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melev

In spite of me, my reef keeps going

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I say that tongue in cheek, but in a way it's true. One of the best pieces of advice I got from Joe's 20,000g reef (video) was how he stays ahead of trouble before it happens, steering the 'ship' to avoid catastrophe. Fixing stuff post-wreck is far more expensive and time consuming.

Earlier this year, I explained how nitrates rose to extreme levels for no good reason. It just happened and I couldn't explain it. I did a number of things to get them back under control, and last Sunday's test showed them measuring 10ppm. That's much better than where they were a few months ago. However, I also did an alkalinity test and that number was much too high all of a sudden. Testing twice with my new Elos kit, it was 22 dKH again, like that other time last year. I have got to #1) commit to doing weekly tests once more, to avert swings like this one. #2 is already done - I removed the controller that was regulating the pH level in the reactor and replaced it with the type I've used for a decade. I honestly trust it (Milwaukee pH controller) far more and never had these issues with it. Alkalinity is down to about 15 dKH, as of my last test two days ago.

While checking things an hour ago, I discovered the biopellets weren't tumbling at all. As I opened the valve further, I saw something strange within the reactor so I quickly closed the valve again. When you have an inkling you may have toxic water about to be released into your living ecosystem, always stop the flow to investigate first.

Regarding a biopellet reactor: Besides visually making sure flow is moving the pellets at all times, it's important to remove the top plate every couple of months to clean it of trapped obstructions. Once trapped, that clogged perforated plate will stop the flow of water passing through the reactor too. Fishing out that top plate, I saw some odd lumps in the media which I scooped out by hand. Some pellets were trapped in a gelatinous slime, which is not what you want to see. Here's one cluster I dropped onto the floor next to me while working in the sump, initially.

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Biopellets are supposed to be a light beige, not this grey color. Here's a picture of brand new pellets.



Fortunately, I caught this early on before all the media was fouled. What occurs in zero flow is a plummeting of oxygen levels. It becomes anoxic which then breaks down further until it smells sulfuric as everything within rots. Only a couple of handfuls were ruined. I removed the entire reactor, poured all the media out into a large bowl, and rinsed it with more tank water until it was essentially clean again. Lots of sloughed material was rinsed away, leaving clean pellets I could use. Since the bulk of the media wasn't an obvious total loss, I rinsed with tank water to avoid killing the living bacteria within the pellets.

The reactor was rinsed clean, and refilled with used pellets as well as 500ml of new biopellets called BioSpheres, by Reef Octopus/Coralvue. Here it is, back in the sump running and tumbling again.

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I know for a fact the biopellets were why the nitrates came back down to manageable levels again. That's why I like them so much more than dosing vodka, vinegar or sugar. But it is something you have to make sure is running correctly to reap those benefits.

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Updated 05-29-2016 at 06:18 PM by melev

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  1. brotherd's Avatar
    22dkh! I'd about lose my s**t! Did you completely shut off the effluent and co2 to bring it back down? I'm guilty of walking away from the helm only to find weeks later that I have a great deal of work to do to get back on course as it were.
  2. melev's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by brotherd
    22dkh! I'd about lose my s**t! Did you completely shut off the effluent and co2 to bring it back down? I'm guilty of walking away from the helm only to find weeks later that I have a great deal of work to do to get back on course as it were.
    This happened about a year ago, and it was the same situation. And what i did was stop the CO2 tank entirely, so the tank can dissipate or absorb the Alkalinity for a few days until it's back down. Last time I brought it from 21 to 16 and kept it there about 6 weeks, then dropped it to 12 and kept it there. By avoiding a big drop, I figured the corals could adjust or adapt and work with me, which is what happened.

    So this time was the same, just let it lower, then resume CO2 gas entering the reactor. I also changed the melting point to 7.5 instead of the lower number 7.1 or less. This helps level things out.
  3. brotherd's Avatar
    Other than an actual high nitrate reading on a test are there any visual clues that would make you suspect a problem?
  4. melev's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by brotherd
    Other than an actual high nitrate reading on a test are there any visual clues that would make you suspect a problem?
    Which problem? If you are talking about anything being amiss, I saw the big staghorn and a couple of other SPS turning white and that prompted me to check things better. For some time, NO3 was measuring 7ppm so I never thought it was a nitrate issue. But when two kits confirmed they'd jumped to 180ppm in mere weeks, I had to get my hands wet and get those wrangled back under control again.

    I cleaned out the DSB in the refugium entirely, and did a bunch of water changes to get them down to 20ppm. I also restarted the biopellets at that time, knowing it would take a minimum of four weeks for them to start kicking in. About two months later, they definitely did their job. I need to water test tonight and get those results. Just glad I spotted the biopellet situation today before it had time to get even worse.
  5. brotherd's Avatar
    I guess that answers my question. I'm so remiss in testing anything except alk and calcium that I wouldn't know what a nitrate problem would look like. Currently I don't even have a nitrate or phosphate test as both expired so I tossed them. I'm glad you noticed the biopellet issue in time!
  6. melev's Avatar
    Tested nitrates today, and they measured 5ppm. Alkalinity is down to 13 dKH.
  7. brotherd's Avatar
    That's positive! Do you see any effects from those swings this time or is it too early to tell?
  8. melev's Avatar
    Everything seems oblivious, thankfully.