DIY Sulfur Denitrator
- Thread starter djfrankie
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melev
Well-known member
This thread has been nominated for Thread of the Month! If you liked it, be sure to vote!
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=11953022#post11953022
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=11953022#post11953022
djfrankie
In Memoriam
I've been meaning to post this for a while, but had been really busy lately.
This is helpful to anyone reading this thread or coming new on board since the more we all know the better it is for the hobby.
I had a little time tonight and here it is:
Articles that should be read:
THE AUTOTROPHIC DENITRATATION ON SULFUR by Marc Langouet
http://mars.reefkeepers.net/USHomePage/USArticles/SulphurDenitrator.htm
THE AUTOTROPHIC DENITRATATION ON SULFUR - WHAT'S THE STATUS?
http://mars.reefkeepers.net/USHomePage/USArticles/SulphurDenitrator.htm
Reef Aquarist: A sulfur reactor could help reduce nitrate by Charles Delbeek, M. Sc.
http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/printer.aspx?aid=17592&cid=3793
A REACTOR, ANTI-PHOSPHATE, ANTI-NITRATES, ADDING CALCIUM
Without pump
http://mars.reefkeepers.net/USHomePage/USArticles/Zmiro/DenitratationSoufre.html
CHEMISTRY AND THE AQUARIUM by RANDY HOLMES-FARLEY
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm
Articles that I have found of interest regarding Sulfur reactors:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=139851
http://www.njreefers.org/joomla/ind...26&topic=4537.0
Link to a patent that lists lots of sources regarding information on reactors.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7244356.html
Some companies around the world that make sulfur based reactors:
http://www.aquavie.fr/US/aquariophilie/F1000S-MS300-G300S.htm
http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/?q=node/26
http://www.midwestaquatic.com/PRODUCTS/sulfur_denitrifier.htm
http://www.korallin.de/frmst2.htm
http://www.hsaquaristik.de/start_eng.php
This is helpful to anyone reading this thread or coming new on board since the more we all know the better it is for the hobby.
I had a little time tonight and here it is:
Articles that should be read:
THE AUTOTROPHIC DENITRATATION ON SULFUR by Marc Langouet
http://mars.reefkeepers.net/USHomePage/USArticles/SulphurDenitrator.htm
THE AUTOTROPHIC DENITRATATION ON SULFUR - WHAT'S THE STATUS?
http://mars.reefkeepers.net/USHomePage/USArticles/SulphurDenitrator.htm
Reef Aquarist: A sulfur reactor could help reduce nitrate by Charles Delbeek, M. Sc.
http://www.aquariumfish.com/aquariumfish/printer.aspx?aid=17592&cid=3793
A REACTOR, ANTI-PHOSPHATE, ANTI-NITRATES, ADDING CALCIUM
Without pump
http://mars.reefkeepers.net/USHomePage/USArticles/Zmiro/DenitratationSoufre.html
CHEMISTRY AND THE AQUARIUM by RANDY HOLMES-FARLEY
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/august2003/chem.htm
Articles that I have found of interest regarding Sulfur reactors:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=139851
http://www.njreefers.org/joomla/ind...26&topic=4537.0
Link to a patent that lists lots of sources regarding information on reactors.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/7244356.html
Some companies around the world that make sulfur based reactors:
http://www.aquavie.fr/US/aquariophilie/F1000S-MS300-G300S.htm
http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/?q=node/26
http://www.midwestaquatic.com/PRODUCTS/sulfur_denitrifier.htm
http://www.korallin.de/frmst2.htm
http://www.hsaquaristik.de/start_eng.php
djfrankie
In Memoriam
Basic Guidelines to a sulfur reactor:
Amount of media recommended:
1.5 liter for up to 250 gallons of aquarium water (1000 liters)
It was initially recommended 1 Liter of Sulfur media per 1% of total water volume in Liters. Recirculation pumps have made these reactors more efficient.
