Warner Marine Now Has A Pellet Product

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by solitude127

It seems to have reduced. I feed my system twice a day. First, a few pinches of NLS pellets and second, a cube of Hikari Misys and a pinch of Ocean Nutrition formula 2 flakes.

If you have a measure of how much they've decreased then it might be time to replenish back to 750ml. It's going on 8 months since you've had them running and is possible they've decreased enough as to not keep up with the bio load. I wouldn't think that amount of daily food would have much of an impact on nutrients, especially if your fish are consuming most of it.

Side question, are you waiting enough time between feeding before you test PO4? I've noticed if I don't wait long enough there's enough nutrient in the water column to cause a false test.

[Buganddoug]

You need a very slow tumble. If you have them tumbling to fast you might be stripping the Bacteria away.

[poolkeeper1]

Originally Posted by drummereef

If you have a measure of how much they've decreased then it might be time to replenish back to 750ml. It's going on 8 months since you've had them running and is possible they've decreased enough as to not keep up with the bio load. I wouldn't think that amount of daily food would have much of an impact on nutrients, especially if your fish are consuming most of it.

Side question, are you waiting enough time between feeding before you test PO4? I've noticed if I don't wait long enough there's enough nutrient in the water column to cause a false test.

According to Jon Warner himself at the point of time getting close to a year of use you will get a buildup of Bacterial Bio-Mass that needs to be rinsed off the pellets and after doing so then replace the used pellets back to the original amount started with.
I have just gone through this process and after doing so the pellets are tumbling as good as they ever did and I am waiting for my new product to arrive to top off the reactor with new to the original amount I started with.
But in the mean time they have returned to keeping my Phosphate at very low 12PPB levels even at less than the desired amount of pellets in the reactor and I'm still feeding more than five times a day and heavy at that.
Great product that does just what is was designed to, And you can't beat the personalized service from Jon.
Bill

[solitude127]

Originally Posted by drummereef

If you have a measure of how much they've decreased then it might be time to replenish back to 750ml. It's going on 8 months since you've had them running and is possible they've decreased enough as to not keep up with the bio load. I wouldn't think that amount of daily food would have much of an impact on nutrients, especially if your fish are consuming most of it.

Side question, are you waiting enough time between feeding before you test PO4? I've noticed if I don't wait long enough there's enough nutrient in the water column to cause a false test.

I usually test before I feed. I haven't checked in a couple of weeks so I'll report back.

Originally Posted by Buganddoug

You need a very slow tumble. If you have them tumbling to fast you might be stripping the Bacteria away.

I think the flow is low enough to get a decent tumble. If I open it up all the way, the pellets look like they're all over the place and if I turn it down a little, they don't tumble very much.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by solitude127

I usually test before I feed. I haven't checked in a couple of weeks so I'll report back.

Sounds good, interested to see the latest test results. Also, read Bill's post above - very good advice and could be part of the issue in play.

[MedicBMC]

For those of you that had refugiums w/ cheato how long after starting Ecobak did you take it offline? I'm about a week in and I don't want it to release nutrients back into my tank.
-Brice

[Kenfuzed]

Hey Brice, I think everyone has a different experience however I've never taken my refugium and chaeto offline. My chaeto is larger than a basketball and I thin it every other week. The main tank on the other hand has no visible algae, HA hasn't appeared in the tank for 7 months and nitrates are always zero. I've never experienced phos readings lower than 0.10 (hanna) but my corals seem to be doing just fine. Personally I like keeping the chaeto since it provides a large supply of pods to the tank.

I would just keep an eye on your chaeto and if it begins to die off simply remove as needed.

[danreefs]

How much flow do you need for the Pellets ?

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by danreefs

How much flow do you need for the Pellets ?

A minimum of 100gph but ideally enough to keep the pellets suspended in the reactor.

[solitude127]

Originally Posted by drummereef

Sounds good, interested to see the latest test results. Also, read Bill's post above - very good advice and could be part of the issue in play.

Took my PO4 today and it read 0.00 on my Hanna Checker. I'll add more pellets this weekend.

[drummereef]

Originally Posted by solitude127

Took my PO4 today and it read 0.00 on my Hanna Checker. I'll add more pellets this weekend.

Excellent.

[solitude127]

Should I rinse off my old pellets since I'll be adding more in? If I do, should I worry about a bacteria bloom when I put it back on line?

[gary faulkner]

Originally Posted by solitude127

Should I rinse off my old pellets since I'll be adding more in? If I do, should I worry about a bacteria bloom when I put it back on line?

According to Jon Warner himself at the point of time getting close to a year of use you will get a buildup of Bacterial Bio-Mass that needs to be rinsed off the pellets and after doing so then replace the used pellets back to the original amount started with.
I have just gone through this process and after doing so the pellets are tumbling as good as they ever did and I am waiting for my new product to arrive to top off the reactor with new to the original amount I started with.
But in the mean time they have returned to keeping my Phosphate at very low 12PPB levels even at less than the desired amount of pellets in the reactor and I'm still feeding more than five times a day and heavy at that.
Great product that does just what is was designed to, And you can't beat the personalized service from Jon.
Bill

[solitude127]

Originally Posted by gary faulkner

According to Jon Warner himself at the point of time getting close to a year of use you will get a buildup of Bacterial Bio-Mass that needs to be rinsed off the pellets and after doing so then replace the used pellets back to the original amount started with.
I have just gone through this process and after doing so the pellets are tumbling as good as they ever did and I am waiting for my new product to arrive to top off the reactor with new to the original amount I started with.
But in the mean time they have returned to keeping my Phosphate at very low 12PPB levels even at less than the desired amount of pellets in the reactor and I'm still feeding more than five times a day and heavy at that.
Great product that does just what is was designed to, And you can't beat the personalized service from Jon.
Bill

Thanks, but do I have to worry about a bacteria bloom if/when I do rinse?

