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Unread 08/10/2017, 07:43 AM   #251
OzIA
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Well, I came back from holiday to find my basement wet. One of the canisters on my Kent Marine (Coral Life) RODI system split near the threads. This is the second canister that this has happened to. I was home for the last one. This time I wasn't so lucky. I had a catastrophic failure in my Frag tank, which was auto-topped by the RO system and lost everything. I'm going to replace the remaining canisters before they fail too.

On a lighter note, the other tanks are doing fine. I came back to find nitrate at near zero in both, despite being on auto feeders for almost three weeks. Cycling the process pump seems to be keeping the slime buildup to a manageable level. Phosphate continues to climb when the GFO starts to become depleted. It seems GFO is still a necessity. I was really hoping to get away from that expense.

Aaron


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Unread 08/10/2017, 11:55 AM   #252
dartier
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OzIA View Post
Well, I came back from holiday to find my basement wet. One of the canisters on my Kent Marine (Coral Life) RODI system split near the threads. This is the second canister that this has happened to. I was home for the last one. This time I wasn't so lucky. I had a catastrophic failure in my Frag tank, which was auto-topped by the RO system and lost everything. I'm going to replace the remaining canisters before they fail too.

On a lighter note, the other tanks are doing fine. I came back to find nitrate at near zero in both, despite being on auto feeders for almost three weeks. Cycling the process pump seems to be keeping the slime buildup to a manageable level. Phosphate continues to climb when the GFO starts to become depleted. It seems GFO is still a necessity. I was really hoping to get away from that expense.

Aaron
Oh, no that is terrible Aaron. Coincidentally, I just placed an order through BRS This morning for a bunch of RO/DI stuff (new filters, membranes, 150GPD upgrade, auto flush, etc.) and one of the things I ordered was an automatic cut-off for leaks. I am switching to an Avast barrel tender as I expect my new tank to require far more frequent top-offs and I did not want to have to remember to keep an eye on my supply barrel. Included in the order is the LBS-10 Leak Block sensor, that threads into a normal 3/8 connection. Something like this may help if your recent issue were to re-occur.

I am glad to hear that your filters are still working well. I have been considering my options on what to do about phosphate once I get my new tank running, and the NPR filter done (still working on the tank). I plan on trying an experiment to see if I can use a 80 Gallon with some fast growing hard coral (like cyphastrea) attached to the main system through a second pump in the return chamber of the NPR filter. The thinking is that a few times a day the flush water would be returned to the coral tank rather then to the display tank, and then a small amount of NO3 would be dosed into the coral tank. The hope is that the coral tank would deplete a portion of the PO4, and whatever NO3 is unused (in the coral tank) would get processed by the NPR filter the next time the coral tank is flushed. I plan on trying some eggcrate to give the cyphastrea plenty of surface to grow on. Should be a fun experiment.

Anyway lots to get done before I get to that point.

Dennis


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560G Miracles tank in process
making a DIY DyMiCo style filter (for 560G)

Current Tank Info: 560G Miracles tank in progress, 80Frag Temporary

Last edited by dartier; 08/10/2017 at 12:05 PM.
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Unread 08/10/2017, 01:55 PM   #253
OzIA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dartier View Post
Oh, no that is terrible Aaron. Coincidentally, I just placed an order through BRS This morning for a bunch of RO/DI stuff (new filters, membranes, 150GPD upgrade, auto flush, etc.) and one of the things I ordered was an automatic cut-off for leaks. I am switching to an Avast barrel tender as I expect my new tank to require far more frequent top-offs and I did not want to have to remember to keep an eye on my supply barrel. Included in the order is the LBS-10 Leak Block sensor, that threads into a normal 3/8 connection. Something like this may help if your recent issue were to re-occur.

I am glad to hear that your filters are still working well. I have been considering my options on what to do about phosphate once I get my new tank running, and the NPR filter done (still working on the tank). I plan on trying an experiment to see if I can use a 80 Gallon with some fast growing hard coral (like cyphastrea) attached to the main system through a second pump in the return chamber of the NPR filter. The thinking is that a few times a day the flush water would be returned to the coral tank rather then to the display tank, and then a small amount of NO3 would be dosed into the coral tank. The hope is that the coral tank would deplete a portion of the PO4, and whatever NO3 is unused (in the coral tank) would get processed by the NPR filter the next time the coral tank is flushed. I plan on trying some eggcrate to give the cyphastrea plenty of surface to grow on. Should be a fun experiment.

Anyway lots to get done before I get to that point.

Dennis
I wonder how different that option would be that just running an Algae Turf Scrubber?

I have been contemplating another option.

Since the bacteria seems to be building this slime mat that can become clogged, I was thinking that if it could be periodically removed, that might be a solution to the phosphate buildup issue.

I tested some of the slime and it is loaded with phosphate that seems to be bound up in the bacteria bio mat. If you could break it up and filter it out on say a weekly basis, it would remove phosphate from the system.

Aaron


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Unread 08/10/2017, 02:25 PM   #254
dartier
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OzIA View Post
I wonder how different that option would be that just running an Algae Turf Scrubber?

I have been contemplating another option.

Since the bacteria seems to be building this slime mat that can become clogged, I was thinking that if it could be periodically removed, that might be a solution to the phosphate buildup issue.

I tested some of the slime and it is loaded with phosphate that seems to be bound up in the bacteria bio mat. If you could break it up and filter it out on say a weekly basis, it would remove phosphate from the system.

Aaron
I have used an ATS in the past to export nutrients. The parts that I did not care for was the mess, and the possibility of tossing out lots micro fauna on a regular basis. Now I have a fish room, so the mess would be less of a problem, but I can still see myself picking through a bunch of GHA for micro fauna. As well with an ATS, you have to stay on top of it to keep the GHA growing in the ATS and not the display.

