Biopellets Vs Zeovit Or why not both?

[Validator]

Hi All,

I tried biopellets to manage my tank for a about 3 months, read about zeovit and some of it's glowing reviews.  Was wondering if it is something I should try.  My bioload is high.  Nitrates do creep up, 10-20 ppm. I thought of trying zeovit as well.  Wondering on the experience you had and also if we can combine both.  The Aquaforest zeovit does not require the shaking so I though I could do something like put a layer of zeovit and the sponge and then biopellets tumbling.

 

Inviting thoughts from everyone. 

[JiaEn]

Hey. I have run a zeo based system for 9 month. 

Zeo-based system is great, provided you regularly shake them,  and regularly replace the media. The whole point of zeovit is to cultivate bacteria and release these bacteria regularly as food. 

 

It's not advisable to use heavy carbon dosing with zeovit. The excessive organics can potentially lead to all sort of problems. 

[Validator]

Hi Jiaen, thanks I saw you were doing it with your acropolis tank.  Can I know more about what you mean by it not being advisible to use heavy carbon dosing?  What sort of problems are we talking about and how does that happen?

[JiaEn]

For zeolite based systems,  they are bacteria dependent. Heavy use of carbon dosing can mess up the bacteria population. 

You can refer to this article. 

 https://www.nature.com/articles/ismej2017142

In my own experience, dosing too much carbon causes problems such as sulky corals and growth of cyano bacteria.