Bio pellets

[Rpalt1]

Does anyone use bio pellets? I've been ready alot about these and they seem very interesting If so what are your thoughts?

[creefer]

I think it really depends on the size, maturity, and bioload on your system. I tried them and they do what they're supposed to however I removed mine and my tank improved. I've considered starting them again, but will wait for a while. I suspect some of the issues I had were not attributable to the pellets, but the pellets caused some issues that could only have been a result of their use.

[Rpalt1]

ok I have a 29 gal tank thats 3 months old, can't get nitrates down below 40ppm. i have been doing bi weekly water changes with distilled water no ro/di yet from what your saying the tank is too young for bio pellets, correct?

[creefer]

I would solve your water problem first. Use RO/DI, not distilled. While distilled is better than tap, you're much better off using RO/DI. Hard to tell without knowing how you're stocked. I would work on other items first. My system is not much larger than yours and I do 10% weekly WC, FWIW.

[Rpalt1]

Gotcha, ro/di is next on my list -saving pennies lol i have 2 clownsand 2 yellow tail damsels and only feed very small amts every other day. I set the tank up with tap water that was the problem ok just tring to get as much education as possible thks

[MizTanks]

What are you using for filtration? Also what test kit are you using for nitrates?


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[BlackGrandPrix]

I would solve your water problem first. Use RO/DI, not distilled. While distilled is better than tap, you're much better off using RO/DI. Hard to tell without knowing how you're stocked. I would work on other items first. My system is not much larger than yours and I do 10% weekly WC, FWIW.

I am wondering why you are saying RO/DI is better than Distilled? They both produce pure water just a different process. Technically speaking if you have bad filters on an RO unit distilled will be purer. Anywho just wondering not really a big deal.

On a 29 gallon that should be pretty easy to get your nitrates under control.

What are your nitrates? Do a 50% water change each week until you have your levels where you want them. As you do that analyze what you are feeding and how much. Nutrients are coming from some where. How many fish?

I would not do biopellets on a 29 gallon. You do not have enough margin of error on a small system like that.

[Rpalt1]

The nitrates came from setting tank up with tap water. I do 2 10% w/c a week, I've brought the nitrates down from well over 100 to 40ppm. I'm using an API kit now but should be getting my salifert kit in the next few days.i don't have faith in api I have an hob marineland filter with chemipure elite and by recommendation some purigen.With all i have done it seems unlikely that nitrates aren't lower. hence i ordered salifert. i feed frozen mysis (hikari n pe mysis) only about a quarter of a cube thats all they consume and seem fine with it. as far as filtration I am thinking of either doing a hob fuge or a phosban 150 reactor with gfo/carbon but just doing things slow The frags i do have are fine,i even was given a piece of digitata for free and its growing nicely, albeit color hasn't shown yet. just want to learn water control before i start adding more. I have a decent clean up crew,4 bl hermits 5 turbos, 7 nassarius and 1 pepprmint shrimp, and one badass electric blue hermit[my fave] From reading forums seems like a turf scrubber is also a good idea but hard to make one hob style. I had floss in filter but felt that it was causing more problems than benefits. I also have been adding microbacter7 and reef biofuel. When i started adding those the frags really responded well with color and polyp extension I've been researching ro/di units but like everything in this hobby theirs alot of options .I am think a fuge would be good because A; i can make one with materials i have laying around and B; i can get a fairly good size one on my tank. I have thought about a diy hob scrubber but can't seem to come up with a good design yet

[BlackGrandPrix]

The nitrates came from setting tank up with tap water. I do 2 10% w/c a week, I've brought the nitrates down from well over 100 to 40ppm. I'm using an API kit now but should be getting my salifert kit in the next few days.i don't have faith in api I have an hob marineland filter with chemipure elite and by recommendation some purigen.With all i have done it seems unlikely that nitrates aren't lower. hence i ordered salifert. i feed frozen mysis (hikari n pe mysis) only about a quarter of a cube thats all they consume and seem fine with it. as far as filtration I am thinking of either doing a hob fuge or a phosban 150 reactor with gfo/carbon but just doing things slow The frags i do have are fine,i even was given a piece of digitata for free and its growing nicely, albeit color hasn't shown yet. just want to learn water control before i start adding more. I have a decent clean up crew,4 bl hermits 5 turbos, 7 nassarius and 1 pepprmint shrimp, and one badass electric blue hermit[my fave] From reading forums seems like a turf scrubber is also a good idea but hard to make one hob style. I had floss in filter but felt that it was causing more problems than benefits. I also have been adding microbacter7 and reef biofuel. When i started adding those the frags really responded well with color and polyp extension I've been researching ro/di units but like everything in this hobby theirs alot of options .I am think a fuge would be good because A; i can make one with materials i have laying around and B; i can get a fairly good size one on my tank. I have thought about a diy hob scrubber but can't seem to come up with a good design yet

Your water changes are not big enough to make a difference quickly.
Example for each each week
Starting Nitrates 100ppm 10% change goes to 90ppm. Then second one takes it to 81ppm assuming your nitrates did not go up.
Next week you are at 73ppm then 66ppm
3rd week you are at 60ppm and 54ppm
4th week you are at 49ppm and 45ppm

if you did 1- 50% change a each week
First week - 50ppm
Second - 25ppm
Third 12.5ppm
Fourth - 6.25ppm

Its all about percentages.

Have you tested your tap water or are you just assuming it came from there? API nitrate tests are pretty accurate in my book for a snapshot of where the tank sits. Stressing between Nitrates of 50 or 55ppm with a more accurate test is waste of money in my book.
How many fish do you have?

[Rpalt1]

4 fish and i tested tap after a mix and nitrates were off the chart

[creefer]

I am wondering why you are saying RO/DI is better than Distilled? They both produce pure water just a different process. Technically speaking if you have bad filters on an RO unit distilled will be purer. Anywho just wondering not really a big deal.


Not entirely true although close. If distilled water purity was equal to that of RO/DI, then labs and critical processes required pure water would be using distilled water. JMHO. Most processes I've seen with water that require purity use RO/DI. You can still have TDS in distilled water and you can still have po4 and no3 in distilled water. As you suggest, not that big of a deal as I think the problems the OP has are bigger than distilled vs. RO/DI.

[Rpalt1]

Well my suspicions were correct! I just got the salifert test kit in today and after doing 3 tests they all came in at between 10 and 25ppm! I did 3 tests with api and all were 40ppm The main reason for questioning api kit was the lack of an algae bloom. In the past with my old tank whenever my nitrates went over 40ppm i always had an algae bloom. i'm going to stick with salifert

[creefer]

Far better than API for sure. Glad you found it.