Blog Comments

You can buy certain brands of them on any of the major reefing website. I like marine depot and bulk reef supply the best. I think it still may be tough to find the WM brand that I am using. They say its something to do with packaging, I dunno...sounds fishy. Probably legal issues or something, but I don't want to start any rumors I really have no idea. I did however see a post on a forum with them for sale here:

http://premiumaquatics.com/store/mer...Category_Code=

Wow, this definitely seems to be something to think about.

Wow, thats awesome! Thanks for the info. Where can I get some of the pellets?

Let me ask you this: Could it be used in the larger TLF Phosban Reactor that came out about a year ago? Or does it have to be even bigger than that to hold the necessary media for a tank the size of mine?

When I asked John Warner how much media should be used on a 125 (the size of my tank) he told me that 500ml would be just enough. Most larger tanks I have been reading about using the pellets however seem to be starting with 1000ml and getting positive results. I think the only need to add more to a larger system is so that it doesn't dissolve too quickly. I would probably start with 1000ml and go from there. I could actually fit 1000ml in my small PM reactor if I wanted to, but it might be a tight squeeze. I wouldn't think an enormous reactor was necessary, but then again couldn't hurt.

Did you run it and dose vodka for a while until it broke in?

Yes I was originally dosing 20ml of vodka daily and the first week using the pellets I continued that dose. The second week I cut it down to 10, then the third was down to 5, and finally the fourth week was no vodka at all. I never noticed a spike in nitrates so I assume the pellets took over the responsibility of the vodka.

What about the desire for a refugium? After all, it still is a safe zone for pods to breed which provides live food to the reef tank via the return pump's flow.

Personally, if I had the room for a fuge I would run one, but i'm contained to the space under my stand. Although, I would probably choose to avoid the hassle of growing and harvesting cheato.

Since the carbn will flow in the water to the bacteria, wouldn't it be the same as dosing vodka? It seems to be safer than using vodka for sure. Will it not cause the slime in the tank? Why?

The pellets don't actually release carbon to my knowledge into the water. Instead the bacteria cultures inside the reactor because it is feeding off the pellets and using what it needs as it needs it. With vodka you are using the water column to distribute and feed the bacteria, with bio-pellets you are "bringing" the bacteria to a centralized location where it can consume the nutrients from the water that passes through, but all from within the confines of the reactor. I used to have bacterial slime all over my tank because of vodka dosing and I can attest that about a month and a half in to using the pellets it is all gone.

Since the carbn will flow in the water to the bacteria, wouldn't it be the same as dosing vodka? It seems to be safer than using vodka for sure. Will it not cause the slime in the tank? Why? Thanks, just trying to understand. ;-)

Let me ask you this: Could it be used in the larger TLF Phosban Reactor that came out about a year ago? It's a bigger beast. Or does it have to be even bigger than that to hold the necessary media for a tank the size of mine? I'm thinking I'll have to buy a used Calcium Reactor to run it, or build a gizmo myself.

Did you run it and dose vodka for a while until it broke in?

What about the desire for a refugium? After all, it still is a safe zone for pods to breed which provides live food to the reef tank via the return pump's flow.

I edited the above link so it goes to your other entry. That link you used gave me a 404 error.

If you need to find your article in the future, just know it is in the Product Review category from the front page.

very interesting

What an honor Your going to be satisfied when you set them up on your new system, although its gonna take one big reactor and a ton of pellets to run a 400G! Yesterday I was looking at a jumbo reactor on bulk reef supply, maybe that would do the trick. Glad everyone likes the article, I actually wrote another little post-cap on how they actually work, unscientifically of course.

http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...s-Work?bt=5166

Excellent write up. So good that it deserved front page billing on R.A.!

http://www.reefaddicts.com/content.p...o-Pellets-Rage

I'm excited to try it out myself, and will most definitely do so on my new system.

very nice.

Very nice article. I dose Vodka and may give this a try...