My Vertex Bio Pellet Nightmare

[jerl77]

I think it the beer not the phone lmao

haha, your droid x, spell check is making you sound like u need "Hooked On Phonics"

Sent from my DROIDX using Reefs

 

[CHEMCHEF]

chem really sorry to hear, the smell you had was where the bacteria went anorobic sp ?

Yes I figured this. Just thought I would mention how bad the smell was.

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Sorry to hear Chef. With the Biopellets, when using them on an established system, always start at 1/2 the dosage and slowly add more over the next few weeks. This creates much less of a shock to the chemistry of the system.

Also, even though it may have seemed to be tumbling okay in the TLF reactor, the flow and tumble changes very quickly over the course of a few days because the bacteria will start to clog. That is why we always recommend either the Vertex UF or the NextReef SMR1. These guys have very large ports for flow and do not get clogged. One of the biggest problems is once the TLF reactor gets a little clogged, you start to build up anaerobic bacteria that really messes things up.

I only started with 130ml.
I also checked the movement each day.
I was very careful and researched as much as I could about running these correctly.

 

[ryangrieder]

Hmm....I'm curious about something with this...but this goes to asking everyone, so ill start a new thread about it. But, was ONLY sps and acans effected by this?

 

[CHEMCHEF]

I haven't used the pellets yet myself and I wasn't aware of the potential clogging issue but it makes sense that that is where the issue is. This sounds a lot like using zeolite with a reactor (since they are essentially the same) so extra care should be taken when starting it's use in an established tank.

Of all the different medias for0 this type of filtration, I've heard the most positive feedback from the biopellets, so I wouldn't write them off just yet. Just let the tank recover for a little while then try again with a smaller volume of pellets.

I am not going to try these again. It's just not worth it. Things in my tank were not that bad.
a little hair algae vs. Dead Coral.... I'll take the hair algae.

 

[reefmaniac]

Hmm....I'm curious about something with this...but this goes to asking everyone, so ill start a new thread about it. But, was ONLY sps and acans effected by this?

I only had SPS affected by the pellets, Thank god my acans didn't go as well

 

[Widdy]

one of the biggest problems i have seen with the use of the pellets, if there is a 100 people that have issue's with the pellets 99 of them arent using the correct reactor

Seems like the trend, Rick. People just pulling their carbon/GFO out of the TLF reactors and putting BPs in its place and off to the races. I've ran BPs twice, first time with a modded Vertex Zeovit Reactor (mesh mod) and second time a Vertex UF15 (currently running)... and never <knock on wood> seen any major issues.

 

[NYreefNoob]

pellets

i will say this i did have a lenghty convo with chem before he started the pellets

as far as acans and zoa's and other lps, all my lps is doing very well, chalices and acans and bourbanki,zoa's, most have tenticles out 80% of the time which i never had before the pellets, so my assumption is there is a constant food source in the water column they are feeding on, btw i have bridsnest also that is growing at quite a fast rate

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Yeah,, I spoke with Rick at lenth before trying the pellets. His advice was sound, and I new going into this it was a gamble. As any new regimen could be.
I do appreciate you taking my call. I felt like I was talking to an old friend. So Thanks Rick. You are tops in my book!
As for now. Things are just getting worse. Another two peices that had lost most of their color are now starting to have tissue loss.
So I have mixed 25 gallons of ESV SW and will be doing a 25 gallon change on my 34 gallon tank. I will leave it for a month or so after that and see what happens.
I really don't know what else I can do at this point.
I took me years to learn how to get good color on my sps and learned how to destroy them in less than 4 weeks.
I'm almost ready to pack it in. If it were not for this community and the lira meetings I would pack it in for sure.

 

[NYreefNoob]

chem chit happens to all of us in one form or another, trust me, been in worse case scenerio's myself, complete tank crash, and np on the convo, was all my pleasure

 

[mellotang]

Same thing happened to me on a fully establishes 150 SPS tank. It took me about 4 months to even be able to keep SPS alive again in the system. I let the tank run without carbon or GFO for a while after removing the Vertex bio pellets.

Good luck!

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Did a 25 gallon water change today. I'll see what happens now.

 

[batt600]

Lmfao . This post is to funny

 

[kres1024]

i was thinking of trying the bio pellets on my 90reef i have a new reef octo 110 and pellets from bulk reef supply but now after reading this thread im skeptical,
anyone have any advice or a good experience using the bio pellets?

 

[LatinP]

I've yet to see anyone have sucess with a two little fishes reactor for pellets and BRS reactors have a high fail rate too. Get yourself a Vertex reactor for pellets or skip on the idea all together. I haven't tried em and prob won't, my motto: if it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[kres1024]

I've yet to see anyone have sucess with a two little fishes reactor for pellets and BRS reactors have a high fail rate too. Get yourself a Vertex reactor for pellets or skip on the idea all together. I haven't tried em and prob won't, my motto: if it ain't broke don't fix it.

Have a new reef Octo laying around so figured id try it but if it's gonna cause more harm than good,Ill leave it in the box for the dust to collect....

 

[rrcg50]

i run wm pellets on my breeder setup and have had no problems at all. fortunately i do not have any corals in there so i am not sure what it will do to them.

 

[CHEMCHEF]

Everything that was not already having tissue loss is lookig better.

 

[Awibrandy]

So sorry J!;( May all be well, and recover quickly from here on.....XOXOXOXO