sulfur denitrator?

[vincent1972]

is it save to use them?
how to start this up ?
and do i need a calciumbuffer after the sulfur denitrator?
who can help me please?

i do water changes every other day (10% of the total watervolume) , i add vinegar (10ml each day for my 130 gallon reef tank) (for over a 1 month now )
and the nitrate level remains the same (24ppm)

thx

 

[Dr. Reef]

sulfure denitrator only removes nitrates so i prefer bio pellet reactors as they remove nitrates and phos. i have run both over last 18 yrs with no ill effects. i ran sulfur for 15 yrs and now moved on to bio pellets.
what is ur intended purpose? just nitrates or phos too?

 

[vincent1972]

just nitrate
in Belgium the pellets are expensive , that's the reason that ask information about sulfur denitrators

 

[bertoni]

Sulfur denitrators work, although you can make a denitrator without sulfur. A lot of tubing in a dark area with low flow will do the job. You'll need to be careful keeping the flow tuned, or the reactor can cause problems.

I'd back off on the water changes, and consider increasing the vinegar.

 

[vincent1972]

how is the setup and how do you start with a sulfur denitrator ?
and how to build a denitrator without sulfur ?

 

[bertoni]

You could use Google to find information on coil denitrators. There are plans here and there. I haven't built one. To start the reactor, you just need to install it and set the flow.

 

[vincent1972]

what is best ?
a coil denitrator or a sulfur denitrator?

 

[bertoni]

No one knows. It's possible that they both work the same way, in the end. I'm not sure how much data there is showing that the sulfur media in reactors is consumed at any particularly high rate.

 

[Dr. Reef]

i am not sure whats best but i can tell u from my rookie days(18yrs back) i did run a coil home made and a commercial and crashed my tanks each time. hydrogen sulfide gas is a huge problem with them if u dont get the flow right.
sulphur has the same issue but in sulfur once cycled u can max the flow out over time and still keep the cycle and at high fow u dont have to worry about hydrogen sulfide gas. coil if u max the flow out u need to re cycle.

 

[Dave & Monica]

What I like about sulfur denitrators are (a) it absolutely, 100% works on No3. (b) You dial in the flow to get your tank to the No3 you want. I target between 2-5 ppm. (c) it's set and forget, checking once a month to ensure you are in your range, but I would go 6+ months with no adjustments (slower flow or increase flow on the output)

What I don't like about sulfur denitrators are: (a) No3 is just one part of the export equation, as others have pointed out here. Po4 is just as critical, and you need an active way to export that too. So it's not a complete solution. (b) if you target 0 ppm on No3, you will fight getting a nasty sulfur smell. (c) it really takes a hit on you Alkalinity, ensure you account for this in your dosing. (d) Skimmer collection cup smells a lot more, since it pulls sulfur out of the water.

I just recently installed a bio pellet reactor. I really didn't realize how much the sulfur denitrator hit my alk. It's only been a week, and I have the sulfur denitrator still as a fall back.

 

[tmz]

I built one and used it . There is a very large thread on the diy forum with a great deal of detail on them. Mine worked very well in taking down NO3. But once it was down it was difficult to manage the flow and sulfur quantity to prevent 0 NO3 . When that happens sulfate reducing bacteria take over and hydrogen sulfide becomes an issue.

I stopped using it about 5 years ago and have managed NO3 an PO4 with soluble organics( vodka/ethaonl and vinegar/acetic acid)

 

[vincent1972]

for po4 i use rowa,
i want the nitrate level down
I am doing now vinegar dosing and water changes but after a month i see not a difference

 

[bertoni]

Is there any measurable phosphate? It's possible, at least in theory, that the Rowa is preventing the vinegar from doing much.

 

[vincent1972]

the po4 level is around 0.04

 

[tmz]

Sometimes It can take months for NO3 levels to fall when you start organic carbon dosing,ime and that of others. Not sure why; perhaps the bacteria feeding on the organic carbon take their nitrogen from ammonia directly and it just takes a while for the nitrate reducing bacteria to clean up NO3 that's already there.

A sulfur denitrator took down nitrates in a then 500 gallon system from >80ppm to near zero in 5 weeks including cycling time about 5 years ago. Since then vodka and vinegar dosing ( 400ml of 5% vinegar equivalents for 650 gallons) has kept them at less than 0.2ppm even with relatively heavy feeding.

With PO4 at .04 , I don't think it's limiting the bacteria.

What size is the tank ,Vincent?

 

[vincent1972]

130 gallon size 39.37 x 31.47 x 24

 

[tmz]

10 ml of 5% acetic acid vinegar is not a very high dose for 130 gallons. I use 8 times that much organic carbon.

 

[vincent1972]

should i increase the vinegar dosing?

 

[tmz]

I would bump it up slowly but each aquarium is different. From the reports I've read most folks settle in around .4 to .8 ml of 5% vinegar or equivalents per gallon.

 

[vincent1972]

i go bump it up slowly til i reach 0.8ml per gallon
so in the end it would be 108ml vinegar