DIY Sulfur Denitrator

[Steven M]

Originally posted by Steve 926
I'm sure that you know it is a form of bacteria, which one, is a good guess ?

I noticed that you are mixing the sulfur & ARM media together.
If so, I can only guess that the sulfur, can not act as a full strength biological separate media in mass. The ARM is to buffer the effluent only, & a good chance causing your problem being mixed in with the sulfur.

Doing the research on several commercially sold units, you will find that each media has a separate mass volume within the reactor

JMO, but I think that it is something to consider.

Good Luck

Steve

Thank you. The Sulfur and ARM worked fine in tell the Nitrate went to zero and I did not adjust the reactor. It was my fault for not checking it more often.
Steve M

[cb747]

Ok been following this thread for awhile and built my own. I built a set for my friend too. The smaller reactor will be used for calcium media
[IMG][/IMG]

[pecan2phat]

Hi Guys and Gals,

I read in Carlo's thread that either Seachem Matrix or DeNitrate was acceptable as the colonization media. Has anyone tried the DeNitrate vs the Matrix?

Hey CB747, them puppies look ready to rock

[reefplicate]

Steve 926

those are the stuff that will clog and slow down the flow of your reactors..... u should do a overhaul...

cheers

[saltydog64]

Originally posted by thirschmann
I had an interesting extra to throw in. I had a sales rep out with a colorimeter a few weeks ago and one of the only tests she had with her was a sulfide test. I tested my water and the sulfide was through the roof... can't remember the exact amount but enough to significantly worry me. I tested it again a couple of weeks ago after the reactor had been offline for a few weeks and it had dropped significantly.

Just thought I would mention that. Obviously some of the media was making it back into my tank even though it wasn't fluidized and therefore rubbing up against itself.

Just thought i would throw that in there as its something I never test and had the opportunity to.

thirschmann............I can't believe your rep. would show up with an out-of-date kit....so be carefull on how you handle your effluent, as your passing thru some form of Sulfide(s), when dj returns I'm sure he will some thought(s) on this matter. One thing you could consider would be pass your effluent over/thru some form of GFC as that will "reduce" sulfides, just a quick thought on this.

[cmoresps]

Sweet thread, quick question, I was looking at some of the retail units and noticed certain models have fittings for orp probes. Does anyone know of a thread or article where the relationship of orp to these is outlined? Thinking of building one, and have the probe adapters but no use in using a orp meter if I dont know hoiw to use it, lol!

[wizsmaster]

cmoresps,

yes .. there were some references made to the ORP control before the thread split.

Go back of to a page of the thread before it split, scroll down to the bottom & click on SHOW PRINTABLE VERSION (Below the comment submit button) - then on the next loaded page SHOW ALL xxx POSTS ON 1 PAGE. then search for ORP. you should be able to come up with something.

Good Luck.

[skippyreef]

Got a little further on my project. I scored the base and that was interesting with the hole saw. There are some scuff marks on the base but nothing that will hinder this from working LOL. I also have the uniseals in place. I am going to use a Eheim I think for this reactor since it is 24" tall.

I am debaing the output right now and I think I can put the effluent before the feed on the pump in line (recirc) and avoid another hole in the reactor body.

[Bruno3047]

The information about ORP can be found on page 7 in the instruction booklet for the Aqua-Medic Nitrate Reductor here:

http://www.aqua-medic.com/products/d...uctor_1000.pdf

Says that the ORP inside the reactor should be maintained at -50mv to -250mv, which is in contrast to the aquarium, which should be somewhere between +200mv to +400mv.

If it falls below -250, all nitrate has been consumed and you begin to get that rotten egg smell as the bacteria begins to break down the sulfur instead of NO3. This is when you increase flow rate.

If it rises above -50, then the bacterial cycle is incomplete and you start to get NO2. This is when you decrease the flow rate.

The Aqua-medic Nitrate reductors use a different media than the sulfur de-nitrators, but the principal is the same.

They are also the ones that supply an access for thier ORP probe, which is great, except I think the Aqua-medic ORP unit cost around $350.

Hope this helps.

[skippyreef]

Here they are again The one with the wider base is the Nitrate reactor in progress. Tommorow I need to get teh parts to plumb it. I have an Eheim pump that I am going to use for the recirc.

[wizsmaster]

Looks great! are you doing to fill the reactor to the bottom with media, or install a bottom plate to sit the media on, and keep it suspended a few " above the floor?

[cb747]

Heres an intesting thread my buddy found. he sems to go into detail on the ORP reading for these reactors. Its a fairly quick read and the guy seems very knowledgeable on the subject.
http://www.njreefers.org/joomla/inde...6&topic=4537.0

[skippyreef]

I am going to use a plate and seperate teh sulfur from teh aragonite

[wizsmaster]

Originally posted by skippyreef
I am going to use a plate and seperate teh sulfur from teh aragonite

to separate the sulfur from the aragonite, or vice versa .. all you need is a sponge. Run the aragonite up top.

This will be an upflow design, right?

If so, I don't understand why you put the lower uniseal so high.


--marco

[skippyreef]

Plumbing issue with the pump I am going to use. I will need to run the 1/2 inch through the middle of the plate and let it spread over the bottom then back up though the plate to the media.

[wizsmaster]

oh ok.

[Steve 926]

Originally posted by skippyreef
Here they are again The one with the wider base is the Nitrate reactor in progress. Tommorow I need to get teh parts to plumb it. I have an Eheim pump that I am going to use for the recirc.

Hey Skippyreef, I noticed in the pic that you have a helper in the house.
My helper check's out the display's conditions every morning !
Funny thing is, he likes seafood for dinner every night.

Makes me wonder



Steve

[skippyreef]

I have three of those furry helpers They watch the tank like it is a T.V.

I am going to home depot in a bit to get the things to finish these and hope to have them on line after I get back form vacation.

[skippyreef]

I have three of those furry helpers They watch the tank like it is a T.V.

I am going to home depot in a bit to get the things to finish these and hope to have them on line after I get back form vacation.

[skippyreef]

Here is a pic of the nearly completed Kalk reactor

I am using the Eheim 1250 for the recirc pump on my NItrate reactor and want to know what people did to adapt to US plumbing.

[skippyreef]

Hey everyone. I came across this monitor and went to pinpoints site to check it out. They say that it has a range of -2000 to +2000mv.

http://www.americanmarineusa.com/

[pecan2phat]

Hi Guys,

If ORP readings are utilized, does the probe need to be ported into the sulfer reactor or can it be placed at the effluent point, such as a drip cup?

Thanks.

[wizsmaster]

I would probably not use a drip cup - an inline probe in the effluent yes, but not once the effluent is exposed to air. Thats just me though.

[wizsmaster]

There was a DIY with an inline probe port ... i think it was for PH on a CA RX ... does anybody have the link for it?

[skippyreef]

Just need to finish the plumbing on the inlet side