DIY Sulfur Denitrator

[IBASSFSH]

I use this reactor on my set up, and I have two chillers running to keep it cool. I keep it at 77 degrees. My SR is doing fine with out a heater. I have it just setting on the floor of my garage next to my sump. I wonder what will happen in the summer as it gets pretty hot in the garage?

 

[saltydog64]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12183323#post12183323 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by siskiou
Well, yesterday I was about ready to admit defeat and open up the unit, but decided to give it one more day.

Tested just now, and nitrites and nitrates are at 0!
So, it probably was heating it to 80.5F that finally did it.
This is great!

So, now I increase the drops per second? To 2 per second, or more?
And I'll add the RO canister with the ARM today, too, so I get an accurate idea of the output then.
Do I leave the valve where it is, or should it be switched to the output of the ARM container?

sis.....excellant...now as a reminder what was you FR (flowrate) as you cycled??? Once you determine that follow dj's recommendation posted here....increasing by 1d /sec.. checking results and then after 2 or 3 days, increasing by another 1d/sec and so on....don't be discouraged as sometimes these increases will result in Nitrite/Nitrates being released, but it will catch up so to speak..,but that is the advanage of the output to the bucket and not your tank:mixed: :mixed:

Now just today I hooked mine up to the tank, but intiataly I'm discharging in to 5 Gal bucket, but @ my current FR I will fill that bucket before morning so I must s___ or get off the bucket (or is it pot???) we'll see, I will test for nitrites in the next 3 or 4 hours.

Good luck man...(heck it could be women:mad2: :mad2:

 

[saltydog64]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12183449#post12183449 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 32flavors
CONGRATS siskiou!!!! I've been opening this thread every time I get a notification in hopes there would be an update from you. Very encouraging!!!

Question for others... having a tank with SPS I try to keep my tank right at 78--should I plan on immersing reactor in a bucket heated to 80 initially..... permanently?

Those of you with success with your reactors, what temp does your tank run?

THANKS!!

32flavors,

Welcome to the home of the dj Denitrator:rollface: :rollface:

Those of us who added a heater are running out of a bucket and therefore didnot have the luxury of tank heated water or the warm southern air of Florida:lol: :lol:

So we'll rely on tank heated water once we're hooked up, so if you will be on the tank from the get go, which I DONOT recommend, you shouldn't need extra heat , now I know a whole bunch will be dying to chime in on that one, but who cares it's their tank.....

 

[siskiou]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12183698#post12183698 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltydog64

Good luck man...(heck it could be women:mad2: :mad2: [/B]

Thanks, and you got it right, actually!
I'm one of the rare species of "female reefer"!

So, what drip rate do people aim for, before connecting the unit to the tank (if starting out in a bucket)?

My initial drip rate was 1 per second, now up'd to 2 per second.

 

[Steve 926]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12182928#post12182928 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Schplitter
Man this is a heck of a theard!!

I must have missed it some place but did anyone say what they use to glue the maxijets to the pvc or cpvc?

Thanks,

BK

Steve

:smokin:

 

[saltydog64]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12184221#post12184221 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by siskiou
Thanks, and you got it right, actually!
I'm one of the rare species of "female reefer"!

So, what drip rate do people aim for, before connecting the unit to the tank (if starting out in a bucket)?

My initial drip rate was 1 per second, now up'd to 2 per second.

siskiou,

Even better.........

Keep FR @ current 2d/s until results are ZERO and then inc. by 1d/s waiting for ZERO.....now what do we consider the ideal FR to be ???, excellant ? as I also wondered the same thing. Here's is what I did, got FR to 4d/s, now with 1/4" OD tubing (1/8"id) 1cc=12 drops, I got a FR of 100cc/5 mins. The FR was determined as follows: 5mins= 1200/5=240/60=4...or 4d/s. At that FR I will process approx. 7.2 gal/day. I estimate for now that's fast enough to turn MY tank once in approx. 10 days. For course this is just a guess if it will prove right for my tank.

I stopped @ that FR becasuse I felt I didnot want to make any rapid changes to a tank that contains critters that I had a LONG time, better safe than sorry :mixed: :mixed:

Continued good luck..............girl:rollface: :rollface:

Dick

 

[saltydog64]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12183323#post12183323 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by siskiou
Well, yesterday I was about ready to admit defeat and open up the unit, but decided to give it one more day.

