DIY Sulfur Denitrator

[djfrankie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11901871#post11901871 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Paul_PSU
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

Paul just cut it as close to the top as you can and pvc a slip to thread union like I did on the new one. If you want to cut the excess off the inside of the reactor you can also do it. Here's how:

Using a saw or a dremel (easier) make about 6 vertical cuts in the interior left over pvc pipe that was part of the flange. Then with a chisel or flat screwdriver you can pry these off. Then just sand the interior a bit to remove excess glue or whatever. It should take about 5 minutes.

HTH,
djfrankie

 

[adnup]

This is a great thread...

I've decided to make one my self. Do you guys think 4 1/2"o.d x 12" chamber would be enough volume for a 90gal tank with a medium bio-load. right now my nitrates are stuck at 25.

TIA ADNUP

 

[Paul_PSU]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11905769#post11905769 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by adnup
This is a great thread...

I've decided to make one my self. Do you guys think 4 1/2"o.d x 12" chamber would be enough volume for a 90gal tank with a medium bio-load. right now my nitrates are stuck at 25.

TIA ADNUP

I have a 4 X 24 for the media and I have a 75g so you would have to at least do 24". You could always go 6" dia pipe and may be able to go shorter.

Paul

 

[asmodeus]

Well sorry folks ,but i took my reactor offline, due do Im going to be leaving in a week for Afghanistan and DOn't want to hav the aLk drop to much when Im gone, I have my wife and my best friend watching the tank. SO he is able to come once per week and I dont want to lave that type of problem with my wife Tammy while im gone for 2.5 months til i come back for 3 weeks and then goen back to Afghanistan til End of Aug. My nittrates are sitting at 35-40 PPm so my tank looks great. SO i will just deal with it til I get home and start up my new tank. thank you so much Frank for all the help and I hope the very best to every one that starts onee up.

P.S Frank aftr i was draining it I could smell rotton egg smell, wouldn't ya know it its starting after i take it offline.


good luck..............

mike

 

[djfrankie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11906886#post11906886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by asmodeus
Well sorry folks ,but i took my reactor offline, due do Im going to be leaving in a week for Afghanistan and DOn't want to hav the aLk drop to much when Im gone, I have my wife and my best friend watching the tank. SO he is able to come once per week and I dont want to lave that type of problem with my wife Tammy while im gone for 2.5 months til i come back for 3 weeks and then goen back to Afghanistan til End of Aug. My nittrates are sitting at 35-40 PPm so my tank looks great. SO i will just deal with it til I get home and start up my new tank. thank you so much Frank for all the help and I hope the very best to every one that starts onee up.

P.S Frank aftr i was draining it I could smell rotton egg smell, wouldn't ya know it its starting after i take it offline.

mike

I think that's a wise decision Mike. Definitely it was starting to cycle

I want to wish you well and come back safe. Thanks for all you're doing for us to be able to enjoy our freedom and peace.

When you come back give me a call and we'll get this thing started again.

Peace and thanks again!

djfrankie

 

[IBASSFSH]

New reactor test results

New reactor test results

New test results
Here are some rather interesting test results for the first 23 hours. First shot is nitrate (on the left) and Nitrite (on the right) out of the Flow through PVC reactor from this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...25&pagenumber=4

WOW!! Look at those colors!! Way more than anything I got out of the R/O unit.

This is basically the same shot, but has tank water nitrates (on the far left):

Here are pics of my reactor that I had built. I wish I could have found round clear PVC pipe here, well I did not really look that hard. Again with the patience thing.

My base is a little different than the one pictured in the above link, due to not being able to find a 4" test flange for the bottom.
I am pleased with this though, because the shower drain piece sits down right where the reducer and pipe come together. It also makes a clean little area for the return pipe to blow back into.

If I was to do it all over I would have gone this way from the start. I think the R/O unit will work as to the testimony of others, but I would make the sulphur beads go nearly to the top of the media chamber in the first unit. This way more water goes through the sulphur beads. I don't think that the water really flowed down low enough to work properly in my set up (beads half way up)

I also used the media out of the R/O unit in the new PVC unit I made. Both the sulphur and the calcium media. I hope this helps somebody on their journey to a nitrate free tank. Including my own!!

