Hi Gregg! All I can tell you is that I began using biopellets a few years ago. The hair algae is completely gone. BUT...I have struggled with dinos...or maybe it is just bacterial mats invading my tank. I stopped the bio-reactor last week and voila...the bacterial mats are dissappearing. BUT...the hair algae is coming back. I finally decided to buy a low range Hanna phosphate meter and measured my phosphate at 0.08 mg/l! I think I am going back to doing more water changes. When I had an automatic water changing system (5 gallons every day!) I had no problems with algae, dinos, etc. I am also going to convert my biopellet reactor back to a phosphate reactor with Iron Oxide phosphate absorbing material and closely monitor the phosphate levels. So my observations are that the biopelletws work, but not without deleterious effects. I think that using them in a fluidized bed reactor with low flow to establish an anaerobic environment is the more effective at nitrate removal than using them in a bag in your sump/filter. According to Randy Holmes article...phosphate export is better acheived with Iron Oxide, especially if your nitrate levels are already low or at zero. In addition the instructions on the biopellets say that aggressive protein skimming is essential to prevent bateria from entering your tank. My recommendation is to start out with less pellets than what is recommended while measuring phosphate and nitrate to monitor effectiveness. Then add more pellets and increase flow until you see a reduction in these level.
