Jim's Nuvo Mini 38

Bio Pellets

Jim,

I followed your thread when I bought my Mini 38 about 6 weeks ago. I've basically set my tank up exactly as you have other than I bought the Hydor Skimmer right away. It's nice!

Thank you for the posts.

Question: I'm seeing a lot of mixed reviews on the biopellets. What exactly are you sure they're doing for you?

Thanks,

Adam

 

Why I chose bio-pellets

Hi Adam -

How they work - The pellets allow aerobic growth of bacteria which consequently consume nitrate and phosphate, and produce CO2, H2O and CaCO3. In addition, some anaerobic layers will develop, resulting in additional denitrification. The surplus of bacteria will be skimmed off or eaten by filter and suspension feeding organisms, such as corals and sponges.

What they have done for me

• Since I started my tank with "dry" everything, it has gone through "all" the stages of a tank maturing. With all the different algae blooms. The biopellets have accelerated those cycles resulting in a much cleaner environment for the corals.
• They also allow me to feed the corals more frequently without polluting the tank. They take 4-6 wks to build the full bacteria levels, but once they kick in, the tank becomes much cleaner.
• Since they kicked in, I have been able to increase the length of my 14K light cycle without taking a hit on algae growth. I'm increasing at two minutes a day until I hit the ten hour mark.
• They have extended my water changes to ten days rather than weekly.
• I no longer purchase the expensive filters for carbon and phosphate. I use the yellow filter covered with a layer of filter floss for debubbling with Chemi-Pure Elite in the second chamber and another layer of filter floss in the third chamber to catch anything that might make it through. This cut my expenses substantially.

In my humble opinion, bio-pellets are a great alternative to a refugium and require very little maintainence - all we need to do is add more biopellets every three months.

PS - It would be great if you started a thread for you tank with some pics so the rest of us could follow along with your progress.

 

thanks

Thanks for the reply on the biopellets. Apologies if I hijacked your thread momentarily.

The biopellets seem to be doing their job for me as well. The only concern I had: It is very common for me to read that we should have the output of the reactor aimed at the skimmer. With our Mini 38's, that doesn't seem to be an option. It seems to be working anyway though. My skimmer is filling up twice/day right now.

I'll look into the floss for sure. Those inserts are ridiculously expensive.

One more question for now if you don't mind: Are you frying any corals with your light? I have the 14k also and am trying to be smart about it. It's only on for 6 hours right now.


Thanks again for the reply.
Adam

 

Hope this answers you questions.

 

Hey Jim,
I have been trying to decide if I wanted to go with the Nuvo 38 or the 130D. After reading your entire thread last night until 4am I have decided to go with the Nuvo. I joined this forum just to follow this thread. I am also on RC but no one has any decent threads about the Nuvos. Can you show me a couple picks of the back of your tank and how it is set up with the Protein skimmer and CPR Aquatic Nano Reactor installed?
Thanks!

 

I'll take some pics this week. The basics are that the skimmer install is on the right side (facing from the front of the tank) with the magnetic side of the skimmer against the right side of the tank, with the Nano Reactor placed in what Innovative Marine calls the protein skimmer column next to it. This requires removing the 3 stage filter from the column. I added it to the other column to handle any overflow from the first filter. Also adds capability to switch the two should there be any heavy capture in the first filter between water changes.

 

Awesome, Thank you.

 

Jonthany - Here's the pics you ask for:

 

Your the man! Thanks

 

So you have the skimmer in the right spot and the reactor right next to it in the refuge spot right? I'm thinking I might just order everything at once get it all set up and out of the way.