Donovan's Nitrate Destroyer
- Thread starter djbon
- Start date
djbon
New member
Yup, that is the cheapest off the shelf vodka I can buy, probably not fit for human consumption if you ask me. A friend of mine bought me Absolut vodka for dosing. I kept that one for me instead
.Yes, all caps are glued
timing of denitrification- food for thought.
timing of denitrification- food for thought.
Short version.
denitrification works just after adding NOPOX and then stops. My dose of 5 ml NOPOX yield denitrification for ~ 1hr.
Details
I am dosing 10 times a day at 2:00, 5:00 7:00, 9:00, 11:00, 14:00, 16:00 19:00, 22:00, 24:00. 5 ml of NOPOX each dose. I wondered how does denitrication correlate with dosage.
My flow at the time of "experiment" was 120 ml per minute (that is 7 liters perh hr) . The size of the reactor is ~ 9 liters, the content is lava rock and pumice like glass particles I've discussed on the forum.
Nitrates are ~ 25 PPM and phosphates are 0.5 PPM
I collected a sample of effluent at 16:20, 16:40, 17:00, 17:30, 18:00, 19:00
I also tested whole tank and 0, 10 and 25 ppm (added Calcium NO3 to 25 ppm to fresh artificial sea water.
What I see is that nitrates are tank level drop to zero with the dose of NOPOX, and quickly rise back to tank level before the three hour inter dose period.
tube left to right
tube 1 tank
(dose of 5 ml NOPOX at 16:00)
tube 2 16:20
tube 3 16:40
tube 4 17:00
tube 5 17:30
tube 6 18:00
tube 7 19:00
tube 8 salt water
tube 9 salt water with 10 ppm NO3
tube 10 salt water with 25 ppm NO3
I think this strongly suggests that multiple small doses of NOPOX may work better than one bolus.
timing of denitrification- food for thought.
Short version.
denitrification works just after adding NOPOX and then stops. My dose of 5 ml NOPOX yield denitrification for ~ 1hr.
Details
I am dosing 10 times a day at 2:00, 5:00 7:00, 9:00, 11:00, 14:00, 16:00 19:00, 22:00, 24:00. 5 ml of NOPOX each dose. I wondered how does denitrication correlate with dosage.
My flow at the time of "experiment" was 120 ml per minute (that is 7 liters perh hr) . The size of the reactor is ~ 9 liters, the content is lava rock and pumice like glass particles I've discussed on the forum.
Nitrates are ~ 25 PPM and phosphates are 0.5 PPM
I collected a sample of effluent at 16:20, 16:40, 17:00, 17:30, 18:00, 19:00
I also tested whole tank and 0, 10 and 25 ppm (added Calcium NO3 to 25 ppm to fresh artificial sea water.
What I see is that nitrates are tank level drop to zero with the dose of NOPOX, and quickly rise back to tank level before the three hour inter dose period.
tube left to right
tube 1 tank
(dose of 5 ml NOPOX at 16:00)
tube 2 16:20
tube 3 16:40
tube 4 17:00
tube 5 17:30
tube 6 18:00
tube 7 19:00
tube 8 salt water
tube 9 salt water with 10 ppm NO3
tube 10 salt water with 25 ppm NO3
I think this strongly suggests that multiple small doses of NOPOX may work better than one bolus.
Attachments
djbon
New member
Nice!. Off to ebay now... looking for a used auto doser!. Thanks nematode
. Good job!PS.
This is the second time I've done this experiment, with qualitatively the same results.
Last time flow was a little higher (220 ml) per minute- I assay this by seeing how much a 250 ml beaker fills in a minute- In that case, the same thing happened , but nitrate levels didn't go to zero at 40 minutes or 60 minutes, just to ~ 10 ppm. Then they rised back to normal
In that picture we have
20 minutes before bolus (that 1s 1:40 after the prior bolus)
0 (time of bolus)
20 after
40 after
60 after
1 hr 30 after
controls
0
10 ppm
25 ppm
and on the far right test of the main tank
This is the second time I've done this experiment, with qualitatively the same results.
Last time flow was a little higher (220 ml) per minute- I assay this by seeing how much a 250 ml beaker fills in a minute- In that case, the same thing happened , but nitrate levels didn't go to zero at 40 minutes or 60 minutes, just to ~ 10 ppm. Then they rised back to normal
In that picture we have
20 minutes before bolus (that 1s 1:40 after the prior bolus)
0 (time of bolus)
20 after
40 after
60 after
1 hr 30 after
controls
0
10 ppm
25 ppm
and on the far right test of the main tank
Attachments
djbon
New member
I think by now you can pinpoint your best flow to maintain certain level of NO3 without changing the carbon dosing quantity. That is the beauty of auto doser.
p/s: What is bolus by the way
For full disclosure
I am using a Red Sea nitrate test kit.
Normally, it is designed to test 16 ml water.
What I do to test is test 2 ml samples.
To use the test kit 10 fold more efficiently, I drop 5 drops A into 400 ul (micro liters 400/1000 of 1 ml) of water, and pipette 50 ul to each of my 10 samples .
I put the cap of B powder into 425 ul of water, pipette up and down and place
50 ul of the gray metallic powder into each sample
I put the cap full of C white powder in 425 ul of water, pipette up and down and place
50 ul of that mix into the samples.
I dilute 1000 ppm Ca(NO3-)2 into salt water at appropriate dilution for my controls.
