Bio Pellet Reactor Recirculating or Not ? ?

[ted]

Converted my old TLF phosban 150 media reactor to run Bio-Pellets last week.
I have a I-Tech skimmer 120gallon mixed reef. Nitrates go from 15ppm to 30ppm before next water change so trying to lower them.
I loaded reactor with about 5oz or 3/4th a cup or about 150ml(recommended amount is 12oz).
My question is after nitrates begin to drop can I just remove some pellets to control bacteria so nitrates arent stripped completely or do I need to buy a Recirculating reactor ?

 

[ted]

Sad site that no one replies to post. . .

 

[bkushy]

Good question. I have ordered one for myself but am afraid if I run it I will wipe out any food source for my snails and lawnmower blenny.

 

[carey]

Biopellet reactors will not strip any "food" for anyone. I ran one for some time on two of my tanks, one worked out ok and one I didnt see any difference. ( the one with no difference I prob didnt have a big enough reactor on)

I plan to buy a large one for my upcoming 180g setup.

 

[bill302]

To be honest with you the only thing I know about bio-pellets is it can take up to 8 weeks to work even if it works at all...Give me 8 weeks and I can fix the nitrate issues naturally. my reef tank runs at 0 ammonia, nitrites, nitrates & phosphates.. Its all in maintenance, feeding, stocking and prolly a few other things I'm forgetting......How old is your tank? what type of filtration do you have? what do you have in the tank? how often do you clean/change your filters? how often and how much water do you change out? How often and much do you feed? in these questions lays your problem...But you prolly didn't want to hear this....

 

[ted]

You are correct, I have too many fish in my tank but I dont want to reduce them so I would rather reduce Nitrates instead. Thanks for reply.
Heres current shot of my tank, plenty fish no?

 

[carey]

Bio-pellets will or should not reduce the water change schedule. You still have to do them to replenish the elements from the salt as they are consumed. Bio-pellets also can help with phosphate issues and help to keep them low.

Using bio-pellets does not just mean you can set it and forget it and leave the tank alone. lol Still plenty of maintenance to do.

But to specifically answer your first question, nope you do not remove any of the pellets, the way it works is bacteria eat the pellets and consume nitrates so if you mess with the pellets then you will lose the bacteria. It takes a few weeks to start working cause the bacteria is building up. The only time you mess witht the pellets is to replace them when the level gets low. One of the most important things when using them is to keep the same flow and not tinker with it at all.

Hope that helps a bit.

 

[ted]

Thanx Carey you're the best!
Would you care to join me in my next water change?