DIY Sulfur Denitrator
- Thread starter djfrankie
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djfrankie
In Memoriam
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11892349#post11892349 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul_PSU
The first problem is easy. I have the denitrator being fed off of the same pump as my carbon and Phosar reactor. Once I turn the MJ on to recirculate the water after the denitrator fills up the water level in the denitrator starts to drop.
I will have to get a stronger pump if I am going to run all three off of it or get another small one just for the denitrator.
Paul, you could try an aqualifter to feed the sulfur reactor. They're real cheap and do the job.
Now problem TWO, not so easy to fix.....my denitrator has a leak at the top where the pipe and the flange are cemented :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: . I'm going to bed before I break out the sawzall :lol:
Not sure if anyone knows of an easy way to fix the leak or not? The leak is on the outside under the flange, so not real easy to apply anything. Any thought would be greatly appreciated.
Paul
Run a bead of silicone on the outside and let it dry overnight.
HTH,
djfrankie
The first problem is easy. I have the denitrator being fed off of the same pump as my carbon and Phosar reactor. Once I turn the MJ on to recirculate the water after the denitrator fills up the water level in the denitrator starts to drop.
I will have to get a stronger pump if I am going to run all three off of it or get another small one just for the denitrator. Paul, you could try an aqualifter to feed the sulfur reactor. They're real cheap and do the job.
Now problem TWO, not so easy to fix.....my denitrator has a leak at the top where the pipe and the flange are cemented :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: . I'm going to bed before I break out the sawzall :lol:
Not sure if anyone knows of an easy way to fix the leak or not? The leak is on the outside under the flange, so not real easy to apply anything. Any thought would be greatly appreciated.
Paul
Run a bead of silicone on the outside and let it dry overnight.
HTH,
djfrankie
djfrankie
In Memoriam
3.5 Pounds of Sulfur media is enough for up to 250 gallons. The only reason for adding Matrix would be to save money if your tank is bigger than 250.
Here's the Seachem Matrix I'm talking about:
http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewI...Biological_Ceramic___Resins_Type~vendor~.html
You can find aragonite at any of RC sponsors here. The best one, IMO, is the large grain type.
For example:
http://www.premiumaquatics.com/Merc...PROD&Product_Code=PC-CRM&Category_Code=cmedia
HTH,
djfrankie
Paul_PSU
In Memoriam
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11892956#post11892956 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by djfrankie
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11892349#post11892349 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul_PSU
The first problem is easy. I have the denitrator being fed off of the same pump as my carbon and Phosar reactor. Once I turn the MJ on to recirculate the water after the denitrator fills up the water level in the denitrator starts to drop.
Paul, you could try an aqualifter to feed the sulfur reactor. They're real cheap and do the job.
Now problem TWO, not so easy to fix.....my denitrator has a leak at the top where the pipe and the flange are cemented :mad2: :mad2: :mad2: . I'm going to bed before I break out the sawzall :lol:
Not sure if anyone knows of an easy way to fix the leak or not? The leak is on the outside under the flange, so not real easy to apply anything. Any thought would be greatly appreciated.
Paul
Run a bead of silicone on the outside and let it dry overnight.
HTH,
djfrankie
Thanks Frankie, that was my first thought. I am going to make sure I have the water level below and dry it out as best I can and run the silcon around it. I'll let you know how it works.
Paul_PSU
In Memoriam
I put silicone all around the outside edge and I was in basement looking through the room of used and lost pieces and parts and I had my old hang on skimmer sitting there with a quiet one 1200 attached to it 
. I just had to get a 1/2 in adapter for the output and now I'm ready to go. I just have to be patient and let the silicone cure. It says 24 hours and I put it on at 6am est so I gotta wait till tomorrow morning. I have to install my fans in my canopy anyways so that will keep me busy on my day off and my mind off the denitrator so I don't run it before the silicone cures.
Me and patience don't see eye-to-eye all the time..
Paul
. I just had to get a 1/2 in adapter for the output and now I'm ready to go. I just have to be patient and let the silicone cure. It says 24 hours and I put it on at 6am est so I gotta wait till tomorrow morning. I have to install my fans in my canopy anyways so that will keep me busy on my day off and my mind off the denitrator so I don't run it before the silicone cures. Me and patience don't see eye-to-eye all the time..
