DIY Natureef Style Denitrator Build and Data thread...

[delmo]

Eggcrate is actually better along the walls and bottom, to provide more surface area for the bacteria to grow on.This way it leaves no center positioned eggcrate to eventually clog up with bacteria and blow circulation around the chamber.
fftfk, Position your power head somewhere on the edge of the chamber so that it continuously stirs all of the chamber water.
Natureef has one eggcrate piece right in the middle, which is not quite as good (<----I have a Natureef chamber)
Good to hear elviraveloz!
I have been very outspoken about mine, it out performs any other method by far.

 

[StevieK]

Dr

Been following the thread for quite some time. Great reading and i would like to start soon.

Issue i have is that i am up in Canada, so it will be difficult for you to seed me some bacteria

i have a few questions, but will start with three:
1. can i use Methyl Hydrate
2. can i start with MicroBacter7 as a seed product
3. mostly interested in Phosphates ... what do i need for it and how effective is it?

thank you in advance
Steve

 

[DRThompson]

Dr

Been following the thread for quite some time. Great reading and i would like to start soon.

Issue i have is that i am up in Canada, so it will be difficult for you to seed me some bacteria

i have a few questions, but will start with three:
1. can i use Methyl Hydrate
2. can i start with MicroBacter7 as a seed product
3. mostly interested in Phosphates ... what do i need for it and how effective is it?

thank you in advance
Steve

Hey Steve,
1. Methyl Hydrate is fine, just make sure it is as pure as possible >99.9%
2. Microbacter7 is fine, just might take longer to get it going
3. The methanol denitrator is mostly to handle nitrates. It will lower phosphates with the addition of Strontium nitrate but the main purpose is to reduce nitrates.

Have you done any carbon dosing in the past? (ie: vodka, vinegar, sugar, biopellets...etc)

 

[StevieK]

Hey Steve,
1. Methyl Hydrate is fine, just make sure it is as pure as possible >99.9%
2. Microbacter7 is fine, just might take longer to get it going
3. The methanol denitrator is mostly to handle nitrates. It will lower phosphates with the addition of Strontium nitrate but the main purpose is to reduce nitrates.

Have you done any carbon dosing in the past? (ie: vodka, vinegar, sugar, biopellets...etc)

I have done vinegar in the past (previous tank). Currently, phosphates sit a little high at.18 Hanna. So, from what I read, one needs a balance between phosphates (.05) and nitrates (5). I was hoping to have one device to control both.

 

[hobbzz]

Well my first cycle finished today. I have it flushing right now, unfortunately it's causing my external skimmer to overflow. Obviously not acceptable. I have an auto shut off, but I can't have it overflowing and filling the cup then shutting down the skimmer until I get home and empty it, then shutting off again during the night until I wake up to empty it.

I have the denitrator emptying into the sump about 2-3 inches in front of the skimmer intake. The flow through the sump pushes the water from the denitrator into the skimmer. The bubbles dissipate and the skimmer doesn't suck any in.

Unless this is just a fluke due to excess bacteria that only happens in the 1st cycle, it looks like I won't be able to use a denitrator.

Any ideas?

 

[zachts]

Well my first cycle finished today. I have it flushing right now, unfortunately it's causing my external skimmer to overflow. Obviously not acceptable. I have an auto shut off, but I can't have it overflowing and filling the cup then shutting down the skimmer until I get home and empty it, then shutting off again during the night until I wake up to empty it.

I have the denitrator emptying into the sump about 2-3 inches in front of the skimmer intake. The flow through the sump pushes the water from the denitrator into the skimmer. The bubbles dissipate and the skimmer doesn't suck any in.

Unless this is just a fluke due to excess bacteria that only happens in the 1st cycle, it looks like I won't be able to use a denitrator.

Any ideas?

Larger storage container for the skimmer? and/or adjust it to produce dryer skimate.....

 

[delmo]

You really should've thrown the first cycle water away.... it'll get better.

 

[hobbzz]

That's good to know. I reread the first few pages and MRx didn't say anything about tossing it, so I just flushed it like he did.

 

[mrx66699]

I didn't toss it was no need to I have a large enough skimmer to handle the flow and the size of the tank including anything extra.....i have only had to flush it once where i threw away the water and that was my fault lol i accidentally shut off the flush pump for a few days and the sulfur took over from not having any fresh water to feed from lololo

 

[delmo]

Double Post...

 

[delmo]

Adolf always recommended throwing out the first batch because of how long the first cycle can take. It can get pretty stale for those taking 4-8 weeks. The next cycle should be less than half the first batch time, and continue to lessen until you can achieve 3-4 cycles a day. While cycling 3-4 times a day, you won't notice any skimmer swing. 3 Cycles for me with a 100 gallon twv, and a 5 gallon chamber, feeding 3-4 times a day keeps my Nitrates at about 2.5. (13 fish, including 5 Tangs) 4 times a day gets me to 0, but I could never keep sps like this. I may not be connecting the dots correctly, but this is my story. I am at 3 cycles a day with 2.5 Nitrates and keeping sps for the first time (and lps), and I attribute keeping a little Nitrates to it.
If SPS is not your thing, I kept LPS and too many fish at 0 Nitrates for 6 years with 0 water changes!
It all depends on what your, dare I say it, "Fishtank Personality" is. LOL

 

[doggydoc]

I have a question for the gurus here. Denitrator was working fine flushing every 8 hours for approx 6 months. All of a sudden started having increase nitrates in my DT. Decided to check the denitrator 30 minutes before flushing and noticed that nitrates were at 10 on the salifert kit. Went back down to twice a day cycling and now nitrates are at zero in the Denitrator. BUT my DT nitrates have been consistently around 15-20.
Any ideas?
Still dosing the same amount of nitragone.

 

[DRThompson]

I have a question for the gurus here. Denitrator was working fine flushing every 8 hours for approx 6 months. All of a sudden started having increase nitrates in my DT. Decided to check the denitrator 30 minutes before flushing and noticed that nitrates were at 10 on the salifert kit. Went back down to twice a day cycling and now nitrates are at zero in the Denitrator. BUT my DT nitrates have been consistently around 15-20.
Any ideas?
Still dosing the same amount of nitragone.

check the flow inside the chamber. If the brown biomass is mostly at the top of your chamber then you probably dont have enough flow inside the chamber.

You might need to clean the internal pump.

 

[doggydoc]

Pump is cleaned weekly. Biomass is all the way down covering the entire length of the egg crate.

 

[SPotter]

i have noticed that when my pump isnt working properly that i get a spike in no3 and po4 levels in my chamber. I had gotten lazy and forgot to clean my pump for a couple of weeks and it stopped working. I tested my levels and they had spiked. I cleanded the pump and was amazed that less than 24 hrs later the levels were back to zero.

 

[rovster]

You guys and your nitrate issues. I have to dump nitrate back into my tank, LOL! Great thread though, if I ever do a larger system, I think this is the way to go for sure!

 

[DRThompson]

Pump is cleaned weekly. Biomass is all the way down covering the entire length of the egg crate.

wow, weekly? I clean mine every few months.

You could try increasing the dose of methanol (slightly). Maybe adding extra manually at the start of the cycle and test at intervals to see when cycle is complete. Also, try to get the sample of water near pump if possible for testing.

 

[doggydoc]

Water is coming from the vicinity of the pump.
Why increase methanol?
Sorry just want to get to the bottom of this!
Thanks for all the replies

 

[doggydoc]

Anyone?

 

[delmo]

If your cycle is not "finishing" (0 nitrates) then that is due to not enough bacteria, food (methanol), or circulation. Bumping up your methanol dose would cover you since (we assume) you have addressed the rest.