Looking to get into biopellets

Media Reactors : Synergy Reef Systems!, Laser Precision Acrylic!

 

Thanks for the link!
Actually those are pretty sweet. But looking at it, it seems my kent one would probably hold more than the 80$ reactor.

 

hmm, I got the larger one for my 250 and it is pretty awesome

 

http://www.marinedepot.com/Kent_Mar..._Reactors-Kent_Marine-KM9331-FIFRISPR-vi.html
That's the reactor I have that I don't use. Any way to mod that one to work?

 

whatever you do please don't use the BRS reactor for biopellets. It's great for anything else but not biopellets. The TLF phosban reactor is pretty good and cheap if you don't want to spend much on a reactor designed for pellets.

 

Yeah the more I read about it the more I hear people using the tlf reactor unmodded and working well. Maybe my kent marine reactor would work the same.

 

that kent reactor looks identical to the TLF one. so it should work perfect.

 

IS the gooseneck on the top the inlet? does it have a tube that goes to bottom inside then water flows up and out? It appears that way but I can't really tell from pic. If so that should work fine. I found that the pellets will slime up a bit so I would ditch the foam, I just used the plastic mesh for knitting. Use the mesh at top and bottom to keep pellets in the reactor and I would think it would work fine.

 

Here's the deal. I've been through half a dozen reactors. They all work initially. If your kent is like the TLF, mod it and it will work fairly well.

The problem is biopellets work by creating a bacterial sludge that your skimmer removes. Any foam and even screens get clogged up pretty quickly. If you don't stay on top of it the tumble slows and stops and you risk killing the reactor or even the tank if you get H2S.

To avoid this, the best reactors have as little restriction as possible. I'm running a hydra and if I were to buy a reactor I'd get the do it yourself Avast Marine reactor at I think $60. These and the reactors with the pumps in the bottom do a good job of letting your pellets run stable for a long time without adjustment. We all know the value of stability.

As for pellets, go EcoBak without a doubt.

 

Yeah there is 2 90 degree bends on top for inlet and outlet and it does have the pipe going down the center so it's set up the same way. I'll give this a whirl first and see how it goes.
How much ecobak should I put in initially and how much should I have In eventually? Anyone have a idea? I'm gonna see if my lfs stocks ecobak and get some this week.