Hanna Phosphate checker

[jroovers]

Did the mod as well theyangman...awesome results. Thanks for finding and posting this mod. I have 500ml of biopellets in my tlf 150

500ml BRS Biopellets in TLF 150 modded

Holy smokes, you are getting amazing tumbling... I don't have that in my 150 at all... what are you using to feed it?  I must have missed that.

 

[theyangman]

I have a bit more movement in mine.

I have a mag 18 running these three off of a Triple Tee:

TLF 150 - 500 mg bio pellets
TLF 550 - 2 cups of GFO
TLF 550 - 2 cups of Carbon

 

[theyangman]

You should see mine Jordan, my pellets boogie inside my reactor.

 

[jroovers]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh7LZExaMrA

I used glue instead of teflon tape though. Much sturdier and less chance of leaks.

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That's awesome, I'm going to do this later on today, thanks for posting.

 

[TORX]

Holy smokes, you are getting amazing tumbling... I don't have that in my 150 at all... what are you using to feed it?  I must have missed that.

Not really sure the actual flow through it. It is T'ed off my mag12 (or mag18...i can never remember) return and controlled with its own ball valve.  That manifold is also feeding another TLF 150.

 

[jroovers]

You should see mine Jordan, my pellets boogie inside my reactor.

What are you using to feed em'?  I'm just using a maxi jet 1200.

 

[theyangman]

I have a mag 18

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[reeffreak]

I'm kinda scared to do this mode, can the pellets be taking out of the water ? I thought that was a no no, just trying to figure out how to do this with exposing the pellets to air.

 

[TORX]

Not sure about the air thing, but I just poured them into a large mixing bowl with the tank water that was in the reactor. Then from there right into a measuring cup with tank water to measure out the 500 ml and from there right into the reactor again. Never really was in the air I guess.

 

[theyangman]

I have never heard that they cannot be exposed to air. They come in a package that is half air to begin with....

Do you have any links to back this up?

 

[reeffreak]

I have never heard that they cannot be exposed to air. They come in a package that is half air to begin with....

Do you have any links to back this up?

Well the pellets colonize bacteria, and I figured the bacteria would die off as soon as it is exposed to the air, just like liverock, the second it's out of the water, it's dieing. No links sorry, I just remember reading it on here some where.

 

[theyangman]

Well if you wanted to do this mod without exposing the pellets to air, unplug the reactor from the pump. The canister stays full of water, open the lid on the reactor.

dump out the contents of the reactor into a bowl. I am sure the 4 seconds of air exposure will not kill off much if any of the bacteria. Not to make any noticeable difference.

If I lifted a piece of live rock out of my tank for 10 seconds and transferred it into a bucket of water, it doesn't become useless......

 

[reeffreak]

your right about the liverock not becoming useless, but, the whole tank doesn't depend on that one piece of rock like it does with a pellet reactor, pellets could wipe you're whole tank out if you're not careful, even a drastic change it flow could cause a bacteria bloom.

I like the whole mod idea, I've been looking at doing it, but I just had a few concerns. I'm no pro on this subject so I thought I would share my concerns.

And originally I meant exposed to air after they have been running colonized.

 

[AdInfinitum]

I have never heard that they cannot be exposed to air. They come in a package that is half air to begin with....

Do you have any links to back this up?

Just out of interest....Where I cannot speak to the bio-pellets packaging, the "air" that's in the packaging of most sealed food products that you buy is actually either pure nitrogen or a proprietary blend of gasses that is blown in to the packaging units to displace the air and preserve the product's freshness.

Well the pellets colonize bacteria, and I figured the bacteria would die off as soon as it is exposed to the air, just like liverock, the second it's out of the water, it's dieing. No links sorry, I just remember reading it on here some where.

The pores in liverock house your Aerobic Nitrobacter which can survive exposure to air as long as they remain damp but deeper within, where there is little water circulation, the rock has anoxic areas that house slow growing Anaerobic bacteria that would be killed instantly by exposure to air or even oxygenated water.  That is why back when you were totally dependent on those anoxic zones to convert nitrate to nitrogen gas you tried not to disturb your rock at all as a change in flow would flood the deep pores of the rock with oxygenated water and kill off the bacteria.

The recommendation that pellets be used only in highly oxygenated water and even in the case of the bio-cubes where adding oxygen is necessary for their function and the fact that the bacterial blooms associated with carbon dosing can spread into your display, shows that the bacteria involved are Aerobic and thus won't be harmed by short term exposure to air.  if your pellets clump then you will get Anaerobic colonization and in a nutrient rich environment that will not create denitrification but rather the production of hydrogen sulphide.

 

[reeffreak]

Well I went ahead and did the mod, amazing !! Thank you for sharing

 

[theyangman]

It is much better, post mod for sure.

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[reeffreak]

It is much better, post mod for sure.

Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk 4

Amen

 

[jroovers]

I too did the mod yesterday and wow, what a difference.  I had been reluctant to add more pellets to the reactor because they were always clumping.  I was able to double my pellet amount, probably have about 500 ml or so now, and I have the 1200 at about half using the ball valve.  I tried first with the plumber's tape, and it didn't work very well, so I went ahead and glued it.  Working tremendously now, wish I would have done this much sooner.  That, combined with my new skimmer breaking in quite nicely, and things are looking up!

 

[theyangman]

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

You are all welcome for my efforts to bring this mod to your attention.

 

[Poseidon]

i wonder if this would work with the 550? ,
it has a cone shaped bottom so i can imagine it will work amazing... im going to try