I'm going to try biopellets!

[Thales]

You guys using biopellets - why are you using them? Do you have nitrate problems? Are you going for ULNS? I keep hearing that the pellets are really not so great for PO4, any opinions?

 

[Gonzo]

Greg:

Do you have any macroalgae living in your sump? Also, do you have any pods? I like the article but if I go over to these probiotics (sp?) I worry I will lose my chaeto and pod population growing in my sump.

 

[xinumaster]

You guys using biopellets - why are you using them? Do you have nitrate problems? Are you going for ULNS? I keep hearing that the pellets are really not so great for PO4, any opinions?

Exactly what I thought when I saw cyno in my tank.

 

[r0ck0]

Greg:

Do you have any macroalgae living in your sump? Also, do you have any pods? I like the article but if I go over to these probiotics (sp?) I worry I will lose my chaeto and pod population growing in my sump.

I have red macro algae and Halimeda growing on my rocks as decoration, not for nutrient export. They continue to grow, although slower, with the reduced nutrients. I don't have a sump or refugium.

http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/probiotics-demystified

Likewise, the aquarist may experience a long-term inability to maintain macroalgae-based filtration methods due to the lack of nutrients available to the algae. If the dosages are carefully balanced, however, it is possible to keep macroalgae alive, and sustaining some growth, although the balancing will have to be relatively precise.

 

[r0ck0]

You guys using biopellets - why are you using them? Do you have nitrate problems? Are you going for ULNS? I keep hearing that the pellets are really not so great for PO4, any opinions?

Exactly what I thought when I saw cyno in my tank.

Did you add bacteria or just biopellets? The pellets are just a source of food for the bacteria and if you do not introduce the right strains of bacteria you will get the bad kind, ie cyno.

 

[xinumaster]

If cyno can multiply in my tank exponentially, other beneficial bateria that are already in my tank should too. Unfortunately, in my case cyno won.

 

[Thales]

I have a hard time with these biotic methodologies. Seems like a lot of work and a bunch of money and how are you tracking bacterial populations? And the results shown are obtainable without any of the biotic additions.

Stuff like this from the article worries me

Although definitive studies have not yet been conducted, the widespread reported success of probiotic systems leads to a reasonable conclusion that bacterial densities in marine aquaria are not as high as in natural reef waters, although our understanding of the diversity of microbial life in the waters adjacent to coral reefs is still in its infancy.

and the conclusion

Probiotic methodologies are not for everyone, and are not without risks. They generally require careful monitoring of abiotic parameters, and, in the case of some commercial systems at least, can be considered somewhat expensive. However, with a slow and incremental approach, and careful husbandry, these systems are an extremely effective means of controlling dissolved nutrient levels in the marine aquarium.