Tested just now, and nitrites and nitrates are at 0!
So, it probably was heating it to 80.5F that finally did it.
This is great!

So, now I increase the drops per second? To 2 per second, or more?
And I'll add the RO canister with the ARM today, too, so I get an accurate idea of the output then.
Do I leave the valve where it is, or should it be switched to the output of the ARM container?

siskiou,

Sorry........... I missed that ? on the "valve" I assume u mean the effluent vavle...if so leave it where it is and control FR as u are. Out of the soon to be added ARM, just leave any valve( if u use one I added one here, handy to move w/o spilling ) full open..

 

[djfrankie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12183323#post12183323 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by siskiou
Well, yesterday I was about ready to admit defeat and open up the unit, but decided to give it one more day.

Tested just now, and nitrites and nitrates are at 0!
So, it probably was heating it to 80.5F that finally did it.
This is great!

So, now I increase the drops per second? To 2 per second, or more?
And I'll add the RO canister with the ARM today, too, so I get an accurate idea of the output then.
Do I leave the valve where it is, or should it be switched to the output of the ARM container?

Congrats!!

2 DPS will be fine until you get a zero reading again. Once zero adjust again +1 drop every time. There will be a point where it will be almost impossible to count the drops and this is when you buy something that measures ml so it's easier to adjust this way. Check out the pic of the one I'm using a few pages back.

I usually give it 3 days of "catching up" before I test the effluent again.

Your goal is to drip 1 liter per hour per liter of media in your reactor.

Check out the guidelines on page 14 for more help.

Glad to see you got it worked out!

djfrankie

 

[erics3000]

Great thread with a lot of good info..

 

[djfrankie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12184221#post12184221 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by siskiou
I'm one of the rare species of "female reefer"!

LOL...:mixed:

Nothing sexier than a female reefer

On your arm reactor don't bother with a valve just run it full flow.

djfrankie

 

[djfrankie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12181660#post12181660 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Steve 926
Thanks For The Reply Robert :thumbsup:

Should have the sulfur media from Midwest this week.
I'm using an MJ 600, I may replace it with an MJ 400, or add a ball valve. I was considering adding a second unit with just the ARM media. we'll see how it goe's

Steve

:smokin:

That's cool!

We'll see Julian Sprung pretty soon making these based on your idea for a hefty price and slapping a name like "JS Denitrator" LOL

djfrankie

 

[djfrankie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12183449#post12183449 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 32flavors
CONGRATS siskiou!!!! I've been opening this thread every time I get a notification in hopes there would be an update from you. Very encouraging!!!

Question for others... having a tank with SPS I try to keep my tank right at 78--should I plan on immersing reactor in a bucket heated to 80 initially..... permanently?

Those of you with success with your reactors, what temp does your tank run?

THANKS!!

You might try and speed up the bacteria growth at a higher temp in a separate bucket. Anything from 75-80 should be fine with faster growth on the higher end of the scale.

I run my temp 80-82 year round in sunny South Florida

HTH,
djfrankie

 

[EnderG60]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12164686#post12164686 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by EnderG60
Just got mine running on a bucket this weekend.

Turned the drip down to 1/sec this morning, bucket nitrates and effluent both reading 20 at the moment.

I kinda forgot to rinse off my ARM though so my bucket is all cloudy now

I used 1/3of the media in the 3.5lb bag for my tank(70g system with nitrates of 20-30) the rest will be used in an other reactor for FO tank of 150g with nitrates of 40-60.


And now we wait....

Update, after 2 days at 1dps effluent was at 0, bucket seemed to be at 20-25. Bumped it up to 2 dps

 

[Steve 926]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12187212#post12187212 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by djfrankie
That's cool!

We'll see Julian Sprung pretty soon making these based on your idea for a hefty price and slapping a name like "JS Denitrator" LOL

djfrankie

Thanks for the compliment Dj. coming from you I am honored
I thank you for the time & effort you have placed in this thread, & the countless amount of questions you have answered from us all. :lol:

I did modify the cap, so the return line is below the degassing valve, with some of the parts supplied with the reactor & the MJ.

Steve

:smokin:

 

[saltydog64]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12190457#post12190457 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Steve 926
Thanks for the compliment Dj. coming from you I am honored
I thank you for the time & effort you have placed in this thread, & the countless amount of questions you have answered from us all. :lol:

I did modify the cap, so the return line is below the degassing valve, with some of the parts supplied with the reactor & the MJ.



