DSB in a bucket for nitrate control

[Spuds725]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7582595#post7582595 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by psimitry

The only other way I can see to do it would be through a pressurized system - this one you could put below your tank. However, you would have to find a water tight bucket and then drill your bulkheads in the lid and make sure they're water tight as well. A powerhead would still be used but you'd have to have a pretty powerful one as you'd have to overcome gravity going out of the tank as well as gravity coming back up to the tank.

The powerhead would not have to be powerful, since you are pumping down and back up, the net affect due to the height rising back up would be equalized by the head of water going down--- think of a siphon loop... initiate a siphon with a long length of hose---- now raise one end back up so its almost level with your tank but the bottom of the loop still droops down to the floor... you will still get flow and without a pump and the water is rising up 4+ feet.

Now their is a hazard with running below your tank... the height of water in the tubing/hose going down and back up exert a slight pressure inside the bucket--- the pressure is not alot but the surface area of bucket lids presents a hydraulic problem... a small amount of pressure acting on a large enough surface area causes quite a bit of force.... see my post on this from several pages back...

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7441983#post7441983


Spuds...

 

[euphylius]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7586489#post7586489 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hydro
HI Actually I think the slim bucket should work better than the round because there is less chance for the sediment to settle out of the water. MY .02
Joe

I think the flow will be faster than in bucket. Approx. 1000l per hour of water will trawel through 0,65 dm x 0,5 dm area, all the 2 meters long way.

 

[silversnake]

My trates regularly run 20-40ppm. I am going to get a 5 gal bucket (plastic) fill it with sand hook my skimmer to it and let it draw water from the sump and overflow the bucket back into the sump(30 gallon plastic container from walmart) and I will post a weekly report. I have never had 0 trates. I will literally jump for joy if I can achieve 0 trates. I feed dts phytoplankton daily, oyster eggs twice weekly, frozen and live brine three times a week, frozen squid and cyclopeeze twice a week and I also drip Kalk 5 gallons a week. Moderately stocked 100 gal with 150 lbs of live roc.

 

[psimitry]

Even if you get it down to 10, it's a significant difference.

 

[Anthony Calfo]

Silversnake, I think you could easily reduce your 20-40ppm nitrates to near zero with the RDSB but especially with tidy feeding habits and very regular partial water changes. Looking forward to seeing your progress.

 

[Savatage]

I have had my RDSB running for about 3 months now, maybe a little more. I have had, ABSOLUTELY no fish in my tank either. I never feed the tank anything, but my nitrates have gone up slightly since adding the RDSB and I now have GHA growing all over the place.

My lights are only 3 months old, only on for 6 hours a day, and my Phos is reading 0.

I tore down my Denitratication tube and it was clean as a whistle.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Please? lol

 

[a4twenty]

how long has the tank been set up? a lot of new tanks go through algae blooms, mine had a wicked one when i moved it from a 70 to a 120, and across town. phosphate readings of 0 can be a little misleading if the algae is consuming the available phosphates. where did you get the sand from?

 

[Kinetic]

I am setting up a 10G display, 10G sump system. What dimensions of a DSB would you recommend? Where can I find all sorts of buckets in different sizes?

 

[gotdibz]

heres how my dsb bucket is going along i used a rectangular shape bucket because the lack of space and i used this sand from home depot

 

[trmiv]

Which is the inlet, the higher one or the lower one?

 

[gotdibz]

the higher one is the inlet....i ran out of sand so the sand level will still be a little higher

 

[psimitry]

Is it common for an RDSB to kick off an algae bloom? I have a metric TON of brownish algae growing everywhere in my tank since I installed the RDSB. Oddly enough though, I'm not reading any appreciable nutrients in the system.

 

[euphylius]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7612690#post7612690 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by psimitry
Is it common for an RDSB to kick off an algae bloom? I have a metric TON of brownish algae growing everywhere in my tank since I installed the RDSB. Oddly enough though, I'm not reading any appreciable nutrients in the system.

You started three weeks ago as I can read. Maybe new cycle is going on? Whats the volume of old sand in the tank and new in RDSB? Are algae similar when new tank is cycling?

 

[Galtamar]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7611143#post7611143 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gotdibz
heres how my dsb bucket is going along i used a rectangular shape bucket because the lack of space and i used this sand from home depot

exactly my setup, but i have more sand and it came from the beach

 

[psimitry]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7612921#post7612921 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by euphylius
You started three weeks ago as I can read. Maybe new cycle is going on? Whats the volume of old sand in the tank and new in RDSB? Are algae similar when new tank is cycling?

There's definitely more in the RDSB than there is in the tank. In the tank I think there's about 30lb of mixed black (non-calcium) sand and calcium/silica mix playsand.

In the RDSB there's about 60LB of calcium/silica playsand.

The tank was pretty much cycled when I built it (went from old 30G to new 50G w/ only adding about 10lb of sand and no new LR), so I can't really say if the algae was similar. This tank has been established since I bought it (through a series of upgrade cycles).

HOWEVER - I will say that I can't really recall seeing this type of algae in the tank before. Normally I get a really bright green algae. This stuff is definitely turd brown.

 

[Savatage]

GOTDIBZ: Where did you find that sand???????? If there is a possible substitute for our Southdown, that would be great!!!!

 

[Savatage]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7610101#post7610101 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by a4twenty
how long has the tank been set up? a lot of new tanks go through algae blooms, mine had a wicked one when i moved it from a 70 to a 120, and across town. phosphate readings of 0 can be a little misleading if the algae is consuming the available phosphates. where did you get the sand from?

My tank has been up for two years. My sand is not the problem of the GHA. I have silica sand, and dispite all the hearsay of diatoms because of silica, is a myth. I have never seen diatoms grow on a glass bottle. LOL
I know it's a simple problem that needs figuring.

 

[psimitry]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7617776#post7617776 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Savatage
GOTDIBZ: Where did you find that sand???????? If there is a possible substitute for our Southdown, that would be great!!!!

It's probably a calcium/silicate blend. It's rather common in playsand. I can pick it up by the truckload at home depot.

 

[dstalfire]

I just built a dsb in a bucket. Thanks for the ideas. I do have a question, I have 160 gph flowing through it, is that enough? The flow is not massive, but it is there. The water is comming from my sump and is somewhat filtered before hand.

Do I need to step up the flow or am I ok?

 

[psimitry]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7619932#post7619932 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dstalfire
I just built a dsb in a bucket. Thanks for the ideas. I do have a question, I have 160 gph flowing through it, is that enough? The flow is not massive, but it is there. The water is comming from my sump and is somewhat filtered before hand.

Do I need to step up the flow or am I ok?

There's no way to quantify how much flow you need through the RDSB.

If detritus is settling in the bucket, you need more flow. If the sand is blowing around, you need less.