Amount of flow:
Let the water run through the reactor from 12-24 hours to get rid of air pockets and saturate the media. After that one drop per second until your nitrates are zero. You can make very small adjustments after that and wait 3 days to let the unit catch up. Retest and if nitrates are zero adjust again in the same manner.
Recommended flow through your reactor should be 1 liter per hour per liter of sulfur media.
For example:
In my reactor I’m using 1.5 liters of sulfur media from premiumaquatics and 2 liters of Seachem Matrix from pa as well. That is equal to 3.5 liters of media.
Using a measuring cup I have slowly adjusted the effluent to 60 ml per minute which equals to 3.6 liters per hour flowing through the reactor.
Marc Langouet advises that you can run as much as 5 liters per hour per liter of media in the reactor with no issues. I’m staying in the conservative side.
Recommendations:
* Patience!
* Always wait 3 days before making an adjustment if your effluents nitrate reading is zero.
* Run the aragonite media in a different vessel. Aragonite will dissolve (slowly) and will clog and mix with the sulfur media in the reactor.
Closing:
This method of keeping your nitrate levels at or near zero in aquarium does work, but it takes time. There are many other ways to accomplish low nitrate levels in a tank, but this thread is about sulfur reactors. There are also many reasons why nitrate levels climb up and a search will provide countless threads about the subject.
I highly recommend water changes to replenish all the trace elements in a reef tank. Do not get lazy because your nitrates are at zero!
Like I said at the beginning of this thread; if one person benefits from this I’ll be happy!
Enjoy,
Djfrankie
Amount of media recommended:
1.5 liter for up to 250 gallons of aquarium water (1000 liters)
It was initially recommended 1 Liter of Sulfur media per 1% of total water volume in Liters. Recirculation pumps have made these reactors more efficient.
Amount of flow:
Let the water run through the reactor from 12-24 hours to get rid of air pockets and saturate the media. After that one drop per second until your nitrates are zero. You can make very small adjustments after that and wait 3 days to let the unit catch up. Retest and if nitrates are zero adjust again in the same manner.
Recommended flow through your reactor should be 1 liter per hour per liter of sulfur media.
For example:
In my reactor I’m using 1.5 liters of sulfur media from premiumaquatics and 2 liters of Seachem Matrix from pa as well. That is equal to 3.5 liters of media.
Using a measuring cup I have slowly adjusted the effluent to 60 ml per minute which equals to 3.6 liters per hour flowing through the reactor.
Marc Langouet advises that you can run as much as 5 liters per hour per liter of media in the reactor with no issues. I’m staying in the conservative side.
Recommendations:
* Patience!
* Always wait 3 days before making an adjustment if your effluents nitrate reading is zero.
* Run the aragonite media in a different vessel. Aragonite will dissolve (slowly) and will clog and mix with the sulfur media in the reactor.
Closing:
This method of keeping your nitrate levels at or near zero in aquarium does work, but it takes time. There are many other ways to accomplish low nitrate levels in a tank, but this thread is about sulfur reactors. There are also many reasons why nitrate levels climb up and a search will provide countless threads about the subject.
I highly recommend water changes to replenish all the trace elements in a reef tank. Do not get lazy because your nitrates are at zero!
Like I said at the beginning of this thread; if one person benefits from this I’ll be happy!
Enjoy,
Djfrankie
saltydog64
New member
dj- Just voted for this thread, great job and let's keep this going until Nitrates are a thing of the past. Once again thanks.
Dick
Young Frankenstein
New member
I voted for ya DJ you owe me a 12 pack.
melev
Well-known member
Here's a picture of it again, just to get you up to date:
Water flow is provided via MaxiJet 1200 in a sock, mainly to avoid sucking detritus into the reactor. The water pumps up through some handy clear tubing and then 25' of red tubing.
Water enters via the red tubing to the first canister on the right. It has some sulfur beads (by Sera) in there (4" worth). They resemble split peas.
