sand filter for denitrification ?

[NyReefNoob]

ok as i have been bouncing different idea's around to make a denitrifier couple of idea's i have had. i have a skimmer waste collector 6x16 or so and had thought of making it into a denitrator. i have sulfur media that i could use but this is last option, had thought of filling container with alot of small rubble rock and doing a circulation pump on it and a drip rate, can feed bacteria to it either vodka or ect, or using sand to fill it which would give alot more surface area, would be a up flow design basically like a over sized tlf reactor. would this work ? and if so should i paint outer part of tube so no light reach's inside ? thoughts and opinions welcome

 

[Chris27]

Running water through sand will work for Ammonia - Nitrite - Nitrate, but that's as far as it can go. Nitrate needs to be turned into Nitrogen gas by anaerobic bacteria, so this only takes place in an oxygen less environment, ie. DSB / Plenum. If you're looking for a way to employ a nitrate filter, you can just run a RDSB using a bucket and feed pump and sell the waste collector.

 

[Daemonfly]

I was gonna say just mod it into a RDSB "bucket", but you'd be better off just using a bucket anyway and selling the WC (or re-purposing it in some other way).

 

[sbreefer]

I believe what you are suggesting is the premise of the Aquaripure system--non Sulfur, anoxic, denitrifying reactor.

 

[JPags]

I used a home made sulfur denitrator at one point and it was a pain to dial in and keep running right. I ended up doing the vodka dosing method and got my nitrates to 0. They never came back. I eventually stopped dosing vodka and they still never came back.

Much easier than thoes denitrators.

John

 

[NyReefNoob]

did vodka, did brightwell and not that nitrates are high 10 ppm, just tired of the daily dosing
yes it is, ty, i know i could do a 5g bucket of sand but i dont have the extra space for it, { wife already wants to choke me for all the fish stuff in site } basically would be the same priciple as this, not sure if i can list the company
DeNITRIFIER
The DeNITRIFIER is a specially designed filter that works by creating anaerobic (low oxygen) conditions inside the unit. By creating this environment, natural bacteria within the unit will break down the nitrate as water is passed through the filter. As water is trickled through the filter, nitrate is removed from the water and the water is returned to your aquarium. This a completely safe and natural method of nitrate removal.

 

[hk855]

I remember seeing a denitrator design a few years ago that used bioballs or ceramic as the media. To get the low O2 concentration they coiled something like 20ft of 1/4" garden drip line(the solid version used to link drippers or sprayers, not the one with holes) around the chamber as the supply line. In theory I think it's supposed to act as a general bacteria area, which use up the O2 before the water reaches the chamber with the media holding the denitrifying bacteria. I dont remember about flow in the chamber, you could probably set up a low flow closed loop.

I may end up going this route some time down the line if I have nut problems with my tank and would probably try something like above with 1-2' 4" pvc reaction chamber, the 1/4" tubing and maybe 20-50 gph cl, with coarse 1/4" coral gravel for media, sand sounds too easy to clog something. Also make sure your outlet is by your skimmer inlet to blow off possible hydrogen sulfide.

Tell your wife a bigger tank would give you the cabinet space to hide everything

 

[sbreefer]

I use a small sulphur denitrifier- about 1 gallon capacity- hassome arag in it as well. works great- very small

 

[rbnice1]

Not sure why using LSM would be a last choice......

I have some going that I feed into my calcium reactor. Works pretty well. The only thing I will say is if you use LSM make sure you watch your alk very close. It will drop like a rock while using sulfur.

 

[thejuggernaut]

http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/nfp509p-nitrate-filter-pump

Ive been looking at these but can't find much information on them. They work on the same principal. It operates like a calcium reactor. One pump recirculates water while a second peristaltic pump bring in fresh water at a slow pace. It also uses a third pump to dose vodka into the canister. The idea is to use an OPR monitor and once the oxygen levels reach low levels the nitrates are broken down. You controller controls the pump bringing in the frest water to keep the oxygen levels at a certain level. The only thing you adjust is the amount of vodka. The more vodka the larger the bateria colony, the more water it can process and the ORP probe takes care of correcting your oxygen levels inside the container.

I think its a sound idea and suppose is suppose to be alot safer than a sulfur reactor. The only problem is I can't find too many people who are using them.