Diy denitrator

[Jag586]

After planning ive come up with an idea tell me what youll think, three towers each say 3inches x 24inches, water flows into tower 1 which is 100 ft or so of tube, 1/4 in thick, (this will take out some of the oxygen) then over to tower two where the de oxygenated water will flow through sand filled with nitrate eating bacteria, then into tower three filled with crushed coral for more bactera to grow and to act as a ph buffer, then back into my tank..... Will it work? After your input ill do some tweeks to the plan then post pics of the build

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[tug]

Nitrifying bacteria require a good supply of Oxygen to be at their best. Consider a wet/dry system. It would be more effective at providing O2, should provide better flow since there's no back pressure. It would be easier to clean and water changes would not lower the water level in the main tank. Of course I don't have one - I am leaning in that direction the more I read about them.

So, two problems. The reduced O2 levels and the energy needed to move the water through the three towers.

?: Wouldn't crushed coral raise water hardness more then needed/wanted? I guess it depends on the existing KH/GH and knowing more about how your fish would respond. GH/KH is something I am still trying to understand. But you could always add a bag of crushed coral to the wet/dry if it's needed.

 

[Jag586]

Right, I have a wet dry it does good at making nitrite to nitrate, but I want a filter to remove the nitrate, and that happens in low o2 it also needs to be slower moving water .. I have cichlids and I want to raise my hardness, third tower not needed but could be used

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[ezrk]

There is a big thread on cichlid-forum detailing how someone made this work.

 

[jonclark96]

I've read that most de-nitrators are more trouble than they are worth. Simple water changes are not hard to do and let you know for sure that nitrates are coming out of the tank.

 

[Jag586]

I think its more or less somthing to see if I can, I do 40% wc a week, which is about 80 gallons doesnt bother me just want to see if I can make it work

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[Jag586]

Ok... Scrap the denitrator idea how about a automatic water change drip system? Have the incoming water run thru crushed coral, itll keep the tank full (evaporation) and take care of nitrates

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[tug]

Now you're talking!

I've been trying to think of a way to tie the water changes into my existing water line for the outdoor faucet. The faucet is already running to an irrigation system. In my mind (what's left of it) the water line to the faucet would be turned off while the tank water is drained out to the yard. Or possibly some type of a veturi fitting could be used. But, I can't think of a fitting to add to the water line between the shut off valve and the faucet that wouldn't weaken with use over time.

 

[jonclark96]

Sounds like a much better idea. Hit up Danger_Chicken. He is a wiz when it comes to plumbing and auto water changes. There may be a thread somewhere in the archives that explains how he set up his system.

 

[ezrk]

F Mueller has a lengthy discussion of setting up his drip system on his web site. It is pretty interesting and has a lot of details on how he did it.

 

[danger_chicken]

Water changes are the best way now but I always like to see someone looking for a better way. That is after all how better ways are found. Who's to say if denitrafication is prefected that one day we will only be doing water chagnges once a year.

A sulfer denitrator might work well in your setup if you plan on using crushed coral to buffer. SD's don't need an external food supply and they don't clog like the coil type. The one issue they have is the efluent comes out around 4.5ph. The salty's get around that by running it through a calcium aggrate - that does need to be replaced every couple of months. I didn't want or need to add calcium and had luck aerating the effluent to raise the PH but didn't spend enough time on it to say the aeration method works well enough to correct the problem (tried it for a minute or two in a test cup) - you need to aerate before the water gets to the tank.

Here's my filter, it's from 2 years ago and I haven't had time or desire to mess around with it once my fish load decreased in my main tank.

I used an aqualifter to supply the filter and an orp meter (inside) to see O2 levels. There is a small pump inside the filter to circulate and avoid stagnation. It took about a week to deplete the O2 in the filter and for the bac to colonize. I tested everyday, no change in nitrates then on the 5th or 6th they dropped to zero over night - form over 100ppm. The sulfer pellets are the food source and matrix for the media. Even running a low flow aqualifter I had to put a valve on the effluent end to limit the flow to .5g an hour. The trick with this type is tuning the flow to maximize the dinitrafication while controlling the O2 level inside the filter. Any more then a few drips a second (while cycling) and you're putting to much O2 through the denitrator. Also to note, you don't want it too slow or it will create hydgoen sulfids). I've heard of other's taking several months to cycle but managing to get a steady albeit slow stream from the return. This low flow will work on large tanks. The denitrator will reduce the nitrates faster than the BB can produce them and over time bring the tank to zero - so says the salty's that use them.

 

[Tony]

Very cool, Michael. How often do you need to add the sulfur pellets? Every time you do this, you're basically starting over, right?

 

[ezrk]

I was on MFK last night and saw an ad for someone claiming to make a dinitrator (Aquapure or something similar).

Interesting idea it is a two stage filter with the first stage being regular bacterial filtration which depletes the O2 out of the water (and they suggested this should be the only bacterial filtration) then second stage being denitrification. Flow through the filter was slow and it required feeding the dinitrifiers carbon in some form, preferably ethanol (i.e. vodka).

Have no idea if it really works, but thought it was interesting none the less.

 

[killakacti]

Ethanol is a great carbon source for denitrification you can also use Glycerin based substances, you would have to add a little more to get the ORP down to -150mv where denitrifying takes process. Glycerine would be cheaper in the long run, then you can drink the vodka
depending on the size of your biomass and the organic loading would determine your feed rate.

you would need 2 vessels under your tank and would most likely have to run batches instead of a continuis feed. Although continuis feed is possible, batch would be a lot easier.The first vessel would be your nitrifying, dentrifying and settling, the second would your polish vessel where you would test the pH on the water before pumping back in the tank. Biological filtration can turn somewhat acidic depending on your bacteria age.

Also you would need some bacteria to get a jump start on cultavation, if you ever need some just let me know.