DIY Natureef Style Denitrator Build and Data thread...
- Thread starter mrx66699
- Start date
DRThompson
2018 FMAS President
Are you dosing strontium? Check your alk and mag levels. The detritus might be precipitation.
Not dosing strontium
alk at 8
mag at 1350 tank nitrates at between 40 /60 after starting at 160
The rock that is in the tank has been with me a long time
It is detritus smells like u know what
I guess that this is finally cleaning out my system/like old tank syndrome
Tank looks better after every flush
alk at 8
mag at 1350 tank nitrates at between 40 /60 after starting at 160
The rock that is in the tank has been with me a long time
It is detritus smells like u know what
I guess that this is finally cleaning out my system/like old tank syndrome
Tank looks better after every flush
bmanzie
New member
Question, how much an how often do you dose when trying to get to the first cycle. Matt suggested an amount for me however I would like to understand the formula so I could program my apex.
Thank you both for a great write up.
Thank you both for a great write up.
The amount of methanol you dose is proportional to the concentration of nitrates
and the size of the chamber.
My 200gal system uses a 12gal chamber. My nitrates are 2.5-5mg/L and I dose
1.5ml of methanol per cycle. I currently cycle it 3 times a day. (automated thru my apex)
Matt has a 700gal system and we are using a 30gal chamber. We haven't completed
the first cycle yet so a regular dosing amount is still TBD.
I'm using a formulation based on the reference literature I'm using as well as
my own experience. We've had to modify it a little but basically we are dosing
a 3:1 ratio of methanol to nitrates.
Basic formulation: 3grams of methanol to 1 gram of nitrate
Example:
30gal denitrater chamber; nitrates concentration is 25mg/L
(chamber size) 30gal X 4L/gal = 120Liters (aprox)
(Nitrate conc) 25mg/L X 120L = 3000mg or 3gm of Nitrates
Using the 3:1 ratio
3 X 3gm(nitrates) = 9gm methanol
Methanol specific gravity is about 0.8 so actual ml dose
9gm/0.8= 11.25 or about 11ml of pure methanol
This is the formula for maint dosing.
For start up, you will dose every couple days until you get it to cycle. We are still working on the 1st cycle. Tomorrow will be the 14 day mark. So far we have dosed 30ml of Pure methanol into the chamber. To be honest, I think we underestimated Matt's nitrates. Once you get over 25mg/L all the colors seem to blend to me. We will be dosing more aggressively to try to get to end of the first few cycles. Also, I've ordered a dissolved oxygen test kit to help find when the chamber goes anoxic (low oxygen) and starts to remove the nitrates.
Once we are cycling regularly (under 24 hours) then we will go back to the above formulation for maint dosing.
I hope this helps. Please feel free to post questions on the thread, I am happy to answer. This continues to be a learning experience for us as we are challenged with starting up a larger denitrater chamber.
mrx66699
New member
Lol nice edit you didnt need to repost it twice it clogs up the thread here let me take it out of mine since you now have it refrenced ..... post 82 read at the bottom for startup you will dose every few days to get it to cycle as bacteria grows to the point of maintaining a maintenance dosage. Then you are going to back off your dosing till you are at minimal dosages that will still maintain cycles at desired number of cycles per day. There doesnt seem like there could be a scientific formula that is going to determine how fast bacteria grows in ones system as they are all different...amounts of startup bacteria, size of chambers and flow within different setups ....
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bmanzie
New member
Thank you Matt for pointing out what the answer is. However, what I was asking is how do you know what the start up dose should be.
The 40 ml that you told me to start with is not the same as the answer to the formula.
So I return to my question, what is the formula for determining how much and how often to dose during start up?
The 40 ml that you told me to start with is not the same as the answer to the formula.
So I return to my question, what is the formula for determining how much and how often to dose during start up?
mrx66699
New member
I told you that was the dose that I started mine at your setup was similar to mine in dt size and chamber size and you would need to measure your nitrates and adjust acordingly to the formula stated above.....if you go back and see we followed the same as your doing by starting with a smaller start up dosage and then working up to a first cycle dosage then backing off to a maintance dosage .....keep in mind also when talking about pure or a 50 50 mixture measurements will be smaller
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mrx66699
New member
On mine we monitored it on a daily basis and when the nitrates stopped going down and plateaued off usually every two to three days we dosed a 10 mil bump to get them going again .....keep track of the over all dosage and then adjusted accordingly once your cycles get into the desired range....on mine we are cycling 3 times a day for a 90 gal water change per day
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