All done (except for testing and media)
All done (except for testing and media)
While I’m waiting for a response to my media volume question, I figured I’d post my denitrator. It is a variation of jwaltman’s unit.
Parts used were:
1 â€"œ 4†PVC pipe (pre-cut 2 ft length) (for main unit body)
2 â€"œ 4†male-female pipe connectors (for top/bottom of unit)
1 â€"œ 4†male-female PVC threaded pipe cap â€"œ flat (for bottom of unit)
1 â€"œ 4†male-female PVC threaded pipe cap - with wrench top (for top of unit)
1 â€"œ 3†Outside drain cover (to raise media off the main water feed from recirc & tank)
1 - 5’ length of ½†CPVC pipe;
1 - ½†CPVC elbow;
1 - ½†CPVC Tee connector
3 â€"œ ½ †threaded quick-disconnect for ¼†tubing
1 package of 3 on/off valves for ¼†tubing (in dept. with the sprinkler parts)
3 â€"œ ½†CPVC male-female connectors (to attach the quick disconnects to the unit)
1 length of ¼†tubing
1 package of mechanical filter material from garden section (comes with a sheet of fine filtering blue material and a sheet of course filtering black material) â€"œ very easy to cut into 4†circles to use between medias. (P.S.>> Its on “end-of season†special sale at Lowes)
And … from my parts/pieces box: 1†of ¾†tubing and 2 small radiator clamps (to attach recirc pump to main pipe); old MJ 400 power head for the recirculator pump (and its strainer pieces glued together for the inside recirc return tube); old secondnature 480 power head for the water feed from my tank.
(If you don’t have any old power heads to utilize, remember to buy one that has round input/output or you will have a VERY difficult time attaching it to the body of the main unit.)
Cost for the parts was around $100.00. Cost for 1 gal LSM Sulfur (CaribSea) and 1 gal/4Kg course aragonite (Reborn CRM) for $53.00 (including shipping from MarineDepot.com). I also had to buy a 5/8†Forstner drill bit to make the holes in the PVC pipe -- $15.00.
If you were wondering why I painted it brown… I could say to make the tube more opaque as the denitrifying bacteria are photophobic (hate light) â€"œwhich IS true, but the truth is my PVC/CPVC pipe cleaner/primer is purple and no matter how careful I tried to be, it dripped/ran all over the pipe (and doesn’t wash off) and it looked horrid. I had an old can of brown paint in my garage, so there you are â€"œ a brown denitrator!
If picture attachments worked, you should see the overall look of the unit, the cut drain for inside, cut filter pads, and recirc drain strainer.