[gary faulkner]

This response is actually from Poolkeeper. I couldn't get the double quote to work. Maybe he will chime in after a while.

[TheFishMan65]

You shouldn't. As I understand the bloom was from excess nutrients. Those should be gone now so nothing to create a bloom.

[drummereef]

Yes, along with higher nutrient levels means more bacteria in the water column which is what you see when the bloom happens. You shouldn't have a bloom when adding more pellets as FishMan stated.

[solitude127]

Thanks and I'll keep you guys posted on how it turns out.
I'm still running a fuge with chaeto, live rock, and a 5" sand bed because I figured two ways to export nutrients are better than one, but do you think that the fuge could cause the cyano problem I'm having? Maybe the macro algae is dying off creating even more nutrients in the water column?

[trondsbr]

I bought some EcoBak pellets about 2 months ago and have a couple of questions about the use and maintenance of them.
I run them in a Bulk Reef Supply Bio Pellet reactor. I am noticing that they are clumping together with what appears to be a tan to light brown slime. When they do this they stop tumbling and create a channel where the water just passes past them. Should I be taking them out and rinsing them? I have a maxijet 1200 pushing water through the reactor, do I need more flow? Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[gary faulkner]

I have been running the EkoBak for 3 weeks now. On the second day the pellets clumped like you are seeing and then again when I added more pellets. Each time they clumped I would open up the valve to allow more water to flow and remove some of the sticky stuff. Once I did this the clumping stopped and I returned them back to a slow tumble.

HTH

[trondsbr]

Thanks Gary, I've got the valve open all of the way, when it isn't open 100% they don't tumble at all. I might need to check the lines and make sure they are flowing properly. I emailed WM and they recommended rinsing them in tank water.

Their response
"Hello,

Those RO/DI filter cartridges don't make optimal reactors. But yes, I
would take them out and rinse them in aquarium water. The MJ1200 should be
just right for water flow, though...

Regards,

WM"

I may have to look into a different reactor, I would still like to use this one for carbon so it wouldn't be a big deal to get another.

I have noticed a huge increase in skimmate, dark and really smelly compared to the past. I have the pellet reactor outlet tubing sitting right on the suction of the skimmer so it is pulling that stuff in pretty efficiently.

[gary faulkner]

Originally Posted by trondsbr

Thanks Gary, I've got the valve open all of the way, when it isn't open 100% they don't tumble at all. I might need to check the lines and make sure they are flowing properly. I emailed WM and they recommended rinsing them in tank water.

Their response
"Hello,

Those RO/DI filter cartridges don't make optimal reactors. But yes, I
would take them out and rinse them in aquarium water. The MJ1200 should be
just right for water flow, though...

Regards,

WM"

I may have to look into a different reactor, I would still like to use this one for carbon so it wouldn't be a big deal to get another.

I have noticed a huge increase in skimmate, dark and really smelly compared to the past. I have the pellet reactor outlet tubing sitting right on the suction of the skimmer so it is pulling that stuff in pretty efficiently.

I totally agree with WM. But I can rinse in tank water without removing the pellets just by opening the valve because I have a much larger pump than the MJ 1200. You might want to look into a larger pump, the 1200 might be okay when running wide open but not large enough to do a "rinse". Oh yea, the change in the skimmate proves to me that they are working to remove some of the nasties even though I've only had them on line for three weeks. I'm running the larger reactor also. I think they call it the jumbo?

HTH

[poolkeeper1]

Well I received a Package from Warner Marine and was very surprised to find that Jon had sent me some Samples of many of his products that I was unaware he had!
There was some Potassium and a Product called Marine Snow That I thought i had crystal clear water until I added this to my tank and WOW was i Amazed at the Clarity that it produced. Plus some other Additives that all seem to be very high quality products.
Now to answer the ?? about a Bacterial Bloom after cleaning and topping off your Pellets. I have Not had any side effects of any kind since doing so. I have received my replacement pellets and saw just how much the original pellets had decreased in size! I would say they were almost 50% smaller than the New ones that i bought to top off the reactor. Good stuff IMO and I will continue to use this as It is the most Cost effective Product I have tried so far.
Bill

[Buganddoug]

Yes I only use Warner Marine additives. I do think they are the best. I have used most in 16 years in this hobby.
Daniel

[GT_Jacket]

There was some Potassium and a Product called Marine Snow That I thought i had crystal clear water until I added this to my tank and WOW was i Amazed at the Clarity that it produced.

Bill - I have the KZ Potassium test kit. Hard to read, but next time we hook up I will bring it. D&D salt is NSW for potassium (~380). Also, there is some belief that needle wheel skimmers remove potassium over on the Zeovit forum.

The marine snow sounds similar to zeo's coral snow. Does it fog/cloud the water at 1st and then become crystal clear?

Brett