Xl Np Reducing Bio Pellets; Has Anyone Used?

Cliff

Active Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Location
Canfield, Ontario
I am thinking of getting these bio pellets just wondering if anyone has tried them out. It says in the description that they do not need to be tumbled which is odd because I thought tumbling was essential to scrape off the biofilm to make the pellets work. Has anyone tried these type of bio pellets? What were your experience with them? I am thinking of adding them to my tank so I don't have to worry about the tumbling kind sticking together

http://www.aquariumsupplies.ca/aquarium/product_info.php?products_id=7071
 

Kman

Super Active Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2014
Location
KW
From experience you should look at Nitra Guard instead if you really want to use carbon dosing. It is way less hassle to mess around with and you will get better results with half the work. Any time I used bio pellets it was a constant struggle. They needed constant attention or you risked clumping and settling and I had to adjust water flow to compensate. I had a bacterial bloom a few times where a huge amount slogged off and made my tank cloudy. I finally got so fed up with bio pellets I switched to Nitra Guard and what a difference. You don't even need a reactor just a air stone and a pump and every few weeks you open the bag they are in and add some more.

From experience anything that clams it is all in one is BS but I do understand the allure of all in one. One part always gets exhausted faster then the other and it is impossible to control the ratios of what you need. Say you need more nitrate removal but little phosphate removal or vise versa. You can't adjust to your needs and all you can do is add more media or less media. It doesn't give you the granularity of stand alone media where you can adjust your ratios as needed. Plus looking at the huge size of those bio pellets they look like they need more flow and would be a pain to keep afloat and suspended in the water for long term. Especially once they have been running for a few months and are loaded with bacteria. They look like a nightmare for clumping and pockets of settling.

My advice is unless you are having an issue with algae, super heavy bio load or the tank is new and you need something to handle waste till the bacteria population build up and the tank becomes stable you don't need bio pellets. I found unless you meet those criteria you are setting yourself up for a slime algae bloom or other algae issues. Bio pellets always caused me issues if i didn't stick to those rules.
 

Dan Cole

New Member
Joined
Jun 26, 2016
Location
Hamilton, ON
I am thinking of getting these bio pellets just wondering if anyone has tried them out. It says in the description that they do not need to be tumbled which is odd because I thought tumbling was essential to scrape off the biofilm to make the pellets work. Has anyone tried these type of bio pellets? What were your experience with them? I am thinking of adding them to my tank so I don't have to worry about the tumbling kind sticking together

http://www.aquariumsupplies.ca/aquarium/product_info.php?products_id=7071

Just to clarify Cliff...these are not all in one pellets and can indeed be run in a bag, in your sump, in the same way as the NitraGuard cubes can. I know you're probably aware of that but I didn't want you mislead based on the previous post.

Dan
 

zoomster

Active Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Location
Port Rowan, Ontario
+1 with Kman.
I had pretty much the same issues and problems when I was using pellets.
What I did - got some nitrate spong and mangroves while they were culturing, I VERY SLOWLY reduced my pellets and Flow until 0.
I have now been over a year with 0 NO3.
 

Cliff

Active Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2014
Location
Canfield, Ontario
I have a huge bio load I have been using pellets successfully to control my no3 and lanthanum to control my po4. I do have a hard time balancing the system though. Too much pellets and I don't have enough n03 for my lps and too few pellets and my n03 starts to raise. I am running a large ats and medium size fuge also.
 

Kman

Super Active Member
Joined
Apr 15, 2014
Location
KW
I was thinking of NP All In One Biopellets My bad. lol

Regardless I tried these pellets and found Nitra Guard the better option that was way more effective. I found the Xl NP not as effective as the Nitra guard, not even close. Once you have Nitra Guard up and running compared to XL NP you would see what I mean. Nitra Guard due to its design allows more water flow and air to go through the media because of its porous weird shaped design, you can visually tell they are doing something as they darken to a dirt color when they are matured and functioning. Xl NP all it did for me was clump after a few weeks and was a slimy mess. After 5 months all it did was cause me issues so I took them down.

I am not a fan of pellets\ carbon media in general and found them useful in a newly set up tank but once the tank was established most are a waste of money and long term cause more problems they they were worth. They almost always seemed to cause a slime issue that went away soon after I stopped using them for me. Even under best case scenario and they didn't cause me issues once I took them off I noticed no changes so it made me think what was this product actually doing and what value did they actually add to my tank?!?

How long has your ATS and fuge been set up? In most cases it takes some time (well over a year depending on size sometimes) for them to be fully operational and running to be able to manage your nutrient load. How often do you do water changes and how many gallons? Do you use nutrient export by harvesting your algae weekly? You should look at cryptic zone filtration as an option to stay away from chemicals or media and try and add it to your current fuge if you are having issues managing. It helps foster sponges and other cryptic life that process phosphates\Nitrates\ dissolved organics and they are very very effective. I rely almost entirely on my fuge and cryptic zone to process my waste and filtration needs and I use very little media except carbon. If you added a false bottom that blocks light to the lover level of the fuge tank and placed small rocks on the bottom glass and allow water to flow through the area even this will create a cryptic zone that will be efficient.

I have a monstrous bio load and out of all the carbon (pellet options at least) I found the Nitra Guard the only one for me that made a difference and didn't cause slime for me. In the end you should pick a product that fits your needs best. But a properly designed fuge can and will handle the bulk of your needs if properly set up.
 
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