the official ECOBAK thread...

I know I'm super excited to try EcoBak. Since my water volume is going to be so small I plan to add 1-Tsp every 4 weeks until I reach the desired nutrient reduction rate.

What I have learned so far.
1. GO SLOW, start out with 1/4 recommended amount.
2. Gentle Tumble
3. Pellets can be "sticky" for the first few days
4. Have a powerful enough skimmer to remove waste (Put waste water directly into skimmer or near skimmer inlet)
5. Don't let pellets sit for more then 8 hours (un-tumbled)
6. Did I mention GO SLOW?

 

sounds perfect...

 

Jon,

I had a question about temporary storage of about a week of used ecobak that has been washed thouroughly with RODI water.

I was preparing for hurricane sandy past few days and haven't checked on the tank & reactor and didn't realize the pump of the reactor was clogged with a huge piece of hair algae. My guess is there was no flow through the reactor for 2-3 days. Since my nitrates came down, hair algae started dying and falling off the rock. I've been removing as much by hand as possible.

I took the reactor apart and the ecobak was clumped together since it had no flow for a few days. It had a clear gelatinous material around the chunks. I washed it very well with RODI water. I put the ecobak back in the 1L containers it came in and filled them with RODI water. Since NJ is getting hit with Sandy Monday into early Wednesday with probable power loss, I decided not to put the reactor back online till after the hurricane. If I do lose power and the tank is wiped out, not sure if I'll even start the aquarium back up. If the tank survives the hurricane, I plan to restart the ecobak reactor.

Is it ok that I have the ecobak sitting in RODI water? Or should I just drain the RODI water and will it be ok the used ecobak is sitting in its container damp?

Thanks.

 

thats the perfect procedure. But just rinse the ecoBAK in fresh water then allow it to dry completely. I hope all goes well for you... looks like a bad storm.

 

Thanks Jon. I'll let it dry out in case I decide to use it in the future.

26 hours without power. 300 FOWLR is wiped out. It sucks but I'm grateful for the "minimal" damage I sustained from Sandy. Besides the tank being wiped out, a tree fell on my car I just bought jan this year and pieces of gutter blown off. Have no power so I have no Internet or tv but I know there are others that have sustained far worse than I have. Tons of people have their houses flooded out. My prayers are with everyone affected by this storm.

 

that's really awful. I've heard from several people directly affected and it sounds like an unmitigated disaster. I wish you and all the affected the best...

 

Jon, I have been battling N and P for a long time so I'm ready to try ecobak. I changed my crushed coral substrate for live sand about 2 1/2 mo ago. Since the change, I have been fighting a bad cyano outbreak-which I attribute to the new substrate. So I have couple questions regarding the cyano:
1. Will starting ecobak compound the cyano problem?
2. Should I wait until the sand matures before starting ecobak?
3. Should I use a chemical remover such as "red slime remover" before starting ecobak?
4. Will starting ecobak and a bio additive such as MicroBacter7 suffice?

I have a 300g with a large skimmer and a MR1 running rowaphos. I want to swap the rowaphos for ecobak.

Thanks for your time
Jeff

 

Hi Jeff,

No, starting ecoBAK will not feed Cyanobacteria. Just make sure you don't run excessive flow.

You're ready to start now, ecoBAK takes 4-6 weeks to take effect. Always start off slow with 1/4 dose adding another 1/4 every week til full dose. You can dose a bacterial additive like Prodibio or Special Blend or Dr. Tims... it might not make much of a difference in the ecoBAK process but won't hurt anything.

What are your current PO4 and NO3 levels?

 

Jon, thanks for the reply. P=.33 on a Hanna checker, N=5ppm. I realize these numbers are not too bad, but i'd be much happier seeing zeros. Will the ecobak even be beneficial to me?

Jeff

 

Jeff,

Not bad numbers but .33ppm PO4 can still cause lots of issues including problems with SPS. And yes ecoBAK will crush those numbers...