Steve

:smokin:

Steve---------as dj said nice looking job, I noticed your drawing the water down thru the reactor, rather in the "up-flow" mode, is that right??? what's your thinking there??? normally those reactors blow down the center pipe, then up thru the media in a fludizing mode....just a thought.

Dick

 

[siskiou]

I've decided to put the input pump into the sump of my 120G, since the water in the bucket was at 0 nitrates.
I've added the arm and am still monitoring the output into a bucket for the time being, until I'm sure it's where it's supposed to be without adding any excessive nitrites or nitrates to the tank.
I consider it a slow water change, and I'll be adding the amount of water going into the bucket to the tank each evening with fresh saltwater.
My ATO is set to only operate at night (it's kalkwasser), so I won't be thinning down the salinity.

What do people recommend adding to offset the alkalinity changes, once the output is connected to the tank? Will kalkwasser be enough?
pH and alk went down very quickly in the bucket for me.

 

[Steve 926]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12191396#post12191396 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltydog64
Steve---------as dj said nice looking job, I noticed your drawing the water down thru the reactor, rather in the "up-flow" mode, is that right??? what's your thinking there??? normally those reactors blow down the center pipe, then up thru the media in a fludizing mode....just a thought.

Dick

The strainer is for the return water / intake of the pump.
The supply travels through the center tube to the bottom of the reactor. Basically the same as a phosban reactor only with a recirculating pump. you need to extend the return line below the water line in the reactor to keep the flow continuous with out an air pocket. I did this with one of the tube connectors supplied with the reactor. I cut the top portion of the return line on the cap off, & extended the hole slightly inward with a dremmel (1/8"+ "give or take a hair " ) for room between the gasket & wall of the reactor, for the tube & strainer. when you glue the tube connector in place, the rim of the connector covers the elongated hole in the cap.

Basically a simple modify to the cap, + the hole for the degassing valve, & everything else is the same. cpvc is what I used for everything else. I inserted a small piece of 3/4 as a bushing in the 3/4 ~ 1/2 fitting on the suction side of the MJ, & had to sand it slightly to fit. The 1/2 T's also have a small insert of 1/2 cpvc cut flush for taping the threads for the JG fitting's

Steve

:smokin:

 

[saltydog64]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12191411#post12191411 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by siskiou
I've decided to put the input pump into the sump of my 120G, since the water in the bucket was at 0 nitrates.
I've added the arm and am still monitoring the output into a bucket for the time being, until I'm sure it's where it's supposed to be without adding any excessive nitrites or nitrates to the tank.
I consider it a slow water change, and I'll be adding the amount of water going into the bucket to the tank each evening with fresh saltwater.
My ATO is set to only operate at night (it's kalkwasser), so I won't be thinning down the salinity.

What do people recommend adding to offset the alkalinity changes, once the output is connected to the tank? Will kalkwasser be enough?
pH and alk went down very quickly in the bucket for me.

sis....Great idea.......now check your Nitrite/Nitrate in approx 24 hours and see if they did what mine did.....that is they (except for the nitrite) what up to where the tank is.....HIGH, of course the tank has no nitrite. I cut back the flow rate to approx 1/2 from it where it was. Post your findings please as you and I are about the same time frame.

I can't answer your ??? on the ALK, but I'm sure someone will chime in. Got to run can't miss the NC game:mixed: :mixed:

Dick

 

[kvmn]

new babies question

new babies question

helo,,i been reading this thread for a long time,, and i did my first nitrate diy reactor so thank you very much,,everything is happy now,,,but i wonder if this nitrate diy reactor is the same concept with calcium reactor or not??
i read the calcium reactor thread and want to make one too,,but i want to check here first so basicly the two reactor look and work the same way but calcium reactor need co2 bottle with bubble counter and maybe different media in the chamber right?? please corect me if i missed something or wrong thanks

 

[Steve 926]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12192284#post12192284 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by saltydog64
sis....Great idea.......now check your Nitrite/Nitrate in approx 24 hours and see if they did what mine did.....that is they (except for the nitrite) what up to where the tank is.....HIGH, of course the tank has no nitrite. I cut back the flow rate to approx 1/2 from it where it was. Post your findings please as you and I are about the same time frame.

I can't answer your ??? on the ALK, but I'm sure someone will chime in. Got to run can't miss the NC game:mixed: :mixed:

Dick

Randys 2 part DIY formula's

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#1

Steve


:smokin: