Since I wasn't using my Phosban Reactor anymore, I decided to use that as my reactor. It's a quick mod, in which the foam inserts are replaced with mesh inserts (my inserts were made by Two Little Fishies). I replaced the previous pump as it did not provide enough flow for the bio pellets. I used a Maxijet 1200, instead.
The best location for a Bio Pellet Reactor is to have its out take as close to the skimmer's intake as possible. I decided to place the reactor's pump inside my overflow, and its out take is place down the overflow's drain, which feeds directly into my skimmer.
The pump barely fits into the overflow, however, I had to mod the tank's rim slightly to get it to fit.
Once that was trimmed, I was able to slide the pump into the overflow. I then connected the hoses to complete the Bio Pellet Reactor assembly.
There's one more mod I needed to do, however, as I could no longer place the overflow lid on top. The lid prevents snails from crawling down my overflow, so it needs to be there. I modded the lid to accomodate the pump's hose and power cord.
As well, the lid to one of the overflow's PVC plumbing was modded to accomodate the Bio Pellet Reactor's out take.
I turned on the pump to test for leaks. Works like a charm!
Just an update... the Bio Pellet Reactor has only been running for the weekend, however, I already see much improved polyp extension on my SPS corals.
ReplyDeletemake sure to go incredibly slow with the pellets addition as the tank can't handle the sudden change that the pellets provide...also, make sure the output is very close to the skimmer intake!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Kat. I did a bit of research on running bio pellets and have heard a few unfortunate results because it wasn't introduced slowly into the system. I used half the recommended startup dosage and will double it after a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteJust an update... I doubled the amount of the bio pellets today and is now up to 50% of the amount recommended for the size of my tank. In two weeks, I will add another quarter. So far, the tank is responding well to the bio pellets.
ReplyDeleteAnother update... I added another 25% more bio pellets and is now at the 75% of the total volume that will be in there.
ReplyDeleteThe pellets have been running on my system for quite some time now and the water quality is great... a little too great, actually, as I'm seeing some adverse results from the corals.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that most of my SPS are fading in color. My research leads to the fact that because the water quality is so clean, the SPS are beginning to starve.
Today, I will begin feeding the tank a little heavier, adding SPS specific food to feed them, and adding some amino acids as well for the SPS.
Just an update... unfortunately, the use of bio pellets has had an adverse reaction on my SPS and most have gone through STN. I stopped running the bio pellet reactor a week ago.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I now have to do more research, as its a must that I run a ULNS (Ultra Low Nutrient System) due to my bio load. I am considering Ultralith or Zeovit.
I still haven't written the bio pellets off, as they did what they were supposed to, which is, to strip my water of Nitrates and Phospates. I believe my error is that I did not replace the bacteria once the water was stripped. This replacement is common with most ULNS. More research to be done.