Paul
Paul I wish I would have read your post last night. What I would have done is used the PVC cement on the out side to bond it together. that is what i have done in the past and it works, You wouldnt have to wait the 24 hours too. just remember that silicone isnt really strong with PVC there. if the leak gets strong enough it can push through the silicone. That is all the reason that i said this is It has happened to me. SO just letting you know..
if the reactor is in the sump well it won't really matter then if it leaks.
mike
if the reactor is in the sump well it won't really matter then if it leaks.
mike
Last edited:
Paul_PSU
In Memoriam
Mike,
Thanks for the heads up. I actually put some pvc cement on it first also. I just had trouble trying to get it on the seam with it being under the flange. I did that last night and then put silicone over it this morning. I figure you can't have too much protection....I think my mother told me that when I went on my first date eons ago..:lol:
thanks again for the heads up!
Paul
saltydog64
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11894317#post11894317 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul_PSU
I put silicone all around the outside edge and I was in basement looking through the room of used and lost pieces and parts and I had my old hang on skimmer sitting there with a quiet one 1200 attached to it
Me and patience don't see eye-to-eye all the time..
Paul
Paul...........bummer..sorry about the leak !! I took a look @ your post of 02/08 w/ the clear top and all, nice job, but I noticed your top flange is a I.D. fit where as dj's is an O.D. fit so I'm sure your glue line( adpator to pipe) was long enough for a good seal??? I could be wrong on this...just a thought. U didn't say how big a leak...a drip now and then or what, not sure that matters as a leak is a leak.( remember, this was not a stand alone pump so a " new" pump will incresase psi making harder to seal) I hope the silcone works.......if not u really don't need to see in there...so a fix will be get out the saw cut off top flange as close as possible to the flange and glue on an adaptor, much like u used for your CA reactor, tap the cap just remember to use lots of teflon tape on those course threads as thier tough to seal (I know as I have retaped mine twice and it still leaks, small but leaks).
Paul this is off this subject, but when your ready to startup don't hook up your dischange to your tank @ first, run the units full open and into a 5 gal bucket as some nasty stuff can come out of there, run it this for 15 or mins then start to adjust flow rates still into the bucket. Actually what I did was to put the pump in the bucket with "old" tank water and a heater(this turned up hi 80's to speed up the cycle) it's running this way (started yesterday) until I'm sure of what's coming out there, glad I did because the course foams can't catch the fines that came off my media, I'm using about 9" of matrix, foam, than 6" of the CaribSea LSM sulfur than the final foam.
Just trying to help and good luck with this Paul
Dick
Just make sure that the media is not totally compact you should have some movement in the media. from what I have seen the more compact that it is the more chance you will have in the media turning to mush. I know its from experience. I dont hav eany foam on the top and i have the tumbling effect. that reminds me stay tuned for a test on what the nitrates will be...:smokin:
please start to drop................................
please start to drop................................
WELL NOTHING YET :mad2: I don't know why its not going down. Frank I'm running a Phosban reactor, with Phosban, Ozone through my skimmer @ about 15-20Mg/per hr and a Kalk reactor , dripping ever 5 seconds ,would the ozone have something to do with it. the nitrates are still at 40PPM i cant see that the Phosban and the Kalk reactor has any negitive effect on the Bacteria but would the Ozone may be
Paul_PSU
In Memoriam
Mike,
It will come down, just be patient (I can't believe I'm telling someone to be patient :lol: ). The bacteria may have had to reseed and if thats the case, it will kick in.
hmm, I found this article while I was posting this. It had this to say:
"One thing that I, and others, have noticed though, is that reef
systems that use ozone tend to run at higher nitrate levels than reef
systems that do not. This may be a reflection of the increase in
nitrate production caused by the oxidation of nitrite into nitrate by
ozone and/or some inhibitory ozone affect on denitrification."
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~delbeek/reefaq3.html
so it just may take a little longer.......
Paul
It will come down, just be patient (I can't believe I'm telling someone to be patient :lol: ). The bacteria may have had to reseed and if thats the case, it will kick in.
hmm, I found this article while I was posting this. It had this to say:
"One thing that I, and others, have noticed though, is that reef
systems that use ozone tend to run at higher nitrate levels than reef
systems that do not. This may be a reflection of the increase in
nitrate production caused by the oxidation of nitrite into nitrate by
ozone and/or some inhibitory ozone affect on denitrification."
