My previous experience with biopellets wasn't bad. I removed the system to see if the low nutrient environment was causing some issues with my soft coral. I had some zoanthids that were closed up and were dying off. I removed the system, and figured out there were a few unrelated issues (including a hitch hiking crab) that were at fault. Oops.(Read more after the jump!)
Fast forward several months, and with an increase of nitrates (and the start of algae growth) I figured it was time to give the pellets another try. I upped my game with some new hardware: a new Hydra Aquatics bio pellet reactor, and about 3 weeks ago I added a new skimmer to replace my ReefOctopus 6 (skimmer review coming soon). The Hydra Aquatics BioPellet Reactor has a cone shaped bottom and a flow accelerating nozzle that provides steady tumble with use of a small pump. I will first try the reactor with an old MJ-900 pump. So far, I have had to dial it back considerably. As more pellets are added, time will tell whether I will need a larger pump.
So I started with 1/4 cup of AquaMaxx BioMaxx Plus BioPellets. I will slowly increase the total amount of pellets to 1 cup over the period of 4 weeks. I will be adding Two Little Fishies Bactiv8 NPX admit bacteria "inoculate". I will add the recommended dose of 5ml for every 20 gallons for 10 days, then add 5ml (1 tsp) for every 25 gallons 2x per month. Adding bacteria will help encourage growth of appropriate bacteria colonies, insuring better success with a biopellet system.
Starting levels as of 8/22/2012:
Calcium: 400 ppm
Alkalinity: 7 dkh
pH: 8.2
Phosphate: 0 (undetectable)
Nitrate: ~2.5 ppm (approximate)
Theres room for improvement, but these are decent enough starting points. I will continue dosing with a two part solution and add trace elements weekly. So on the experiment goes... I'll keep you posted!