It travels to the middle canister which has ARM in a DI cartridge so the water must flow up through the ARM to get out.
It then travels into the left canister filled with GAC, again in a DI cartridge so the water passes up through the carbon to exit.
It travels out the blue tubing into my sump. I had it at 1 drip per second for almost a month. When nothing occurred, I opened it full flow for several days, plus I added some bacteria from a sponge floating in my refugium. The bacteria was added to the sulfur section (removed the housing, squeezed the sponge, re-installed the housing).
After a few days, I reduced it back to 1 drip a second. A few weeks later, I changed it to 1 drip every 5 seconds. Today's test showed that the nitrate in the reactor is the same as what is in my reef.
Yes, AZNO3 worked great, but it gets expensive. It brought my nitrates from 60ppm to 2ppm. I weaned the tank off of it, and nitrates rose to about 25ppm. AZNO3 caused a huge cyano bacteria outbreak that was really hard to tolerate, as well as some strange furry growth on the walls of my overflow. I'm assuming that is some reaction to sugar in the water. Over time that stuff has dissipated and since vanished.
djfrankie
In Memoriam
Marc,
You should stick to the guidelines above of 1 liter of media per 1% of volume water if you're not going to recirculate within the reactor.
In your case,
280 (adjust for sump volume) gallons equals = @ 1120 liters
1% of that and you got 11.2 liters of media.
This amount gets expensive and you'll be better off recirculating to cut down on costs.
I would recommend 1.5 liters of media from pa or midwest in a recirculating reactor and a liter of Seachem's Matrix.
Adjust as recommended above and you'll be on your way to zero nitrates if that is your goal in no time since your levels are already low by many standards.
Besides...I would be happy to see what you can come up with in terms of craftsmanship since you do wonders with acrylics
HTH,
djfrankie
Keep us updated.
You should stick to the guidelines above of 1 liter of media per 1% of volume water if you're not going to recirculate within the reactor.
In your case,
280 (adjust for sump volume) gallons equals = @ 1120 liters
1% of that and you got 11.2 liters of media.
This amount gets expensive and you'll be better off recirculating to cut down on costs.
I would recommend 1.5 liters of media from pa or midwest in a recirculating reactor and a liter of Seachem's Matrix.
Adjust as recommended above and you'll be on your way to zero nitrates if that is your goal in no time since your levels are already low by many standards.
Besides...I would be happy to see what you can come up with in terms of craftsmanship since you do wonders with acrylics
HTH,
djfrankie
Keep us updated.
I agree, Marc should try his hand with round acrylic and see what he can come up with! Plus, it's a great excuse to buy cool tools<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11960908#post11960908 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by djfrankie
Besides...I would be happy to see what you can come up with in terms of craftsmanship since you do wonders with acrylics
melev
Well-known member
11.2 liters of media sounds huge. I know what a 2-liter bottle looks like, and you're basically suggesting a 6-pack of those.
I'm sure more sulfur would have helped, but I'd hoped to see a little change from the small amount I had on hand. I do have a ARM container full of sulfur media I got from CaribSea years ago that has never been opened. It looks like sulfur & aragonite mixed together.
Maybe I'll just create something small with scrap acrylic and try to emulate a calcium reactor.
I'm sure more sulfur would have helped, but I'd hoped to see a little change from the small amount I had on hand. I do have a ARM container full of sulfur media I got from CaribSea years ago that has never been opened. It looks like sulfur & aragonite mixed together.
Maybe I'll just create something small with scrap acrylic and try to emulate a calcium reactor.
:thumbsup:
Heck, let's just plumb them all together
We can start on the West Coast
djfrankie, thanks for your explanation on size, I now understand the difference between the recirculating reactors "vs" the filter type, I always wondered what the difference was.
Heck, let's just plumb them all together
We can start on the West Coast djfrankie, thanks for your explanation on size, I now understand the difference between the recirculating reactors "vs" the filter type, I always wondered what the difference was.
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