Hey there squareface: My system runs on biopellets and I have worked with them for approx 3 years. I'm not sure where you are in your consideration of biopellet, whether you are buying stuff now or running but here goes some pointers and happy to help with anything further:
Reactor: Identify a reactor that has a true recirculating ability such that you can control the (a) Tumble Rate and (b) Effluent Rate independently.
- my reactor is the ReefDynamics BPR 500 - the largest RD sold commercially before shutting down operations.
- It runs on an eheim pump and is plumbed to a manifold off my main return pump so the eheim's purpose in my case is to control only the recirc - not the water intake pressure or volume
- I customized the lid to a larger 1/2" line for effluent as opposed to stock 1/4" because in my case i needed More Effluent to get my system in harmony.
Media:
The basic premise here is the Media (biopellet) is a biodegradable polymer that bacteria colonizes on and the bacteria serves to reduce Nitrate and Phosphate. I tried several brands until settling on my current All-In-One Biopellet [
https://www.dvh-import.com/portal-product/all-in-one-biopellets]. These pellets are coated with a GFO that aids in the reduction of Phosphates. The other brands I used, first was a blend sold by ReefDynamics, when they went out of business i stopped buying those. I then Tried TLF Brand, as well as Dr. Tim's. Not saying that my experience with these media brands is universally true to every system; but i had problems with TLF and Dr Tim's leading to a MASSIVE amount of biomass clogging the reactor. To this day i don't know entirely if it was 100% brand related or what...but i can say since i swtiched to AIO i no longer have this issue, and believe me it was a ROYAL PITA. I had to break down the reactor weekly to flush the lines, pump, fittings, bad scene.
Reactor Maintenance: as noted above you need to keep the reactor lines and pump clean of excess biomass, other than that, you will need to Top Off Media as needed. The Media 'degrades' over time as the pellets are 'consumed'. You will find that the AMOUNT OF MEDIA serves two purposes (1) how the reactor runs and (2) the potential nutrient reduction in your system. (1) the reactor needs some weight of the media to keep the TUMBLE rate consistent within the reactor and (2) well honestly a properly designed reactor you can control your nutrient reduction rate by way of the effluent - and of course your system bioload and husbandry feeding/etc
Getting Started:
- First know whether your system will benefit from biopellet; i.e., what are your NO3 and PO4 levels, how does this impact your livestock. In my case 50-100ppm NO3 and .1 PO4 when i started biopellets (and this was well before i introduced SPS).
- Get a solid skimmer, the skimmer serves to further eliminate the BIOMASS from the effluent of the biopellet reactor. I prefer to have the BPR plumbed Directly to the Skimmer Intake. Your Skimmer will freak out of course, but stay with it.
- Turn off your UV for a week or so if you have one.
- You will read about folks 'wiping out their system' by having too many biopellets too fast, etc etc. well yes, going slow helps, but so does a proper reactor so you can adjust the effluent rate. Think of the effluent rate as the pace in which you are adding a "carbon dose" to your system... too fast and you will deplete nutrients perhaps too rapidly, too slow and you won't put a dent in the nutrient level.
- Always soak your media in RO over night before adding to BPR, this weights the pellets down so they dont float in the reactor
- You should also dose Bacteria (MB7 for example) to kickstart the bacterial population.
- Measure nutrient levels every couple days and try not to adjust the reactor too much
- After a 2 -6 weeks you should notice the reduction in nutrients, then need to tune your reactor accordingly
Plumbing: put the reactor where ease of maintenance and clean line of sight to the media chamber and all components is practical for maintenance and observation
Balance: you are balancing the rate in which you Export Nutrients with the rate in which your system Produces Nutrients. not unlike an ATS or Fuge, or Vodka or Vinegar, the BPR serves as a Nutrient Export for your system. Folks that "strip their system" with biopellets probably missed this concept or at least abandoned the premise at some point and brought excessive imbalance to their system.
Why AIO: besides the mentioning of biomass problems, i have not had to run GFO since starting the AIO brand. prior to this i ran GFO on an as needed basis, which for me was over .06. Now i'm lower (well according to ICEP test and Hanna ULR and my system observations any way). I also can range from Undetectable to .5 NO3. I do dose Nitrogen if the system appears lacking in NO3; which i find to be a better approach than simply feeding more. I also find these pellets to be more durable in the reactor i.e. they tumble more consistenly and do not break down as rapidly. they are also heavier, so less likely to whip around the reactor.
BPR Tuning: the effluent controls your rate of nutrient reduction moreso than the amount of media although both factors contribute. Like anything the NO3
O4 is a balance, you need some PO4 to further the reduction rate of NO3 and viceversa. Also, your media tumble rate should be aggressive enough so that ALL the pellets are fulidized and moving, yet gentle enough so that the pellets are not violently colliding and/or whipping around in your reactor. thats why you want a recirculating reactor as your two means of tuning the reactor EFFLUENT & TUMBLE RATE in INDEPENDENT fashion is the key to getting your reactor running properly.
It took me a couple months before my reactor kicked in meaning all the media was bacterially inocculated and doing its thing. I run my UV 12 hours per day now its a 57Watt unit in a 300g system. I maintain NO3 0-.5ppm ad PO4 .01-.06 and system is happy. I also dose bacteria (MB7 or other brand, a few times per week to keep a healthy and diverse bacterial population)
hope this helps, its a journey but it works.
-Greg