If you are getting that much density of bacterial mats, your filter must be tending more towards carbon dosing rather then denitrification. Carbon dosing exports nutrients by skimming the produced bacteria where as denitrification uses less dense bacteria populations operated in more of the anoxic range to cause the bacteria to liberate the oxygen molecules from the nitrate leaving only nitrogen gas.

If you have the means to export (a portion) the bacterial mats easily, then it can be a means of exporting phosphate as well. However you may need to supplement (dose) nitrate in order to balance the nutrients and allow for more growth to be exported.

Dennis


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560G Miracles tank in process
making a DIY DyMiCo style filter (for 560G)

Current Tank Info: 560G Miracles tank in progress, 80Frag Temporary
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Unread 08/10/2017, 03:29 PM   #255
OzIA
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Skimmers have been turned off so the export of the Nitrate is not a result of skimming. I am operating (cycling) the media bed from 100mV to -100mV. I don't know if that is an indication of anoxic range but it seems to be working.

i am all in favor of less of a bacteria mat but I haven't been able to completely eliminate it.


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Unread 08/10/2017, 08:15 PM   #256
dartier
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I guess the question would be to see if your nitrate stays low and your bacterial colony remains stable and does not continue to grow. Since the bacterial colony remains about the same (as far as volume occupied), and your filter continues to reduce nitrate, then the explanation is that denitrification is occurring as your skimmer is not running so no export of bacteria can be taking place. -100 mv is low enough for denitrification to occur.

How are your corals reacting to your water parameters?

Dennis


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Current Tank Info: 560G Miracles tank in progress, 80Frag Temporary
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Unread 01/29/2019, 10:06 AM   #257
Thadude0226
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Npr

Hello I was scheduled to get the Dymico system shipped to the States but they are having production issues. So I have elected to try to create a build like you guys and was wondering how are the systems performing and do you have pics of the build and some advice


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Unread 01/29/2019, 12:37 PM   #258
OzIA
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I have never been able to get these systems to run long-term. They clog up when I try to drive them and I have to back off on the organic carbon.

I haven't heard much from Dartier in a while. He was working on a new tank (Blue Window) but I haven't seen an update in a while.

I started another thread, (search for Automatic Biomass Scrubber) if you want to look at that one. The ABS ran for about 6 months and then I developed a leak in the remote DSB so it's been limping along without the DSB while I work on the newest ABS version. I haven't posted anything about that one (Mark IV) yet.

Good luck.


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Unread 01/29/2019, 01:26 PM   #259
Thadude0226
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Ok so it's better just run a calcium reactor in a DSB sump?


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Unread 01/29/2019, 03:57 PM   #260
OzIA
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You can probably do that but if you add a form of organic carbon to the DSB, I believe it will clog.

As I understood it, the DyMiCo system did put CO2 into the second course layer and melted some of that as a form of calcium reactor but I only built one of my systems that way.

DyMiCo also used two layers in their system. The top sand layer is where the ammonia was converted to nitrite then to nitrate or nitrification process was accomplished. Then that water filtered down to the coarse layer where the bacteria, fed organic carbon under low oxygen conditions, broke down the nitrate (denitrification) into oxygen and nitrogen gas.

All of the systems I build and tried worked well in the beginning. All removed nitrate almost immediately and I assume increased the bacteria populations in the water. I can't be sure about that last comment as I have no way to count. The problem is that a biofilm built up in every system to the point where flow was severely limited. At that point, the systems capabilities were diminished and nitrate would start to increase. Once I manually cleared the biofilm, the systems would start working again but clog more quickly the next time. Also phosphate would start to increase. I believe this was because there was no way to remove the phosphate in the same way as the nitrogen and just have it bubble out.

What i was trying to do with my current system (soon to be upgraded) was to automatically remove the biofilm which I believe is where the phosphate is bound up.


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Unread 01/30/2019, 06:29 AM   #261
Thadude0226
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Thanks for your help and advice but they emailed me and I will have a Dymico shipped next week and will have a vlog on it and I will put the information on here once I get it.


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Unread 01/30/2019, 07:55 AM   #262
OzIA
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Good to hear. I'd be very interested in your info and observations. What size and what was the cost, if you don't mind me asking.


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Unread 01/31/2019, 04:55 AM   #263
Thadude0226
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I have a 300 so I will be getting the A+ and by me agreeing to vlog my setup on YouTube they are giving me 35 percent discount.


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Unread 01/31/2019, 11:55 PM   #264
Thadude0226
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Wow they don't accept our payment system which will cost me more if I decide so I'm thinking about looking at your other thread


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Unread 02/05/2019, 04:34 PM   #265
Thadude0226
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They covered all the fees to allow this to happen so I'M A DYMICO OWNER AND WILL BE BROADCASTING IT ON YOUTUBE.


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Unread 02/06/2019, 08:09 PM   #266
OzIA
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Looking forward to seeing it.


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Unread 02/13/2019, 03:24 AM   #267
Thadude0226
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Follow my thread

I'm about to start a thread to follow and I give updates as well as a YouTube channel.


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Unread 03/28/2019, 04:45 PM   #268
Thadude0226
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Looking forward to seeing it.
Hey for some reason I'm unable to find the open new thread to show the system and updates


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Unread 03/29/2019, 08:13 AM   #269
OzIA
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Is that your new post for your DyMiCo system?


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Unread 03/29/2019, 10:14 AM   #270
Thadude0226
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I have it and setting it up but I'm trying to figure out how to create a Thread so people can follow


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