Sulfur DeNitrators
- Thread starter logman17
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skydancer
New member
I've been running my XL Midwest Aquatic Sulfur Denitrifier since Feb/2006. If you go through the last few pages of the thread you'll see some of my latest comments and some correction/improvements I made. I was one of the very early adopters and learned a lot about this new reactor by trial and error.
I highly recommend this product. For people like myself that don't have room for a refugium it is a perfect substitute. Actually, I prefer this reactor over a refugium, since it doesn't produce the mess a refugium does (algae in the pumps, crashing the tank when algae goes asexual, etc...) requires little to no maintenance for a long time... and works very well.
My nitrates have been low (less than 2) for a long time now (8-10 months). I'm very happy with nitrates at 2ppm or less, since I have a heavy bio-load and a mixed reef with a lots of SPS. In a few months, I'll change the sulfur media to the bigger pellets for even better performance. Actually the manufacturer recommends to replace the sulfur media every 2 years, so my time is coming up soon.
I hope this helps.
I highly recommend this product. For people like myself that don't have room for a refugium it is a perfect substitute. Actually, I prefer this reactor over a refugium, since it doesn't produce the mess a refugium does (algae in the pumps, crashing the tank when algae goes asexual, etc...) requires little to no maintenance for a long time... and works very well.
My nitrates have been low (less than 2) for a long time now (8-10 months). I'm very happy with nitrates at 2ppm or less, since I have a heavy bio-load and a mixed reef with a lots of SPS. In a few months, I'll change the sulfur media to the bigger pellets for even better performance. Actually the manufacturer recommends to replace the sulfur media every 2 years, so my time is coming up soon.
I hope this helps.
spooda420
New member
I ended up buying one (Midwest Aquatics XL) back in late May, It is very easy to setup and get running it did take about 5-6 weeks for the nitrates to come down to 0, but everything seems to be going well. the hair algea is slowy disappearing, and collor seems to be coming back to the few SPS I have...
Overall I would recommend this to anyone who want to lower the nitrates.
Overall I would recommend this to anyone who want to lower the nitrates.
reefrubble
Premium Member
Steven , I want one , I want one , I want one . Can I please have one , can I please . Ted
skydancer
New member
Were they offering the "bigger" sulfur pellets back in May?
If yes, how are they working out for you? Are the bacteria growing on the sulfur media uniformly, or do they grow slowly from the bottom up. With the bigger pellets I would expect the sulfur to be covered with bacteria since there will be more space available between the media. Is it true?
Avi
Premium Member
It doesn't have to be connected to the overflow. I used a piece of rigid airline tubing, heated it with a hair-dryer to make an inverted letter-J so that it would securely hang off of the side of the tank, and that....connected to airline tubing that goes down to the denitrifier...brings the tank water, by gravity, to the denitrifier.
My only gripe is that I have to continually bleed teh air out of mine - every 2-3 days. When air builds up the drip rate slows down and the whole thing becomes useless. I didn't bleed it for months once and nitrates didn't drop at all. Now I bleed it all the time it performs better. But still, hate fiddling.
Avi
Premium Member
This photo should show you the way the water goes from my reef tank to the sulfur denitrifier....
I just cut a piece of rigid airline-tubing that's available at almost any fish-store, to size...and used a hair dryer to heat it so that I could make that bend that you see. The side that goes into the tank (on the right) goes down about 12-inches down into the tank. The other side, as you can see in the photo, is attached to flexible airline-tubing that goes to the John Guest connection at the intake of the denitrifier, which is well below the lowest point of the part (on the right) into the water.
This is a basic gravity feed that has been working error-free for about a year. I cleaned the part that we're talking about once or twice ijn that time, so that any sludge that does appear over time doesn't obstruct it. Having it go down the 12-inches is just so that no air is likely to get into it.
I hope that clarifies this for you, Rob...if not, ask.
Last edited:
wholy batman thread resurrection... 
My SWC reactor is running for 3 days now, however, my water output is showing CRAZY BAD numbers...
No3 = +100 PPM
No2 = + 5 PPM
In the tank:
No3 = 45 PPM
No2 = 0.25 PPM
Also, the effluent smells eggs, and drip rate is at 1 per second.
What sould I do ??? I am now trasing all drops, preventing it from going into the tank...
Thanks
My SWC reactor is running for 3 days now, however, my water output is showing CRAZY BAD numbers...
No3 = +100 PPM
No2 = + 5 PPM
In the tank:
No3 = 45 PPM
No2 = 0.25 PPM
Also, the effluent smells eggs, and drip rate is at 1 per second.
What sould I do ??? I am now trasing all drops, preventing it from going into the tank...
Thanks
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