Biopellet reactors, worth it? Share your experiences

I'm debating picking up a biopellet reactor for my 90 gallon tank. I've heard some good things and some not so good things about the reactor. I do have a Reef Octopus NWB150 (rated to 150 gallons) for skimming out the effluent. I'm just curious if this is something I should add to the system. I'm working on my own DIY LEDs right now to start housing more corals. I do have two LED 100W pendants currently live on the system.

 

If anything, don't get a CAD Lights Reactor unless you feel like modifying it beyond belief to function. I love it now...but I had to completely re-plumb it, threw the POS pump that came with it in the trash, and am running a Mag7 to push the pellets to a tumble.

Bio pellets do work...sometimes too well. I am trying to source a liquid PO4 supplement that I can dose daily as food is getting expensive. Maybe someone can chime in on a PO4-rich food. I even switched to IO salt...still 0.00.

 

I'm still trying to figute out, from a physical point of view, why the pellets have to 'tumble' to work properly. Doesn't make sense to me really, if the water is moving past them, and the cannister is shaken every few days, what the difference?

 

Im running Dr. Tims pearls in a CPR nano Tumbler and love it. I just started, so they arent quite working to their full potential yet.

 

Constant release of over grown bacteria. If you shake it, it puts a huge waste load on your system, instead of a constant, slow load.

 

I keep thinking I'm doing something wrong. I run Ecobak pellets and have had them running for at least 4 months now and I still have nitrates.....I run them in a modded TLF reactor and at the perfect tumble, and the nitrates do not budge. Is it worth it? I can't definitively answer that question.

 

I just clean the glass once or twice a day, so I know I have some extra nutrients... and I do have chaeto growing rather well in the sump. I just don't want a build up of nutrients like I had in the Biocube. It led to a massive algae outbreak that finally got fixed by switching to the 90 and microwaving the rocks. I understand I need to watch my feeding and all that, but I like feeding the fish. I just feed them regularly throughout the day (not necessarily "excessive").

 

so you don't want to feed that much? are you wanting to know whether to add pellets, I'd say no....imo....extra nutrients that require a couple wipes of the glass and your parameters are good, you don't need pellets.....anyone else here not have any notable improvements with pellets? Honestly speaking.....I know many people comment that they've been using for years with positive results but it's probably because they do good husbandry not because of pellets. I'm finding there are other products out that that also claim to keep nitrates in check, but really after about 4 months of using them, and admitted they did bring them down from high but also I did other things that could have well done that.....I really would like to hear honest results (if you did not start with a high PO4 and NO3) - I never remember the scientific - first is phosphate and second should be nitrate.

 

I stop using my reactor 5 month ago, and all load go now on refugium. Like my refugium much more then reactor. Have no po4 also

 

Algae scrubber. I'm not sure why they're not extremely popular, I plan on getting one soon enough.