Nitrate Filter

[BigIan]

The Mrs and i are still having nitrate problems in the larger tank and i`m wanting to add a nitrate filter any ne got any recomendations?

 

[andywg]

You essentially have two options if my memory serves correct:

1) Sulpher based reactor. This provides a fuel in the form of balls containing sulpher (can't remember the other part of the chemical's name) and is easier to set up, but will require recharging every so often.

2) Anoxic reactor. This requires getting a filter with just enough flow through the filter to make it actually filter any decent amount of water (and provide food) but not too much to bring oxygenated water in to kill the bacteria.

Generally you are looking at needing a dosing pump linked up to a redox meter for the latter to get the water right.

Are you sure you are having nitrate problems? Have you tried a different test made by a different manufacturer? I used to fear my nitrates were in the 100s (despite the acropora growing). I then realised it was the useless API nitrate test.

 

[BigIan]

we use the salifert test kits which are supposed to be pretty good, i'll try and pick up another test kit and double check it. It's funny though, i don't understand why the nitrate is so high, we've a low fish stock, we don't overfeed, we've got a fuge set up, it gets weekly water changes, plenty of maintenance. there isn't really any reason why nitrates should be high and all the fish and corals are doing pretty good. there is the thought if it aint broke don't fix it. your fish and corals are generally the best indicators of health in your tank. however a nitrate reactor will be another gadget for Ian to tinker with.......

 

[Musho3210]

theres always the long tube nitrate reductor, you get a REALLY long tube of airline tubing and plug it into a slow dosing pump.

 

[BigIan]

I was thinking of getting the one with the sulpher balls. as its the cheapest and possibly the easiest.
the only isue i`ve seen is the dosing pumps i was looking at don`t seem to be able to vary the speed on them, any ideas as to how i could cope with that?

 

[k.o.d]

Why would you need to vary the speed, the dosing pumps like the SP3000 are perfect for the limited amount of throughput through the sulphur denitrator.
With the sulphur reactor you will have to run the discharge through coral gravel or similar as the discharge will be very acidic and will need buffering

 

[Musho3210]

could you hook up a calcium reactor to one of these things?

 

[k.o.d]

Yep, that would be one way of doing it, if you look on ebay you buy them ready set up

 

[SkiFletch]

I'm a fan of the long-tube nitrate reactor design. Basically get a length of coild air-hose commonly used in construction and machine shops for lower pressure compressed air. Put the coil sealed in an appropriately sized PVC tube with one end coming out the top, and the other open inside the PVC. Fill the PVC with bioballs and drill an outlet into the top of the tube. Then you pump water very slowly into the air-hose, it takes a long long time to traverse down the tube. Along the tube, aerobic bacteria will grow to process ammonia/nitrite. These bacteria will remove O2 from the water inside the air-hose. Then eventually O2-free water leaves the end of the air hose and enters the chamber full of bioballs. There, anaerobic bacteria that process nitrates will grow and gobble them up, water eventually trickles out the top fitting and returns to the tank.

Search for "Nitrate Reactor" at about.com, they have a good guide for building one.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

I'm a fan of the long-tube nitrate reactor design. Basically get a length of coild air-hose commonly used in construction and machine shops for lower pressure compressed air. Put the coil sealed in an appropriately sized PVC tube with one end coming out the top, and the other open inside the PVC. Fill the PVC with bioballs and drill an outlet into the top of the tube. Then you pump water very slowly into the air-hose, it takes a long long time to traverse down the tube. Along the tube, aerobic bacteria will grow to process ammonia/nitrite. These bacteria will remove O2 from the water inside the air-hose. Then eventually O2-free water leaves the end of the air hose and enters the chamber full of bioballs. There, anaerobic bacteria that process nitrates will grow and gobble them up, water eventually trickles out the top fitting and returns to the tank.

Search for "Nitrate Reactor" at about.com, they have a good guide for building one.

so it's you giving Ian ideas


the things he wants to build in our living room now........ lol

sounds like we're going with the long tube one which ian's gonna make himself (groan) only problem is it seems a bit too easy which is always concerning!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

right, can anyone make any recommendations for a peristaltic pump to use?

 

[k.o.d]

Aqua Medic SP3000

 

[BigIan]

yep i like the look of those long tube filters....

look easy to make and hopefully shouldnt poison the tank.
i was also thinking of adding a second tube with some form of calcium medium inside to buffer the returning watter up and also to increase the calcium in the tank would that work? and how does one calculate the ammount of media it would require?

 

[SkiFletch]

Don't bother with peri pumps, just get something like an eheim compact and a valve to restrict the flowrate on the output of the nitrate reactor. Simpler/cheaper.

As for the calcium, you're thinking of a calcium reactor Ian. These are very complex apparatus which cannot be incorporated with a nitrate reactor, they have to be two seperate entities. In order for the calcium reactor to work, you have to inject the reactor with just the right amount of CO2 gas and have just the right flowrate coming out of the reactor into the sump. Expensive pieces of apparatus those are...

Also one last bit, remember since the nitrate reactor will be a biological process, it'll take at least a month, if not closer to 2 months before the anaerobic guys decide to start gobbling up your nitrates

 

[BigIan]

As for the calcium, you're thinking of a calcium reactor Ian. These are very complex apparatus which cannot be incorporated with a nitrate reactor, they have to be two seperate entities. In order for the calcium reactor to work, you have to inject the reactor with just the right amount of CO2 gas and have just the right flowrate coming out of the reactor into the sump. Expensive pieces of apparatus those are...

I was just thinking of buffering the water back up after its been through the nitrate reactor and is highly acidic