( you need quality micro pipette apparati to do this, but that is what I do in my day job)
I use retired equipment for my "homework".
This way I can test 10 samples (with minimal loss in accuracy for this kind of experment)
Otherwise, I would not do this because it would break the bank buying test kits.
I am using a Red Sea nitrate test kit.
Normally, it is designed to test 16 ml water.
What I do to test is test 2 ml samples.
To use the test kit 10 fold more efficiently, I drop 5 drops A into 400 ul (micro liters 400/1000 of 1 ml) of water, and pipette 50 ul to each of my 10 samples .
I put the cap of B powder into 425 ul of water, pipette up and down and place
50 ul of the gray metallic powder into each sample
I put the cap full of C white powder in 425 ul of water, pipette up and down and place
50 ul of that mix into the samples.
I dilute 1000 ppm Ca(NO3-)2 into salt water at appropriate dilution for my controls.
( you need quality micro pipette apparati to do this, but that is what I do in my day job)
I use retired equipment for my "homework".
This way I can test 10 samples (with minimal loss in accuracy for this kind of experment)
Otherwise, I would not do this because it would break the bank buying test kits.
djbon
I saw an earlier post where you were using an IV bag to dose Ca and Alk
You could just use one of those set to release 1/10 or 1/3 of the bag per day and dilute the carbon source appropriately so you deliver your daily dose. That would be the ideal constant dosage.
I like my cheap Jabao DP-4s (99 $US on line ). one has worked for 18 months one for 24 months without any issues- this is not german quality equipment- but I choose to use the less weell vetted equipment so I can use my $ for other aspects of reefing. . Doses ca mg, alk and NOPOX. Only need to refill my storage containers every 20-30 days.
I saw an earlier post where you were using an IV bag to dose Ca and Alk
You could just use one of those set to release 1/10 or 1/3 of the bag per day and dilute the carbon source appropriately so you deliver your daily dose. That would be the ideal constant dosage.
I like my cheap Jabao DP-4s (99 $US on line ). one has worked for 18 months one for 24 months without any issues- this is not german quality equipment- but I choose to use the less weell vetted equipment so I can use my $ for other aspects of reefing. . Doses ca mg, alk and NOPOX. Only need to refill my storage containers every 20-30 days.
djbon
New member
I thought of doing that but I don't have head space for IV dripper to work properly under my tank stand.
Wow!!! Now your results , come in straight line with mine, but I couldn't find an explanation, why some few times I got good results=lower no3 at reactor output than DT, and more others bad......now everything is clear
) I split my 14ml daily diy nopox dosage, in 3 doses, and waiting anxiously your 2ml results, to see if I should split it in even more dosages. I use also dp4 , so until 20/day is possible)Thanks a lot
djbon
New member
Greg, we should thank nematode for doing extensive test for us. My tank is smaller, so dosing a shot or two daily doesn't affect my no3. Frankly speaking I don't test my reactor effluent since I brought down no3 to where I am keeping it right now. I just overdosing for few days once in a while to confirm bacteria is still alive and kicking. Last no3 test was 2 months ago
salty joe
Active member
nematode, great info!
Or, since you're so good DIY you might consider using Arduino and one of these. I'm using the cheap peristaltic pump to dose kalk and mag and they work well but I don't expect them to hold up long term, plus the head is a pain to remove for tube replacement. BTW, very similar to the peristaltic pumps in the Jebao doser.
The $28 peristaltic pump looks to be very well built and easy access for tube replacement. I think one of these might be a good choice for a feed pump, maybe drive with 9V instead of 12V. As soon as I scrape a few nickels together, I'm going to buy a couple.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-DC-12V-...d849e8ba2b339c055e0a87&pid=100505&rk=1&rkt=1&
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Large-F...702983?hash=item41bd7913c7:g:VdUAAOSw2xRYl-5F
Nice!. Off to ebay now... looking for a used auto doser!. Thanks nematode
Or, since you're so good DIY you might consider using Arduino and one of these. I'm using the cheap peristaltic pump to dose kalk and mag and they work well but I don't expect them to hold up long term, plus the head is a pain to remove for tube replacement. BTW, very similar to the peristaltic pumps in the Jebao doser.
The $28 peristaltic pump looks to be very well built and easy access for tube replacement. I think one of these might be a good choice for a feed pump, maybe drive with 9V instead of 12V. As soon as I scrape a few nickels together, I'm going to buy a couple.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hot-DC-12V-...d849e8ba2b339c055e0a87&pid=100505&rk=1&rkt=1&
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-Large-F...702983?hash=item41bd7913c7:g:VdUAAOSw2xRYl-5F
ReefKeeper64
Wanna be a reefkeeper
I knew you were meticulous like a pro. What is your day job?
salty joe
Active member
Salty_Joe, I wish I have some extra time and money to do a doser pump controller
There's not much to it-Arduino, relay, a couple wall warts, some hookup wire, all fairly inexpensive. I'm a total piker when it comes to writing sketches, but I have a really basic sketch for dosing that's solid. I'd be glad to share it. The nice thing about DIY doser is not only the savings but when/if something goes wrong, it's easy to fix. Mines been running for a little under a year and so far so good. I don't expect the cheap pumps to hold up long term though.
djbon
New member
I can't afford buying a good peristaltic pump at this moment due to weak currency exchange. Cost me twice the amount of buying this pump one year ago