 

[IBASSFSH]

Here is the link to the R/O unit I tried also, with time line and test results from that unit. Did not work well for me.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1255658&perpage=25&pagenumber=8

 

[djfrankie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11908776#post11908776 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by IBASSFSH
Here is the link to the R/O unit I tried also, with time line and test results from that unit. Did not work well for me.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1255658&perpage=25&pagenumber=8

Looks good!

thanks for posting your pics,

djfrankie

 

[Paul_PSU]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11906886#post11906886 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by asmodeus
Well sorry folks ,but i took my reactor offline, due do Im going to be leaving in a week for Afghanistan and DOn't want to hav the aLk drop to much when Im gone, I have my wife and my best friend watching the tank. SO he is able to come once per week and I dont want to lave that type of problem with my wife Tammy while im gone for 2.5 months til i come back for 3 weeks and then goen back to Afghanistan til End of Aug. My nittrates are sitting at 35-40 PPm so my tank looks great. SO i will just deal with it til I get home and start up my new tank. thank you so much Frank for all the help and I hope the very best to every one that starts onee up.

P.S Frank aftr i was draining it I could smell rotton egg smell, wouldn't ya know it its starting after i take it offline.


good luck..............

mike

Mike,

Be safe bud. I also wanted to say "THANK YOU" for your service and what you do. I have a good friend in the US Air Force and he is heading to Iraq for 4 months. Let everyone over there know that we truly appreciate what you guys do and because of that we can sit here safe and sound and have the great nitrate debates. See ya when you get back.

Paul

 

[Paul_PSU]

Just an FYI if you are new to using pvc piping and cement. Here is a table with the cure times depending on size of pipe and temp:
<a href="http://s263.photobucket.com/albums/ii141/novak_psu/reef/?action=view&current=PVCCementcuretimes.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii141/novak_psu/reef/PVCCementcuretimes.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

Paul

 

[Steve 926]

Thanks for the pics Ibassfsh.

Is the Blk 1/4 line, the feed to the reactor?
What pump & gph for rec, & feeding the reactor ( MJ 1200 ?)
Height of the reactor itself & amount of media used, is it filled to just below the pump with a foam screen to prevent cloging the intake



Thanks for a reply !!!!

Steve

:smokin:

 

[IBASSFSH]

Reactor

Reactor

Steve 926 the black line is the feed line. It is attached to a 1200 Maxi- Jet in the sump. There is approx. 30' of it from my R/O setup so I just left it like that.

The overall height is approx. 30-31" to the top of the bleed valve elbow.

I do have a foam filter pads like DJFrankie showed in the early pictures. I have one on top of the shower type drain at the very bottom to keep stuff out go the bottom, and a foam pad between the sulphur beads and ARM media. I do not have one above the ARM media. I did not believe it would have enough flow to really disturb that too much and cause the media to get into the Maxi-Jet pump.

If you look at the sideways reactor picture the sulphur beads are somewhere around the "Tee" where the black line is hooked up. It may be more between the coupling and the "Tee". The ARM media is from that point up to about 2" from the Maxi-Jet intake.
I used sulphur beads from www.Aquaticeco.com Its the same stuff that is used in the Schuran reactors I believe.

 

[IBASSFSH]

One more thing is that I copied DJfrankies modified reactor on page 4 I believe pretty much exactly, but I could not find a 4" base for it. I had to use a 4" to 3" reducer and base. By doing this though I didn't have to Dremel a place in shower drain cap for the 1/2" to fit under it. The drain cover actually rest perfectly in the reducer where it reduces down. The only draw back is its a little taller than DJfrankies due to this I would imagine.

 

[Paul_PSU]

IBASSFISH,

I like the bottom, looks more stylish.

 

[Paul_PSU]

How many pounds of the sulphur media did you get? Do you have any pics of it?

 

[IBASSFSH]

Thanks Paul!
I used about 3-4 pounds of the sulphur beads. I have attached a photo of them along with the maxi-jet I modded to work in the sump.

 

[Steve 926]

Thanks Again Ibassfsh !!!!!

Are you using an MJ1200 on the reactor also for the rec pump

Steve

:smokin:

 

[Paul_PSU]

IBASSFISH,
Nice pics. It looks like the same media I got from Premium Aquatics. It was 3.5lbs. Did it say if yours was pre seeded?

Paul

 

[Paul_PSU]

Ok Frankie! Up and running. I just rebuilt it from scratch with the closed top. The closed top is easier, but I must admit I need to see whats going on inside so I will probably make an acrylic one way down the road after this one gets working steady. I am going to take a pic and put it up. I got the chem clean today and put 1 dose in the tank. I turned off the carbon reactor but forgot to turn off the skimmer and the cup almost overflowed :eek2:
I killed 80% of the cyano with the 3 day blackout so hopefully this will wipe it out. I do have a few little tufts of green algae that sprung up. I wil try and get a couple of pictures of it also.

Paul

 

[Paul_PSU]

Here is a pic of the denitrator:

<a href="http://s263.photobucket.com/albums/ii141/novak_psu/reef/?action=view&current=P1010060.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii141/novak_psu/reef/P1010060.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>