Bio Cubes or NP Pellets

[Ridwaan]

And the NP Pellets, I see there's a few different manufacturers of them, are any of them better than the rest or all much of a muchness?

This thought has also crossed my mind...
So I decided to rather support the person who invented the pellets and I use the NP Bio Pellets in the silver/foil type bag. These ones are from Holland and I believe is the inventors of Bio pellets...
Cant let all that R&D go to waste and support the copy cats...

 

[dallasg]

and have constructive and meaningful discussions. While being respectful and sticking to the rules one should not be banned.

because it lands up being personal, non-constructive and everyone hops on the bandwagon. if you make a claim, support it, if you dont want too, then dont claim anything.

i love arguing/debates as it stimulates the mind and gets people thinking why they do things, just look at water change threads to name one other example.

we are fortunately or not to be in a hobby that is advancing rapidly, and new ways people think are disproving old, its just that 1 problem has many solutions. LEDs were slated as being useless, now everyone wants LEDs, T5 were said wouldnt work for SPS must use Metal Halide....

end of the day these debates provide information for people to make informed decisions.

 

[Bendor]

Excellent, thanks Dallas. Last question from me please, in simple laymans terms, what is the Titanium product all about, how is it different to the normal bio cubes?

And the NP Pellets, I see there's a few different manufacturers of them, are any of them better than the rest or all much of a muchness?

It removes nitrate even if you don't have phosphate in your tank.

Maybe to be clear it claims to remove nitrate even without phosphates being present, irrelevant of Redfield's Ratio.

I don't have proof.

 

[viper357]

I'll post a pic tonight. I run them slightly different because I put them in the back chamber of a RSM 250 and I had trouble with the bubbles going through to my return pump. I put them in a 63mm pvc pipe with drilled end caps and an air stone instead. So still a bomb but the the bubbles are controlled to come out the top close to the surface so they don't get close to my return pump and cause micro bubbles.

Container, airstone, solid walls. Maybe a "plastic" bomb, but not a reactor as I don't use a pump.

Excellent. Thank You. This is kind of what I was thinking of, as my sump does not have compartments, it is just one tank, so the bubbles were a bit of a concern to me as my sump feeds 3 other tanks so the bubbles would have gotten into all of the tanks. That is why I was leaning towards the Pellets in a reactor. But is the water flow enough the way you have done it? Perhaps adding a small pump would help in my case as I don't think there would be a great deal of flow going through the cubes.

 

[dallasg]

Excellent, thanks Dallas. Last question from me please, in simple laymans terms, what is the Titanium product all about, how is it different to the normal bio cubes?

They only remove NO3, so if you already have a phos reactor and media, no need to toss them.
Normal cubes assimilate NO3 and PO4 using standard Redfield ratio like, NP pellets, VSV dosing, Bio-Plastics from TLF etc

And the NP Pellets, I see there's a few different manufacturers of them, are any of them better than the rest or all much of a muchness?

they are all pretty much the same, i have used the original, the NP large ones and Julian Sprungs Bio-Plastic, the TLF has an addon product called Bactiv8 which increases the yield of the bio-plastics

 

[Jayceew]

I use an irrigation inline filter:

Dependant on what's going on in the tank it can sometimes get quite dirty, with a bio pellet reactor the flow rate tends to slow down over time as the filters start to clog. One of the negatives for me. Also, as Carlos stated above, the new pellets tend to float and get stuck at the top, so I always let new pellets stand in RO for a day or two before adding. Then when they do get stuck at the top after adding I let the reactor run for a couple of hours, switch it off and shake the reactor a bit. Most of it then settles down when turning the pump back on.

Pellets have worked well for me over the past 1.5 years. Can't complain about the maintanance as I clean the inline filter now maybe once every 2 months when flow is impacted. I add pellets when they are low, that's also only every couple of months so nothing hectic for me.

Maintanance is part of the hobby for me, that's why I would probably stick with the pellets for now.

 

[Jayceew]

Dependant on what's going on in the tank it can sometimes get quite dirty, with a bio pellet reactor the flow rate tends to slow down over time as the filters start to clog. One of the negatives for me. Also, as Carlos stated above, the new pellets tend to float and get stuck at the top, so I always let new pellets stand in RO for a day or two before adding. Then when they do get stuck at the top after adding I let the reactor run for a couple of hours, switch it off and shake the reactor a bit. Most of it then settles down when turning the pump back on.

Pellets have worked well for me over the past 1.5 years. Can't complain about the maintanance as I clean the inline filter now maybe once every 2 months when flow is impacted. I add pellets when they are low, that's also only every couple of months so nothing hectic for me.

Maintanance is part of the hobby for me, that's why I would probably stick with the pellets for now.