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~delbeek/reefaq3.html
so it just may take a little longer.......
Paul
Oh crap that is right Paul I for got about that Ozone converts Ammonia to Nitrites, and then to Nitrates. faster so the filteration can take care of it.
Man I feel dumb now after looking at it.. I totally forgot about that Nitrates, i was worried about slowing down the Cynao bacteria that i have in the tank.
thansk Buddy ya I know all about taking your time. shame on you for bringing out my short comings.
Man I feel dumb now after looking at it.. I totally forgot about that Nitrates, i was worried about slowing down the Cynao bacteria that i have in the tank.
thansk Buddy ya I know all about taking your time. shame on you for bringing out my short comings.
Oh crap that is right Paul I for got about that Ozone converts Ammonia to Nittrites, and then to Nitrates. faster so the filteration can take care of it.
Man I feel dumb now after looking at it.. I totally forgot about that Nitrates, i was worried about slowing down the Cynao bacteria that i have in the tank.
thansk Buddy ya I know all about taking your time. shame on you for bringing out my short comings.
Man I feel dumb now after looking at it.. I totally forgot about that Nitrates, i was worried about slowing down the Cynao bacteria that i have in the tank.
thansk Buddy ya I know all about taking your time. shame on you for bringing out my short comings.
djfrankie
In Memoriam
Paul, that's a good find !
Mike, you might want to run this through Randy in the chemistry forum and see what he thinks?
Mike, is your nitrate test kit working???
Remember this is how I got in trouble to begin with. I had a bad Salifert test kit that gave me zero readings!
Do me a favor and test a new batch of saltwater and see what the results come up?
Also dilute 1 part of your tank's water to four parts of clean water and run a test again.
Let us know.
djfrankie
Paul_PSU
In Memoriam
Frankie, thanks. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. :lol: I am trying to follow my own advice. I keep staring at the reactor and want to fire it up, but I gotta wait till tomorrow morning for the 24 hrs.
I have had my lights off for two days now to kill the cyano. According to the tracking number I will have the chemi clean on Friday.
What do you keep your salinity at for your tank? I kept mine at the standard 1.023, but have been reading on here that it should be around 1.025-1.026 like natural sea water.
Paul
I have had my lights off for two days now to kill the cyano. According to the tracking number I will have the chemi clean on Friday.
What do you keep your salinity at for your tank? I kept mine at the standard 1.023, but have been reading on here that it should be around 1.025-1.026 like natural sea water.
Paul
djfrankie
In Memoriam
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11898900#post11898900 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul_PSU
Frankie, thanks. Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. :lol: I am trying to follow my own advice. I keep staring at the reactor and want to fire it up, but I gotta wait till tomorrow morning for the 24 hrs.
I have had my lights off for two days now to kill the cyano. According to the tracking number I will have the chemi clean on Friday.
What do you keep your salinity at for your tank? I kept mine at the standard 1.023, but have been reading on here that it should be around 1.025-1.026 like natural sea water.
Paul
LOL...
I keep my salinity at 1.025 using a refractometer. I'm in the process of lowering to 1.022 since it allows more oxygen in the water. I plan on lowering the salinity within a month or so so all the inhabitants adjust to it with no problems.
Here's a relly good video seminar on hypoxia in our aquariums by Eric Borneman. Very interesting to say the least.
Enjoy!
http://www.reefvideos.com
djfrankie
Paul_PSU
In Memoriam
Ok, so I still have the leak. :mad2: I guess I am off to HD late today to start a new one. I really only need the bottom flange and the top cap ( I am definately going with the closed top design).
Frankie, am I SOL with the MJ? I wasn't sure if I could buy the part that is cemented (volute?) or I was going to see if I could cut it off close to the reactor and still attach to the new reactor with a coupling or two.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Paul
Frankie, am I SOL with the MJ? I wasn't sure if I could buy the part that is cemented (volute?) or I was going to see if I could cut it off close to the reactor and still attach to the new reactor with a coupling or two.
I'll let you know how it goes.
Paul
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