Sulfur denitrater won't cycle

[sonofstarstamps]

Just how much sulphur beads would be required for a reactor.

I have a 2000lt setup which im about to setup a reactor on, i thought the suggestion was 1-2% of tank volume of beads.

This would mean between 20-40lts for me (was just going to go 20lts).

Have read on here some with 500g setups who are using 4lts.

What would the recommendation be from those who have used these reactors as a start up?

Current nitrate levels hover between 40-60ppm, heavily stocked tank tht i feed 8 times a day.

Any feedback welcomed.

Also have a Deltec NPF616 that i was also thinking of running with the sulphur reactor (alchol based).

Regards,
FP

 

[tmz]

I used about 2 liters lsm media as I recall on 550 gallons. Nitrates went from 60ppm plus to 0 in about 5 weeks including cylcing time.

 

[tmz]

The sulfur beads will break down and reduced volume and nitrate levels will tell you when you need more. As the amount of nitrate in the source water from the tank reduces ,less sulfur and higher flow is needed.

After giving it some thought , I have a potentiial concern about using the matrix media. It is very porous and designed to enable low flow areas in it for low oxygen areas to encourage anaerobic respiration by denitrifying bacteria much like live very porous rock. With less water moving in it than likely moves across the surface of the sulfur media , the areas in the pores may just go to anoxia(no oxygen,no nitrate) more quickly than the surface of the sulfur media and may cause trouble with hydrogen sulfide via sulfate reducing bacteria ,particulary when the nitrate in the source water is reduced.

 

[teesquare]

Tom -
You hit on my concerns about the use of the Matrix. I have used it for years in a FW system, in an Ocean Clear filter - and it seems to work well for that. But - I have concerns about the potential of it releasing/breaking down and givng back intot eh water stream if used in the sufur de-nitrifier envireonment.
T

 

[MaLi]

The sulfur beads will break down and reduced volume and nitrate levels will tell you when you need more. As the amount of nitrate in the source water from the tank reduces ,less sulfur and higher flow is needed.

After giving it some thought , I have a potentiial concern about using the matrix media. It is very porous and designed to enable low flow areas in it for low oxygen areas to encourage anaerobic respiration by denitrifying bacteria much like live very porous rock. With less water moving in it than likely moves across the surface of the sulfur media , the areas in the pores may just go to anoxia(no oxygen,no nitrate) more quickly than the surface of the sulfur media and may cause trouble with hydrogen sulfide via sulfate reducing bacteria ,particulary when the nitrate in the source water is reduced.

Fair concern Tom, and I have seen it happening here and on other forums when the recirculation is not powerful enough and the amount of sulfur added is not correlated to the decrease on NO3 that is expected. In my case, I added a very limited amount of sulfur in an attempt to control the bacterial population. The main idea is not to build any slime on the matrix pebbles since that will block any capillarity effect throughout the internal channels.
The other thing, in order to prevent H2S build up I have the vent line on the top bleeding a drop per 2...3 seconds. Since I started doing this I experimented a few times opening the vent line fully just to see if any gas will be detectable; none
The anoxic condition is easily detectable with an ORP probe. It goes to big negative values very fast. I know that a lot of people have troubles reading negative ORP. I have a commercial controller (AquaticLife) and I am testing also a simple amplifier that will require Arduino platform though. More on this later.


cheers,
MaLi

 

[tmz]

Thanks MaLi.
The matrix seemed fine when nitrates were high and may have contributed to the process of reducing them . It's the end game, I worry about. In my case even full flow and less sulfur in the DJ F diy reactor would not stop the hydrogen sulfide production.Maybe if I took out the matrix when the nitrates went to near 0,it would have been easier.

Relatedly,imo, adding a carbon source like vodka( not a good idea.imo) as someone suggested earlier could increase the likelihood of sulfate reducing bacteria taking hold as it would put a carbon source in/on the matrix.

 

[Kahuna]

Getting one of these used with new media. Reactor in great shape. Does it need to be seeded, and if so, with what?

Kev

 

[tmz]

I used the lsm by Carribsea. It was the most reasonably priced is marketed as seeded and worked fine without any other seeding. Most sulfur media contains some bacterial spores as far as Iknow.

 

[Kahuna]

Anyone still have the "secret" phone number to reach the original Midwest guys? Please PM me.

I think that their seeding was dry yeast.

Kev

 

[MaLi]

Kevin, why did you say that out-loud ? :furious:

Just kidding buddy ! +1

 

[tonythefish]

So I want to share my experience with a Midwest unit

Tank 0 Nitrite 25ppm Nitrate ((0/25))

Day 1
Set up full flow 24hrs as per directions. did not test output or tank

Day 2
Setup 1 DPS

Day 3
Tested output +5/+100 (Nitrite/Nitrate) . Tank 0/25

Day 4
Output 0/0 . Tank 0/10

Day 5
Output 0/0 . Tank 0/5 . Increased drip rate the 3 DPS..

Now I am not sure what I should do now. Leave it or do I need more flow to keep things happy ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don't think I'd change anything.

FWIW, the nitrate in the day 3 effluent is likely a false reading, with the nitrite causing interference in the nitrate kit.