Best Vodka Pellets?

kungfujoe · Oct 29, 2010

well i been using the ecko back ones also.. and i heard that the bacteria cultures on the pelets them selves do feed the corals.. im not sure if the other brands do the same but im pretty sure they do..

kungfujoe · Oct 29, 2010

well it actually took about 5 months for me to see any real significant changes.. but after that period everthing seems really stable..

Bigevill1 · Nov 2, 2010

I am using the eco-bak pellets and 3 months in I am starting to see some of my SPS that were brown show some real color.

kuyatwo · Nov 2, 2010

I have used vertex pellets for couple weeks now with no cyano. I converting over from zeovit

mizzoumed02 · Jan 20, 2011

I started using the EcoBak pellets back in Aug. I'm not going to lie, I did have a small cyno out break about 3 weeks into it. I was able to get it taken care of and since then, I've had no problems. All my corals look Great. I was using Zeovit for the two years before and like it, just didn't like the daily dosing. I had a few friends using the pellets and said they were getting the same results as the Zeo except you didn't have to dose different things every day. So, I took the plunge and tried it. As far as my reactor, I'm using my old Zeo reactor and have not had a problem yet. As far as why I went with Ecobak over the others came down to customer service from Warner Marine, and the claims that you only have to add a few new pellets every 18 to 20 months. So, well see how they work and if the claims are true.

Jcr's Reef · Jan 20, 2011

Is it just a certain brand name that reefers are experiencing cyano?

nixer · Jan 20, 2011

Jcr's Reef said:
Is it just a certain brand name that reefers are experiencing cyano?

form everything i have read no, because some ppl get cyano with one and not another brand, but at the same time others see the opposite result. some get cyano and started using MB7 and it went away others it just went away on its own.

i really think that everyone has different bacterias in their tanks. some out compete cyano and others the cyano out competes other bacterias.

pickupman66 · Jan 20, 2011

I am using Ecobak. I had Nasty cyano whe using straight vodka. I have smoe high Phosphates now and getting them down with GFO. I am getting some Cyano growth now 4 weeks into my pellets. I have had bad hair algae and it seems to be growing on top of it as it is dying due to I have the phosphates at .03ppm and zero nitrates.

FishLipz · Jan 20, 2011

Started using Ecobak when I set up my new tank a few months ago. No cyano, no phosphates, no nitrates yet. I also do 10% weekly H2O changes. I feed heavy and have 4 tangs, and a valentini puffer (all poo machines) as well as 3 wrasses, a bellus angel, a couple anthias and a big fat green mandarin. I'm happy so far.

opaka · Jan 23, 2011

I've been using the Bulk Reef bio pellets, in a BRS bio pellet reactor. I've had great results so far, I feed my fish and corals heavily and have no hair algae issues at all.

Only advice I can give is to make sure you put close to the accurate amount of bio pellets in relation to your tank volume. I know they say that bacterial blooms are possible, but I think in my case by adding too many bio pellets, it caused a huge bacterial bloom which made my xenia start to melt and I had a red planet frag start melting. Once I did a large water change and reduced the amount pellets in my reactor everything cleared up and my xenia came back and is growing well again.

droblack · Jan 23, 2011

I've been using the SWC pellets. Started around August 2010. Seems like 1/2 are already gone already, and algae has started to kick back in. Did lower my nitrates and phosphates initially, think I need more. No ill effects.

Pizzapro83 · Jan 23, 2011

I had the same problem rev. I tried everything. MB7 worked wonders for me. You should try it out

kingfisherfleshy · Jan 23, 2011

I am also interested in which ones everyone thinks are the best.

I am trying to keep some larger, high waste fish in my reef, and h2o changes will be large and frequent, I need something to keep down nitrates and phosphates at all times to keep my corals healthy and vibrant.

Have a lot of interest in these products, but have heard that some people think they might come with negative side effects. They werent described to me in a manner where I was too turned off at the idea, but they raised a good point that little testing has been done with a lot of these products.

Mr.Firemouth · Jan 24, 2011

I am a fan of "phosballs" by Seaslug.
The reason? No clumping, they tumble fantastically and are smaller in size so they have more surface area for bacteria.