Sulfur DeNITRIFIER DIY!!!

ssbreef, you could install a check valve so water doesnt siphon back to sump, imo dont let any bubbles get into your denitrifier, move the system/pump that feeds it to a sections that theres no bubbles, any oxygen that hits your anaerobic zones will destroy them and you will have to cycle it again.

to avoid this on mine, i installed a UPC (back up battery for computers) to my denitrifier feed pump, if electricity goes off i would have at least some hours of battery backup to keep the pump going, this will always keep water going in to it and it wont let any air/oxygen buildup in case of a backsiphon
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11668726#post11668726 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
Why would you have microbubbles in your return section? That zone should be bubble free.

If your reactor drains when the power is off, is this because it siphons out the effluent side, or does it drain out the feed pump side? Perhaps it needs (or has a defective) check valve.
Click to expand...

Melev, Sorry I meant return FROM tank...The first section.
The reactor drains out the feed pump side at the bottom of the reactor. That`s just the way H&S designed it. There's no check valve on it. Maybe Ill try and install one or just plug the unit into my UPC(UPS?) like sanababit recommended.

sanababit, Even in the section where there is no microbubbles I find the the unit somehow still manages to accumulate some air on a daily basis. I have to play with the valve everyday to get that little bit of air out and the drip rate back on track daily. Can it be due to the media releasing C02 or something like that, or is the reactor somehow still managing to suck in micro bubbles? Having to adjust the unit on a daily basis is a little bit of pain.

on another note. GOOD NEWS, I`m happy to announce that my nitrates are now down to 15 and the nitrates coming from the reactor are 0!!
 
ssbreef, it could be nitrogen buildup inside the reactor, i heard people that have denitrifiers with a check valve of some sort thats on top of unit releasing the trapped nitrogen.

other people have systems with recirculating pump on units, this will keep water moving inside and forcing the air out.

anyways congratulations, doesnt it feel good when something works after investing a fortune on it.......lol
 
Thanks allot that makes allot of sense. I don't know why I didn't think of that. The reactor has had to convert allot of nitrates which in turn should translate to allot of nitrogen.
 
1st day

1st day

I finally was able to get mine going today. I have attached some pictures of how it is set up. I hope it works ok. I chose not to use the refillable containers in the cannisters also.

The Filter Guys set up!! They do great work.

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IMG_0992.jpg



Needle Valve in place.

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Water now flowing through the reactor. I ran it wide open for about an hour tapping and wiggling it to get the air out.

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My messy garage, but I am working on it today and tomorrow to tidy things up some.

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Sailifert Nitrate test, bad white balance.

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My nitrates do not appear to be as high as I thought they were. I never test anything hardly anymore. I am getting lazy I guess.
 
One more note

One more note

I forgot to add that I used about 30' of tubing prior to the water going into the reactor. Its the black tubing on the right side of the reactor. The blue on the left is the drain line/side.
 
hello ibash, looking trought your install, i have a couple of suggestions, first IME if water does not go through media it wont create an anaerobic area to cultivate the bacteria you need to eat nitrate, if you look at last post i made a rough drawing of how water needs to go thru filters for them to work, what i can see from the filter housings, water will stay on top of filter canisters because in and out are on the top, thus water will never go through media
 
I do not believe the water must pass through the media. The anaerobic zone is there as long as air is not being pumped into the reactor.
The bacteria that feeds on nitrate will still pull it (nitrates) out of the water column that is in the sulphur cannister. Then the water that exits that same sulphur cannister will be nitrate free.
The cycle will continue until there is no longer any nitrates to pull out of the water column.
I appreciate your advice though. Going back to the first or second page there is a reactor set up just like Melev's and mine, that has been stated to be running on a 1,000 gallon system with no issues.
Time will tell, and nothing about this setup is permanent. If it does not work well like this, I can try it another way.
Another example of this is a deep sand bed. Water does not flow through the sand, but beneficial bacteria live down inside it. You also do not want to stir it up, and disturb that to much if possible.
 
On another note I believe that makers such as Korallin make their reactor with flow from the bottom up is due to a single chamber. They use one chamber that water goes through the sulphur first then the calcium media. In order to keep space down, and to be able to sell a product for alot more than they have in material costs to make a good product.

Sanababit how is yours set up? Do you have any pictures you can post?
 
IBASSFISH, is that a reducer mod on the MJ 1200 and you simply ran 1/4" through a super long piece of hose prior to the chambers? I realize people are using long hose to reduce the bubbles but why would the long piece of hose reduce air bubbles?
 
ibass, just trying to help, i have read melevs post about his denitrifier still not cycled and what came to mind was that the water is not making enough contact inside media to cultivate bacteria (i read this in a book where i saw different ways of reducing nitrate on aquariums, like using no-no3 media, sulphur, bio balls, az-no3, sugar, vodka, some kind of carbon which i dont remeber the name) anyways you could be right, because that is how DSB work, they form an anaerobic zone within them without water and oxygen passing through them and still eliminating nitrate, but it could take sometime for it to cycle.

well good luck

ps are the tunze streams you have controllable???
 
Mhaith I used a piece of CPVC ( I think thats what its called) that is a thicker pipe than PVC. It fits pretty good around the Maxi-Jet nozzle. I then used PVC glue to glue a John Guest type fitting in the end of it. The 1/4" O.D. hose plugs right into it.
I guess the theory of the long amount of hose before it gets to the reactor, is for the water being pumped into it to lose as much oxygen as it can before it gets to the reactor. Thus making it more anaerobic inside the sulphur chamber. On page 7 or 8 you can see the pipe and fitting I used on the Maxi-Jet pump pretty good.

Sanababit, I was not mad or taking offense to your statements. I appreciate the advise and help. Also my Tunze streams are controllable.
 
Quicksilver I will be sure to post the readings in a couple of days. I am not sure how long it will take to cycle. I am letting the water drip back into the main tank, as I don't think that 1 drop a second will hurt the tank even if it produces some nitrites also. It should be able to take care of that as old and as much water there is in the system.
 
Yesterday, quiksilver came over and brought his nitrite kit. It was 0.

nitrites.jpg


The Nitrate going in and coming out is the same. It appears to be 15ppm to me. This picture was taken outside, overcast day, no flash, only resized for web.

nitrates.jpg
 
IBASS, I apologize for being such a dolt but if the tubing is airtight, what difference does it make how long it is?
 
Honestly, I am not sure. I think it gives the living things in the water going through the tube more time to consume the oxygen in the water column. This will help make an anaerobic climate faster in the sulphur chamber. To be 100% honest, I did it because Melev did it, and there was a little discussion about it earlier in this thread. Almost eveything Melev does usually works out well!!

Melev in the first photo it shows no nitrates what water was that from? Your tank, or coming out of the reactor?
 
melev run the water through media, do a little test, if you have a phosban reactor on hand put some sulphur on bottom and arm media on top and hook it up and test it, i think the reactor will cycle faster that your setup will, i am just trying to help, i went thru same problem, i am on my 3 denitrifier attempt, first was 4 inch pvc with bio balls inside, cycled for 3 months and nothing, next one was a DSB, this was taking a looong time to seed and work, my third after researching and reading was a sulphur based one which cycled in a week and has been working since, please dont take my advice like i am insisting on do in it my way, i am just trying to help

sana
 
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