Carbon dosing - method testing started

Along with what type of reactor, what kind of pellets did you use? I couldn't seem to find that either.

 

Hi Lynnw1208

the reactor I used was an Aqua Excell model
it has a cone shaped plastic disc in the base to help create a cyclone type through through the reactor, which helps keep them moving

thanks sticksmith23
the pellets I used are N and P brand bio pellets

Steve

 

I feel its about time to end experiment 1, strip down the set ups
and re set them up, allowing rock to become colonized with the various algae once again and then re setting the experiment up in a different order

images as of this morning
lights only on for 20 mins at time images captured so corals not as fully open as they can be

you will notice that the bleaching has almost completely been reversed and as such these 4 coral colonies are very similar now, and this will help ascertain reactions in the various environments being created

some final images of the set up for later comparison purposes


GFO set up


Vodka set up


Bio fuel set up


Pellets set up


GFO close up


Vodka close up


Bio Fuel close up


Pellets close up



as I am sure you can see

overall cleanest set up is the Bio Pellet one
The GFO one is 2nd IMO although its very close with the Vodka set up
The Vodka set up is 3rd IMHO
The Bio Fuel set up is 4th ( the most species of algae still remaining including on the sand bed


tanks will be stripped down
sand from tanks 1, 2 and 4 will be discarded
sand with algae from tank 3 , will be rinsed slightly in tank water and then added to all 4 tanks over the top of a new dry sand bed
rockwork - will be removed from all 4 tanks and then split in order to ensure a relatively even starting situation ( some algae covered rock will be added to all 4 tanks)
100% new salt water will be used

carbon dosing, GFO and Pellets etc, will not be run, whilst allowing the set ups to return to former unglory, at which stage experiment will be run again

this time
Tank 1 - Vodka
Tank 2 - GFO
Tank 3 - pellets
Tank 4 - bio fuel

that way the 2 better performing methods on 1st test, will be placed in worse case scenario in terms of lighting , they will be under the middle of the lamps where the light output is greater

Steve

 

Awesome job. I'm sold on the pellets now, but was hoping for the vodka lol. It will be interesting to see how the new setup will do.

 

Amazing...I'm gonna be getting a biopellet setup running soon lol. Do you think it will out compete my fuge or just suck up the remaining nutrients?

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

Thank you sticksmith23
based on my limited experience with them so far, I would say that seems to be a smart choice on your part

if your running a fuge and still have nutrient issues, then they may well compliment the work being achieved there

 

Thanks for that! Where did you get it? I did a google search and can only find the calcium reactor by them. I can't wait to see pt 2 of this experiment!! It worked great the first time!

 

I got mine in country of origin, China ,but I know they are producing for export
so hopefully very soon, you will find the reactor where you are

Steve

 

Hey steve, next time you run this experiment, can you try something like vinegar instead of Reef Biofuel?

I thought that reef biofuel needs brightwell's neozeo zeolite media to function properly.

 

Thanks Mikey

I will certainly try out Vinegar in a future experiment
but this time around, I want to find out for myself, if the additional light on the 2 central tanks made a significant difference to the performance of the Bio Fuel and also the weaker light on the end tank, contributed to the better performance of the pellets
thus reversing the set ups these media are used in, should help me ascertain, if its the product, or the conditions the product was used in, that was key to results last time

re read the Bio Fuel label, cannot find anything indicating it would be more effective with AN other product or media in use

Update

stripped them down yesterday, and rinsed all equipment
fell short on amount of salt water mixed, (NB used tapwater in order to assist in feeding algae etc) mainly due to discarding a couple of pieces of the worst algae infested rock, compensated for short full with a couple of gallons shared amongst all 4 tanks with water in rock holding tub, which came from GFO set up (so no carbon dosed water from either set up has been re used in these tanks)
all rock was kept in 20 gallon bucket , in the water from GFO tank, whilst new water and sand bed was added to tanks
rock was then distributed amongst the set ups to give a similar mass and also a similar amount of starting algae
2 table spoons of algae sand from the Bio Fuel tank was then added to each tank

I am prepared to switch rock about in order to keep set ups looking consistent

images taken this morning
Tank 1


Tank 2


Tank 3


Tank 4


I will ghost feed these set ups
expose them to natural light
and do all the wrong things as I did 1st time around in order to get them algae infested as quickly as possible

Steve