David29price
Active Member
Hello, hoping I can get some burning questions answered. I’ve used a bio pellet reactor in the past with good success. I now have a much larger system (400 gallons) and have struggled to keep my nitrates down and find a reactor that works well.
I started with a smaller reef octopus and while it worked, it didn’t have enough capacity to handle my load. I upgraded to their larger unit but I struggled to get the bio pellets to churn well. No matter how big of a pump I used, the design of the unit prohibited enough flow in a way that would keep the balls from clumping up. I was also frustrated with how difficult it was to load new pellets into the uni. I switched to a different brand and went back to a smaller size with the idea I would have two units running in parallel to handle the heavier bio load. The design of the unit I went with is much better and much easier to service when it gets clogged up.
I’ve been running these two units now for three months but yet I’m still not seeing a reduction in nitrates. For a brief period last week I saw them drop to 52 and even did a water change to try to reduce them further yet , four days later my nitrates are back up to 60. I added additional bio pellets when I did my water change as I had consumed about one cup total.
I’m trying to understand is my flow too fast or too slow. Nowhere can I find good information on exactly how fast these things should tumble. I’ve read a few things that indicate they should not tumble too fast otherwise , the bacteria will not process properly and I’ve also read that if they tumble too slow, it won’t work either. Yet nowhere, can I find any video or example that actually shows you the proper tumble rate.
The other thing I’ve noticed overtime as well is that I always have a certain amount of pellets that are much darker in color as you can see in the left reactor. To me, this seems to be an indication of live bacteria living off those pellets. If that’s the case, why isn’t their bacteria living on all the other pellets?
I’m not adding any additional carbon source and as mentioned, I did not have this issue with the smaller reactor prior or on a prior system.
At the moment I’m beyond frustrated and all of my choral is pretty much dead because I haven’t been able to keep my nitrates low enough. I know there are other solutions on the market such as sulfur reactors and I’ve used those as well on different systems. I’m at a point where I do not want to buy yet more equipment when I know this should be working.
Appreciate any feedback you might be able to provide. I’ve attached a video, showing my current tumble rate, and you can see the color of the pellets in the left reactor as I mentioned.
I started with a smaller reef octopus and while it worked, it didn’t have enough capacity to handle my load. I upgraded to their larger unit but I struggled to get the bio pellets to churn well. No matter how big of a pump I used, the design of the unit prohibited enough flow in a way that would keep the balls from clumping up. I was also frustrated with how difficult it was to load new pellets into the uni. I switched to a different brand and went back to a smaller size with the idea I would have two units running in parallel to handle the heavier bio load. The design of the unit I went with is much better and much easier to service when it gets clogged up.
I’ve been running these two units now for three months but yet I’m still not seeing a reduction in nitrates. For a brief period last week I saw them drop to 52 and even did a water change to try to reduce them further yet , four days later my nitrates are back up to 60. I added additional bio pellets when I did my water change as I had consumed about one cup total.
I’m trying to understand is my flow too fast or too slow. Nowhere can I find good information on exactly how fast these things should tumble. I’ve read a few things that indicate they should not tumble too fast otherwise , the bacteria will not process properly and I’ve also read that if they tumble too slow, it won’t work either. Yet nowhere, can I find any video or example that actually shows you the proper tumble rate.
The other thing I’ve noticed overtime as well is that I always have a certain amount of pellets that are much darker in color as you can see in the left reactor. To me, this seems to be an indication of live bacteria living off those pellets. If that’s the case, why isn’t their bacteria living on all the other pellets?
I’m not adding any additional carbon source and as mentioned, I did not have this issue with the smaller reactor prior or on a prior system.
At the moment I’m beyond frustrated and all of my choral is pretty much dead because I haven’t been able to keep my nitrates low enough. I know there are other solutions on the market such as sulfur reactors and I’ve used those as well on different systems. I’m at a point where I do not want to buy yet more equipment when I know this should be working.
Appreciate any feedback you might be able to provide. I’ve attached a video, showing my current tumble rate, and you can see the color of the pellets in the left reactor as I mentioned.
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