N/P reducing pellets (solid vodka dosing)

[DJREEF]

Originally Posted by hairy_frogfish

Can you please make a small schema with dimensions (how far is the pvc tube end from the bottom of the jar?)
Did you make holes on the side of the tube, or is it just as is?

I like this system very much

It sounds like the jar is one of those cheap glass vases with the cupped out bottom (like a shot glass) that you would get at Walmart, or Garden Ridge Pottery.

DJ

[DJREEF]

Originally Posted by tntneon

-hi simonskl ,

the manufacturer can't post any reply's anymore he said me , due to the fact that he isn't a sponsor of the forum and has commercial intrests.

And at the moment i can't find the time to ask him your questions on ower local forum , it is like 3 month's that i didn't visited ower local forum (only RC )

when i find the time i will ask him some questions , maybe you can send him a PM then he maybe can answer the questions ( if he check's his inbox here on RC , don't know ?) , BTW his name is jptenklooster

greetingzz tntneon

That's odd. He has had no trouble posting in the rice thread. I guess he isn't pushing his product over there, not that he could, really. It's kind of hard to compete with a $3 bag of rice.

DJ

[kernnell]

Originally Posted by djreef

that's odd. He has had no trouble posting in the rice thread. I guess he isn't pushing his product over there, not that he could, really. It's kind of hard to compete with a $3 bag of rice.

Dj

lol

[tntneon]

Originally Posted by DJREEF

That's odd. He has had no trouble posting in the rice thread. I guess he isn't pushing his product over there, not that he could, really. It's kind of hard to compete with a $3 bag of rice.

DJ

-I didn't knew that , can you post a link to that thread ?

-that's what he pm'ed me , that's really odd.
I think i gonna pm him again about this.

greetingzz tntneon

[DJREEF]

Originally Posted by tntneon

-I didn't knew that , can you post a link to that thread ?

-that's what he pm'ed me , that's really odd.
I think i gonna pm him again about this.

greetingzz tntneon

OK, lemme check through my deleted notifications.

Here you go - http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...6#post17420506

It's about halfway down.

DJ

[Rwpdunne]

I emailed the np bio pellets manufacture about the best way to run them and i got a reply
A nice gentel movment of the pellets trew the reactor

[Costazul]

I am seeing that some people are having issues to make the BP work. I just did this test, put the reactor out, flushed the water excess and dosed 2 capful of MB7 directly in the pellets, shake it and putted it back. I hope this will make the trick...

[daveonbass]

Originally Posted by Rwpdunne

I emailed the np bio pellets manufacture about the best way to run them and i got a reply
A nice gentel movment of the pellets trew the reactor

that's the problem...this is too vague. I think most people want to know a GPH per "x" amount of pellets. What I considder a gentile may be too much or too little flow. This is a terrible CS situation. I'd personally like something more specific.

as for the MB7. Ask DJ. I tried that and it had no effect on the pellets. They still never performed.

[tozzi]

Id like to start using the pellets. But... My skimmer is fed directly from my tank overflow, Then into my sump then back to tank. Problem is that i cant put the output from the reactor to my skimmr input. Anyone have a solution? What happens if i just run the reactor in my sump and let it go right to my dt?

[DJREEF]

Originally Posted by tozzi

Id like to start using the pellets. But... My skimmer is fed directly from my tank overflow, Then into my sump then back to tank. Problem is that i cant put the output from the reactor to my skimmr input. Anyone have a solution? What happens if i just run the reactor in my sump and let it go right to my dt?

Put them in a large mesh bag pond bag and drop them in your overflow. It sounds like you have a pretty ideal setup for doing this on the cheap.

DJ

[saltyliving]

I started Vertex BP about 5 days ago. I was previously vodka dosing for about a month. When I first started my skimmate completely flattened out. Some one said there might be oil on the pellets the will do that. Then i had the overflowing skimmer bc the bloom. No I have nothing. Im getting scared that im not skimming out anything.

Any Suggestions?
thanks

[DJREEF]

Originally Posted by saltyliving

I started Vertex BP about 5 days ago. I was previously vodka dosing for about a month. When I first started my skimmate completely flattened out. Some one said there might be oil on the pellets the will do that. Then i had the overflowing skimmer bc the bloom. No I have nothing. Im getting scared that im not skimming out anything.

Any Suggestions?
thanks

It'll do that. There seems to be an equilibrium point that gets reached. You simply have to dial your skimmer back up is all, or add more pellets (if you need to).

DJ

[saltyliving]

Thanks DJREEF. My Skimmer is run as high as it goes all im getting is wet bubble at the bottom of the cone, but no foam or crap.

[DJREEF]

Originally Posted by saltyliving

Thanks DJREEF. My Skimmer is run as high as it goes all im getting is wet bubble at the bottom of the cone, but no foam or crap.

Then you need to dial it back and wait. It'll start up again, just not like it was before.

DJ

[bertoni]

Originally Posted by tozzi

Id like to start using the pellets. But... My skimmer is fed directly from my tank overflow, Then into my sump then back to tank. Problem is that i cant put the output from the reactor to my skimmr input. Anyone have a solution? What happens if i just run the reactor in my sump and let it go right to my dt?

