Denitrators vs UV, why wont it cycle?

[EnderG60]

OK so I have a coil denitrator I put on a customers tank, along with a 40w UV, and its taking a damn long time to cycle(its been 3 months now).

I also have a friend who has a sulfur denitrator and a 57w, and his didn't cycle fully until he turned the UV off.

Am I missing something here, how are these two things competing?

 

[superedge88]

the only effect of the denitrator would be the possibility that you won't see the spike in nitrate even though your tank may be producing nitrate. As for the UV, this can be effecting some of your bacterial colony in your water column, though I would like to see a study done on UV effects on bacteria free swimming in water and if the UV actually kills it off.

 

[EnderG60]

well whats confusing me is that denitrators are supposed to work off anoxic bacteria so how/why would they be free floating at all where they could be killed by the UV.

 

[superedge88]

The bacteria to seed your denitrator will initially be freefloating until it finds your anoxic zone, so you could be killing that bacteria with the UV before it finds a home in your denitrator. UV also produces ozone, which effects nitrogen levels, so this can also be throwing off your testing. Why do you feel the need to run UV while cycling? I never turn on UV (or ozone) until after a tank is cycled.

 

[EnderG60]

tank is cycled, denitrator is not

Ill try tuning it off for a few days, its about time to change the bulb anyway and I was thinking of putting it on a timer to run 12 hours a day instead of 24

 

[superedge88]

I see, I misunderstood what your post meant. Coil Denitrators can take quite a while to get running optimally, most people give up on them and go with a remote DSB, much less hassle and super easy straight forward with higher nitrate reducing capacity. Takes at least a couple of months to get a remote DSB up and running as it should, I don't know how long it should take for a coil denitrator. Good luck, hope you get the results you are looking for.

 

[davy182]

use the API test kit, it is the only one I have found to work with the sulfur denitrator b/c it doesn't read total nitrogen. tetra test and others were off the scale while the api was 0. Uv does create ozone which does effect the cycling period of the denitrator. As far as denitrators I prefer sulfur. I can get one cycled in less than a week. There are a couple on ebay.

 

[wooden_reefer]

It is poosible that UV affects the rate of cycle.

Nearly all the nitrification bacteria are in the medium is one fact, that there are some bacteria waterborne is another.

I don't know how much bacteria spread within the medium and how much by circulating water. I know that I can use tank water from an established tank as bacteria seed.

 

[superedge88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10851687#post10851687 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by wooden_reefer
It is poosible that UV affects the rate of cycle.

Nearly all the nitrification bacteria are in the medium is one fact, that there are some bacteria waterborne is another.

I don't know how much bacteria spread within the medium and how much by circulating water. I know that I can use tank water from an established tank as bacteria seed.

There are studies claiming that actually most of the nitrifying bacteria are found in the water column. I'll see if I can find a link to a study.

 

[davidryder]

I'd say with quite a bit of certainty that the tank has been cycled for more than 2 months... not every tank goes through the same typical nitrogen cycle. If you used already established sand/live rock or have a superior filtration system your ammonia and nitrite levels may never elevate themselves past the point of concern

 

[EnderG60]

tank is a FOWLR and had been up and running for a year now. Its a 110 and has a CLS 220 skimmer and about 150lbs of live rock. Nitrates hover around 40 which is the max I want any of my tanks to see no matter what and since the client wants to add another fish or two I put on the denitrator.

I went with a custom coil due to its MUCH cheaper cost and the fact I could make it to fit under the stand, which is limited on space.

One of the fish right now has a bit of fungus that has not spread which is why I dont want to turn the UV off, until its gone.

But will the denitrator just take longer to cycle with the UV on, or will not fully cycle at all? If so can I shut the UV off for a week or so to let it finish and then turn it back on?

 

[superedge88]

It would possibly just take longer to cycle.

 

[Reefflections]

I see you guys are mentioning S.reactors.Has anyone had any luck running the drip from it in a CAL reactor,with ARM media.I've just done this with and old reactor.I made the CAL reactor into a closed loop.Where it Sulphur stays in the reactor a longer time.And just running my drip rate out of it.It's been posted on other places here on RC.Where Sulphur will break down the Cal media,because it comes out as a liquid acid.I'm not sure of my results just yet,as for Cal,Alk readings.It's just been set up.So I can't say for sure,the long term results.Or less other folks been down this road,and chime in here.I hope this will take the place of a CO 2 reactor.So only time will tell?

 

[superedge88]

VERY interesting reefflections, I had not heard about this!

 

[Reefflections]

Yes it's been posted on a few boards here.And do a search for Sulphur reactors,and it's been mentioned there a few times.It's where the Korallin reactor ( Sulphur ) type.Where you use the Sulphur media with Cal media on top.But when you do this there isn't much room left for Cal media.They mentioned using a seperate container with Cal media that it runs into.I just taken it a step further.Where I modified and old MRC reactor.I'm using a Mag 2 on the bottom of the reactor where it's connects the air line tube,with the Sulphur over flow.I pump it to the top of the reactor.,with a PVC tube down the middle of it.And drilled many small holes in this tube to make it a spray bar effect.I just did a modfied version of MRC spray bar theory.I wanted to get a more enriched flow threw the reactor,by making it a closed loop.I'm sure it doesn't eat up the media as fast as CO does.But if it can keep my tank perimeters stable,I'm all for it.As for Alk,Cal ect.It's been running 2 days now and Alk is steady.But with this it's always a waiting game.Test,and test as I go.But so far it's doing,what I wanted it to.If things are off,I have a drip valve on the end of the Cal reactor,to speed up or slow it down.It looks the same as Cal reactor,without all the gauges,and CO2.

 

[EnderG60]

I had been considering this for a new system in setting up. How do you regulate the flow between the sulphur reactor and the calc reactor? or do you just use a seperate calc chamber on the sulphur reactor and if you still need more then that drip will allow go and get another seperate calc reactor?