloom since there will be nothing for it to compete with for food.

 

[SAKTEK]

Leave it and feed more.
You could add more if you want it will drop nite and phos faster. When they reach 0 you will want to feed more. Not necessarily more often just more per feeding.
Also keep in mind if you remove the bp reactor you will most likely get a cyano bloom since there will be nothing for it to compete with for food.

Thanks Jim for the info.


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[solitude127]

I've been running a biopellet rx for the last two weeks. I noticed today that my tank looks different. The water is so much clearer, the algae on the vortechs looks like it is dying or fading, I especially see a big difference on the back wall... WOW!!! Is all I can say. Within a matter of a day all this happened inside the tank. Now here's my concern. What's going to happen whey the nitrates and phosphates are at zero? I did start with the minimum amount of pellets for my tank. I don't have a big bioload either. I have 4 tangs, 2 wrasse, 2 anthias, 2 clowns, 3 chromis, 1 midas blenny, and about 10 sps frags. Should I add more pellets? Leave it alone? Discontinue using the rx? I try to feed 3x a day. All my other parameters are on check. Any advice would be helpful.


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I think the trick to running BP is knowing how much BP to run with the bioload you have. It's a fine line that only your tank knows. I would monitor your corals and if you see a change in color (fading) then you probably have too much BP in there and if you have constant algae problems, then you need to add more.

 

[SchnitzelReef]

Careful adding more BPs. Algae needs phosphates to grow. If ur nitrates are at zero and phosphates are high, algae will still grow. But that doesn't mean u should add more bio pellets. There's a balance between how many BPs, how much u feed, and how fast u tumble the pellets. I don't think I've found the balance yet. Every tank is different. The key to finding out how much BPs to run is by testing nitrates. Once nitrates hit zero and stay at zero, stop adding them. And do this process slowly. Wait a week and test nitrates. If there above 5, then add more pellets. Wait another week and then test again...etc etc


Hot Dogs are GOOD!

 

[SAKTEK]

I'm so confused... LOL


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[SchnitzelReef]

I'm so confused... LOL


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Wait are u serious? I could try to re explain it. Or was my grammar not right? (Like run on sentences. Lol)


Hot Dogs are GOOD!

 

[SAKTEK]

Wait are u serious? I could try to re explain it. Or was my grammar not right? (Like run on sentences. Lol)


Hot Dogs are GOOD!

LMAO... No no Nick. I'm just rambling.


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[SchnitzelReef]

LMAO... No no Nick. I'm just rambling.


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Lol. O ok. I mean the way I explained it is if ur like super anal. I mean u could just throw some pellets in a reactor and I'm sure u will be fine. BUT if ur trying to find out exactly how many pellets u need to use, u need to test nitrates. U don't want to keep adding more if ur already at 0. Strip ur water too much and corals will start looking like poo


Hot Dogs are GOOD!

 

[SAKTEK]

Aye aye captain!!! Thanks for the info. Your tank still coming in this week?


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[Six2seven]

Hey nick what about when the pellets breakdown over time? I see what you mean about finding the right amount for your tank but what about when they dissolve over time and it's gets to about half of what you had, is it less effective? And will adding more at once increase the nitrate and phosphate consumption. I'm too lazy to research the big forum myself lol

 

[SAKTEK]

Hey nick what about when the pellets breakdown over time? I see what you mean about finding the right amount for your tank but what about when they dissolve over time and it's gets to about half of what you had, is it less effective? And will adding more at once increase the nitrate and phosphate consumption. I'm too lazy to research the big forum myself lol

Yeah Nick. What he said lol


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[SchnitzelReef]

Hey nick what about when the pellets breakdown over time? I see what you mean about finding the right amount for your tank but what about when they dissolve over time and it's gets to about half of what you had, is it less effective? And will adding more at once increase the nitrate and phosphate consumption. I'm too lazy to research the big forum myself lol

If u wanna do it right, u should keep an eye on ur nitrates. As the pellets start "dissolving" over time, ur nitrates will start creeping back up. So add more pellets until ur nitrates hit zero again. The ONLY way to know is by monitoring ur nitrates. Well that's according to my research and personal experiences.


Hot Dogs are GOOD!

 

[Lacktaters]

I got my nitrates down to zero with biopellets and had a massive outbreak of dinoflagellates...worst experience of my reefing career! Even worse than GHA. More biopellets is not always better. PO4 is public enemy #1 when it comes to algae, and it's much more difficult to eliminate than NO3.

 

[Six2seven]

If u wanna do it right, u should keep an eye on ur nitrates. As the pellets start "dissolving" over time, ur nitrates will start creeping back up. So add more pellets until ur nitrates hit zero again. The ONLY way to know is by monitoring ur nitrates. Well that's according to my research and personal experiences.


Hot Dogs are GOOD!

Yea that's what I figured. Getting nitrates down is easy but keeping it at a reasonable stable level is the hard part. Too much testing and tinkering. Thanks for the input. I love this hobby.

 

[SAKTEK]

I got home yesterday, and noticed some of my corals are dying, a few are completely gone. The few zoas that I have are doing ok. I'm leaning towards my biopellet rx stripping the tank. Reason I believe this to be the case is, my fuge was covered with algae before my trip, now there isn't a trace of any algae whatsoever. Nitrates and phosphates read zero on my Red Sea test kits. Should I shut down the rx? Remove some of the pellets? BTW I'm also running gfo.


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[SAKTEK]

Can someone throw me a bone?


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[SPEARGUNHUNTER]

Hard to know bro, I would remove the Biop. And do a big WC..

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[lovingacans]

Take the gfo offline. We run pellets in every system and have found that running gfo with pellets is too much

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[SAKTEK]

Thanks guys for chiming in


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[Tangwich]

I was having similar problems with my tank about 5 months ago Raymond...corals weren't really dying but things just weren't on point in my tank. That's when I went back to basics and got rid of the gfo and the bp and now just do water changes and dose 2part and my tank is doing great finally. Not saying that everyone should ditch their bp and gfo, but it's a suggestion that if all else fails, go back to the fundamentals of the hobby. Good luck and I hope your issues get resolved.

BTW, I removed the bp, gfo, ac and ls all within a matter of like a couple of days and there were no issues as a result of that.