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Komerider

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Posts posted by Komerider

    Phosphate and nitrate level reduction

    in General Reefkeeping_

    Posted

    As there is no or little nitrate to remove  I would remove the assimilator until there is enough nitrate present and even then it is only a matter of time for it to become a problem.
    As the reactor has no or little nitrate to remove the C/N ratio in the reactor is very high which means that the heterotrops will start to use ammonia-nitrogen NH4-N for there metabolism. The moment ammonia is available the heterotrops will reduce it to form protein. No nitrate will be produced which is a good thing one should believe. Well, it isn't! First of all, nitrification will not take place and nitrifiers will not be installed in normal quantities.  Ammonia reduction produces 40x more biomass( protein) as would the nitrification process. A big problem on the long term. This will deplete the phosphate very fast.  As long as there is only one fish this will not be a problem but when the supply of ammonia increases this will clog filters and create bacterial slime all over the aquarium. As the process needs a lot of phosphate due to the intensive growth, what will happen when not enough phosphate is available  for ammonia reduction? Remember, there is no active nitrification biofilm installed!
    Heterotropic nitrogen assimilation produces protein, +- 8 grams protein must be produced to assimilate one gram nitrogen. This is the equivalent of 20 grams food with 35% protein. As a skimmer removes max only +- 35% of TOC and is very selective in removing bacteria most of the produced protein must be consumed, what is not consumed must be recycled solving nothing. From what is consumed most is excreted as ammonia making the cycle round. As 1/3 of this produced protein, present in the water column ( most of it isn't), may be removed by a good skimmer some of it is effectively removed each cycle ( including all necessary basic elements) but the total bio-load of the system increases. The system becomes for 100% dependable of the functioning and supply of these biopellets as no nitrification capacity is available; This is an expensive never ending story.
    In zero emission systems as there is the Belize system, where this method comes from, all the protein produced by the heterotropic ammonia reduction process is consumed by the growing scrimp, biomass which will be removed before growth stops ( +- 80kg to 125kg/m³)  http://www.baharini.eu/baharini/doku.php?id=en:badess:theorie:ras
    When there is enough nitrate available the C:N ratio decreases and the same cycle is created but in this case it is from NO3-N to NO3-N which includes the nitrification cycle which may effect alkalinity.
    Heterotropic ammonia reduction does also consume some alkalinity but only half compared to nitrificication. The advantage of nitrification is that the nitrogen can effectively be removed from the system by denitrification and nitrification produces 40 times less biowaste .
    Adding carbohydrates by it self removes nothing from the system ! it adds!
    Personally I am not a fan of using biopellets  (carbohydrate polymers) or any other organic carbon based method in a reef aquarium for the reasons mentioned above. Others may think otherwise.


    I'm lost..
    Summarize?

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    Making bio pellets work ( and why they dont seem to work)

    in New to the Marine Aquaria Hobby

    Posted

    Dun think it is possible to run it without skimmer. Usually they advise to put the output of the biopellet reactor next to the skimmer so that it can remove the waste once the bacteria has consumed the nutrients. Thats how the nutrients r removed from the tank. If u dont have a skimmer the bacteria will breakdown and release the nutrients back


    Clement is correct. Skimmer in any tank is a must. Instructions for bio reactor is to place it just before skimmer.

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    Phosphate and nitrate level reduction

    in General Reefkeeping_

    Posted


    Hi.. my tank is 10 months old. Its FOWLR tank with low light as algae bloom when medium or high light. Thinking to go for lps. Thats y wanna reduce nitrate. Fishes are healthy.

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    Can try bio reactors with biopellets
    Dropped mine from 80 to nothing in 2 mths when I used them with reef octopus bio pellets.

    What's ur bio load like ? Fish count and size of em.

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    Making bio pellets work ( and why they dont seem to work)

    in New to the Marine Aquaria Hobby

    Posted

    Hi all, just thought I'd share some experience on this. After having replied to a member on another thread.
    Ive seen and heard cases of reefers running bio pellets but reported them as inefficient.
    Its not just about simply running bio pellets and having 'some' spin around in a reactor.
    If it isn't dropping , it may be because there's too little running.

    Citing a simple example which I encountered.
    Initially they seemed to work for me. But after some time as my tank matured the nitrates started moving upwards and I looked everywhere for the problem. Turns up its simply because : my biopellet volume was insufficient.

    Eg. If 50g of pellets bacteria capacity drops 2 nitrates per day. But ur tank is producing 3 nitrates per day. The nitrates will Never drop. Ie. U need a bigger factory .

    When I realized the problem I ensured my pellet load was always double the amount in my reactor. About one full cup or 250ml. My nitrate problem never came back.

    Plus it doesnt matter if they clump up. Just ensure water is running slowly thru them.

    Hope this thread helps some reefers.

    This was the thread where I replied on this item as well:
    Http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?/topic/147012-Biopellet-vs-UV#entry1314206

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    Biopellet vs UV

    in FOWLR (Fish-only with Live-rock)

    Posted

    I'm now changing around 40% water weekly and yes I see your point of just pure water changing.
    If I proved that my UV causes my >100mg nitrate due to my dying biopellet bacteria may consider just use conventional freshwater maintenance schedule (filter wool change and water change) :yahoo:


    If u r running bio pellets properly ur nitrates shld be zero to one. Won't need to change water so often just to keep nitrates low. I'm running reef octopus bio pellets with about 10 small to mid size fish bio load in a 70g with corals. I change 10% water prob 4-6 mths once for the fun of it.

    I believe ur problem may be something I had initially. Having some bio pellets spinning doesnt mean ur nitrates r gng negative towards zero. U need to always maintain enough pellets which houses an X amount of bacteria to reduce a Y amount of nitrates per day.

    Example: 50g of active bio pellets maybe dropping 2 nitrates per day. But ur tank produces 3 nitrates per day. The end result is that your nitrates will never drop.

    The above happened when I kept only a half cup of balls running. My net gain in nitrates was always positive. Once I realized my problem I ensured one full cup or more was always colonizing bacteria and I had NP moving forward.

    Also, the balls dun need to spin. Doesnt matter if they clump. Just run water thru them will do.

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