Dirty filter:

 

[dallasg]

Excellent. Thank You. This is kind of what I was thinking of, as my sump does not have compartments, it is just one tank, so the bubbles were a bit of a concern to me as my sump feeds 3 other tanks so the bubbles would have gotten into all of the tanks. That is why I was leaning towards the Pellets in a reactor. But is the water flow enough the way you have done it? Perhaps adding a small pump would help in my case as I don't think there would be a great deal of flow going through the cubes.

my sump has no baffles and no bubbles in the tank, the RSM will have as they are chamber based in a small area

here is my sump from my 450L system

 

[the fish]

if this was a rugby game i would support cubes

 

[Express Reef]

Excellent, thanks Dallas. Last question from me please, in simple laymans terms, what is the Titanium product all about, how is it different to the normal bio cubes? And the NP Pellets, I see there's a few different manufacturers of them, are any of them better than the rest or all much of a muchness?

Normal Bio Cubes needs po4 to brake down No3, and titaium dont need po4...

 

[Toolboysa]

In my nano I took a gravel cleaner removed the pipe. Put airline through it with a normal airstone and drilled holes in the cap for waterflow. Then filled tube with cubes. Then put sponge round the top to burst any bubbles. Then cable tied a hydor flowpump magnet to the tube so I could keep it just about 1cm below the water line.

 

[4age]

They only remove NO3, so if you already have a phos reactor and media, no need to toss them.
Normal cubes assimilate NO3 and PO4 using standard Redfield ratio like, NP pellets, VSV dosing, Bio-Plastics from TLF etc

so will normal cubes help remove some phosphates as well.can I mix the two types up

 

[Nur]

yes you can @4age

 

[dallasg]

yes i run 50/50 so when my PO4 bottoms out first i can still remove NO3.

 

[459b]

Normal cubes, including np pellets will indirectly remove both based on the red field ratio. Phosphate is normally the limiting factor so once that's gone, no more nitrate can be removed. The titanium cubes somehow overcome this and can bring down nitrate regardless of phosphate levels.

And I use both mixed together in the same bag.

 

[Reefhead]

yes i run 50/50 so when my PO4 bottoms out first i can still remove NO3.

Normal cubes, including np pellets will indirectly remove both based on the red field ratio. Phosphate is normally the limiting factor so once that's gone, no more nitrate can be removed. The titanium cubes somehow overcome this and can bring down nitrate regardless of phosphate levels.

And I use both mixed together in the same bag.

If you use both do the Titanium ones not mess around with the Redfield Ratio seen as though they only remove Nitrates? So in turn you could end up with a phosphate problem?

 

[459b]

Both cubes remove both. Problem comes in when using phosphate remover, the red field ratio prevents nitrates from dropping. The titanium cubes overcome this so even if phosphate is zero, nitrates can still be removed, but will still remove phosphate like the normal cubes.

 

[CarlosF]

but yeah each one should just use what they see best to grt the best results at the end of tge day

 

[459b]

There's nothing wrong with giving an opinion on a product, provided you can back up what you say. This goes for both positive and negative feedback.
How are suppliers supposed to fix things if people never give feedback?

 

[Reefhead]

thanks, yes its a new product, almost 2, and these points are valid and i shall pass them on.

as for the long term tests, these will come in time like all new products...
but comparing apples with apples, there are no tests/results/papers on NP pellets either, i cant find, but if you have please post here so all can see.

now when i propose the testing, what specifics would appeal to hobbyists? residue composition? effectiveness compared to competing products, biological composition?

so if we look at Zeovit, it works, we have proof, and yet only Mr Pohl knows whats inside and how it works does that make the product any less or more effective? dont get me wrong, normal VSV dosing works wonders too but there is less leeway and requires constant adaptation...

please lets keep this constructive debate happening

You see here is where my problem lies.
For starters don't get me wrong I am proudly South African but I am also a South African working in the chemical/ pharmaceutical/ analytical chemistry field and therefore I have a foot to stand on when I say that in general the regulations, standards, qualities, testing, etc. that products made in countries like Europe, America, etc. are much more stringent than ours so generally they have a lot more R and D behind their products with scientific backing.
Most industries in SA it is scary what you will be able to get away with, if people think China is slack with regulations we are not far off.

Anyway my point is when I was researching Bio Pellets I found access to plenty articles and studies showing how they work, what they made of, good effects, side effects, best method for use, etc. I was happy to do my research and decide whether to use them or not.
I find the opposite to be true for the Cubes and for that reason I personally wont use them until I can get more info on them.
So not to say they do or don't work but that is just my reasoning for not using them.
It may just be the person I am, I don't take any medication either until I know all there is to know, so I wont be a good patient for clinical trials