I think that I'd run the reactor from the sump, back into the sump, in that situation. If you were good with plumbing, you might be able to T the tank overflow into the reactor and then T back into the skimmer input, but I have no idea how to do that.

[Rwpdunne]

would it be worth checking the po4 and no3 of the water comming out of the reactor to see if thrtr is a differance in this and the tank water??

[bertoni]

You could try that, but I suspect the amount of phosphate and nitrate removed in a single pass is fairly small. I could be wrong, though.

[saltyliving]

Originally Posted by bertoni

I think that I'd run the reactor from the sump, back into the sump, in that situation. If you were good with plumbing, you might be able to T the tank overflow into the reactor and then T back into the skimmer input, but I have no idea how to do that.

this is the way my sump is set up. overflow into filter sock-chamber with skimmer-chamber with LR rubble-return chamber w/ pump that feeds reactor-reactor-out flow of reactor next to skimmer intake.

Does that make sense

I went ahead and added more pellets and skimmer is bubbling out clear skimmate again(thats what happen added when i first added the pellets). I will see what happens in the next couple day

[Tony Romano]

Originally Posted by daveonbass

interesting side note. Now that my QT tank is mimicing kernnall's design, just a big cup with them, the tank is ALREADY cloudy. I'm starting to think (may be premature) that the reactor I had with small diameter inlet and outlet was the cause of my failure...not enough flow. For 3 months everyone kept saying to give them less flow...and maybe they just needed more. Sadly that would require spending MORE MONEY on a new reactor that has larger fittings.

Frustrating isn't it? I've been struggling with this crap for years. I bet you are actually very close to good #s. How big is your system? How many fish? I have figured out in my cast I am way over the top for nutrients due to nonphotosythic corals and many fish.

Make a reactor out of PVC...or old Calcium reactor.

[daveonbass]

nah turns out I just kicked up a bunch of stuff while trying to fine tune the flow. Nothings happened to the numbers in that tank. Still 160 nitrates.

[bertoni]

Originally Posted by saltyliving

this is the way my sump is set up. overflow into filter sock-chamber with skimmer-chamber with LR rubble-return chamber w/ pump that feeds reactor-reactor-out flow of reactor next to skimmer intake.

I'm not quite sure what you mean, but I think it's likely fine.

[tozzi]

Originally Posted by DJREEF

Put them in a large mesh bag pond bag and drop them in your overflow. It sounds like you have a pretty ideal setup for doing this on the cheap.

DJ

Good idea but unfortunatly i have a glass holes overflowbox so i cant fit anything in it. Yeah i have the tank on first floor and the sump in my basement so the overflow goes right in to my deltec skimmer. Deltec actually recommends for this skimmer to be gravity fed like this right from the overflow.
I know your suppose to put the reactor right by the skimmer intake, but wouldnt the skimmer only catch a small part of the bacteria on the first pass anyway? once most of it makes it past your skimmer on the first pass its going in to your display. Just a thought.

[euromomtx]

I just had a thought on the previously mention in-tank bacterial bloom.

(actually I was being lazy and recreated it in my tank)
I am setting up a new tank. Broke the return pump while setting up the plumbing but wanted to start running it.
So I 'borrowed' the pump that feeds my skimmer to use as a return pump until the replacement comes in.
Figuring it takes 1-2 weeks for the pellets to colonize with bacteria I set up the pellet reactor for the new tank Monday knowing I wouldn't have the skimmer running until Thursday (4 days).
Well it didn't take the pellets that long to get bacteria.
Tank has been cloudy for the last 24 hours but here's my thoughts on this:

I've been watching the pH go down significantly. Couldn't the cloudiness be due to the the buffers struggling to keep pH up?
On the old tank I had the skimmer on all the time but I bet there's still stuff that bypassed it.
Could the cloudy tank some people experience be more of a symptom of pH dropping rather than a real bacterial bloom?

[sirreal63]

I think the ph drops because of the lack of dissolved oxygen, which is why the skimmer is important. It does help with aeration.

[euromomtx]

Yes I absolutely agree, Jack.

I was referring to some earlier posts about people experiencing what seemed to be a bacterial bloom in the tank after introducing BP.

I am now wondering if in fact it was not a bacterial bloom in the tank after all but rather some indication of insufficient aeration.
I did never intent to run them without a skimmer. Just figured they wouldn't kick in as fast as they did and I'd get a little grace period...

The photos posted of bacterial blooms just looked exactly like my tank struggling with the pH drop.
Both of course would be pellet related - just different explanations.

My thought was really more along the lines of:
maybe what appears to be a bacterial bloom in some tanks really is not a bacterial bloom at all but rather the typical cloudy tank syndrom when buffer is struggling to keep up.

That's all.
I thought I'd mention it in case it would clear up some questions (such as why do some people experience that 'bacterial bloom' and most others don't)

Based on my experience I would guess insufficient aeration could be a possible explanation for cloudy tank after NP pellet introduction