the official ECOBAK thread...

i wrote on a couple of issues i was having couple of months ago and wanted to give an update. my nitrates and phosphates are now testing zero and have been for around a month even with increased feeding (or maybe because of the increased feeding). i definitely give the credit to running ecobak. When i first started running the ecobak, my nitrates went up. i attribute this to my refugium being behind the bio-pellet reactor in the water flow, i think the bacteria was out competing the chaeto and the chaeto was dying which was adding the nitrates back into the system. once i worked this out, the nitrates have steadily declined without any negatives that i have witnessed.....i just wanted to update since my last post on this thread was less than positive.

 

Thanks Jon, I think that is exactly what has happened then. The fish were accidently overfed the other day and it started about 24 hours after! Makes perfect sense.

All the SPS look fine still. Will the slime stop once the bio load levels equalize again and should I wash then with tank water or just leave them alone?

 

Hi Jon,

I currently have a 29 gallon tank with 4 fish. A Clownfish, 2 Chromis and a Sixline. My nitrates are around 20. I am currently using a ReefOctopus HOB 1000 skimmer, which is rated for upto 90 gallons. I was planning on using the pelltes in a TLF modded reactor and I will be able to put the output of the reactor directly into the area where the skimmer pulls the water. My skimmer however sinse I have owned it has never pulled any dark junk its always been a light tea color if that. The top of the cup is normally a brown color. I also do weekly water changes of 5-10 gallons. I just wanted to know if you would see this as an issue. Lastly what would you recommend for starting dosage? I would like to try to avoid any negative affects. Your help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Mike

 

Pellets clumping

Jon, I have been using your pellets since they came out and recently added new pellets to the old that were almost 50% gone. I had the same issue as Rick (mixer911) with the slime and clumping so bad i could not see through the glass one morning.
I decided to replace all my EB with new and did just that, but now after several weeks the new pellets are clumping and a large amount of debris is coming off the new pellets when i open the reactor to loosen them by hand. It's like they are disintegrating rapidly for some reason? I do not have any dead fish or added Bioload and I am at a loss as to what is wrong?? Even after i loosen them and get them tumbling again in a very short time they are all clumped again and will not tumble.
Any thoughts you may have??
Bill

 

Hi Bill,

Again it sounds like an increase in organic load. In very low nutrient systems there is very little bio-film on the pellets but in higher load systems the bio-film can be quite dense. But you've run it a long time...

It's possible that any time you add new pellets they go through their own "cycle period" and that the excessive bio-film is temporary. Please keep me updated.

Jon

 

Don't worry about it, the skimmer can only remove what's in the water. I'd expect to see a darker skimmate while using the ecoBAK.

 

Thanks

Is it OK to just leave them clumped together as long as they have flow going through them?? There is a White film on my glass every morning like a bacterial bloom and my Po4 was up higher than normal. I added some GFO to bring it back down to my normal range of 4-12 PPB (Hanna)
PS, I sent you a PM through your E-Mail, Your thoughts on this are Valued.
Bill

 

Hi Bill,

It's ok if they're clumping a bit while flow is going through the reactor. And it certainly seems as if you have a bacterial bloom. I received the email and will respond this week.

Jon

 

OK,Thanks

I'll wait and see what happens and hopefully they will loosen up soon, Also I will await your reply Thank You!
Bill

 

I do think this has been noted before, but I don't recall the answer.

On a mature system, is the addition of Microbater 7 necessary in the prevention of algae breakouts/ bacterial blooms? My tank is 13 months old. I forgot to purchase Microbacter when I ordered my pellets (don't really want to order online again for now).