DIY Denitrator
- Thread starter lightning
- Start date
going to make a coil denitrator using supplies i have at werk, pvc cylinder and tubing with bio balls in the center, only thing i havent got a real solution is getting flow through it, i dont have any power heads or canister filters,
there are several store brands nitra-gon for example with this same set-up, being as it wont cost me anything to make and ill get paid while making it,, figured i cant go wrong
trying to find a really small submersible pump i can use just to run a small flow through it or even a little inline pump
there are several store brands nitra-gon for example with this same set-up, being as it wont cost me anything to make and ill get paid while making it,, figured i cant go wrong
trying to find a really small submersible pump i can use just to run a small flow through it or even a little inline pump
basically i cannot lower my nitrates, my tank is a little overstocked, my supply water has a nitate of 30 and my 55 gal tank runs a steady nitrites 3 ,amonia 0 and nitrate 110 - doing 20 gallon water changes EVERY 4 DAYS, i have SA cichlids that tear up any plant you put in there, i was looking for a solution when i cam upon a unit called nitra-gon and i found more info on making units that claim to reduce nitrates significantly in 4-6 weeks,wich is what the nitra gon promissed
Um... Yeah, chemical solution to your overstocking problem... Ever noticed how those never seem to be little more than gimmicks or temporary fixes? At the very least they're very expensive.
After doing much research for my hopefully soon to be nano-reef; I came across a neat idea called a refugium. Search ebay, you'll find lots for sale.
Basically its a little tank plumb into your main tank, some are HOBs, some other seperate tanks mounted above/below/beside. In SW its used to cultivate live foods, and beneficial bacterias that reduce nitrates in the tank...
Now swap that idea over to the freshwater world, get a refugium, paint it black (you probably wont want to see inside... read on) add strong full spectrum light. You'd probably also want to add some kind of filter on the refugiums return to the tank. Create your very own algae farm.
Sound crazy? Algaes need nitrogen and phosphorus to grow, and can pretty easily outcompete plants for those nutrients. What better form of flora could you use to reduce those nutrients in the tank? And its basically free (other than the pretty cheap hardware).
Something to think about anyway...
Andy
After doing much research for my hopefully soon to be nano-reef; I came across a neat idea called a refugium. Search ebay, you'll find lots for sale.
Basically its a little tank plumb into your main tank, some are HOBs, some other seperate tanks mounted above/below/beside. In SW its used to cultivate live foods, and beneficial bacterias that reduce nitrates in the tank...
Now swap that idea over to the freshwater world, get a refugium, paint it black (you probably wont want to see inside... read on) add strong full spectrum light. You'd probably also want to add some kind of filter on the refugiums return to the tank. Create your very own algae farm.
Sound crazy? Algaes need nitrogen and phosphorus to grow, and can pretty easily outcompete plants for those nutrients. What better form of flora could you use to reduce those nutrients in the tank? And its basically free (other than the pretty cheap hardware).
Something to think about anyway...
Andy
I see now! That really sucks about your tap water.
Andy did bring up a good point. Imo, using an algae filter maybe easier to build and maintain rather than a bacteria denitrator. In the bacteria denitrator, it will be difficult to remove all 02 where in a algae filter, you dont need to do anything except get it light. I think it would be much easier to do than trying to figure out flow rates, getting rid of 02, etc.
Just my opinion though!
Andy did bring up a good point. Imo, using an algae filter maybe easier to build and maintain rather than a bacteria denitrator. In the bacteria denitrator, it will be difficult to remove all 02 where in a algae filter, you dont need to do anything except get it light. I think it would be much easier to do than trying to figure out flow rates, getting rid of 02, etc.
Just my opinion though!
Allow me to relate a true story just for information!
by eethomp-at-welchlink.welch.jhu.edu (ELAINE THOMPSON )
Date: 8 Dec 1994
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
Well, after the DIY coil denitrator stories that George and others
(sorry...I forgot who else) posted a few months ago, I should have known
better. But, I tried installing a Nitrex box in my 29g planted tank,
thinking that maybe something that was commercially available would work.
NOT! So here's my sad story that will hopefully convince you not to try
Nitrex.
I put the gadget in at the start of October. It's an almost sealed box
with a medium that is supposed to selectively grow denitrifying bacteria
and allow only a slow flow of water through. Nitrates did drop within a
couple of weeks to below 25 ppm--the bottom of my cheap test kit. Before,
they were between 25 and 50. Great, I thought. It works, and the algae
growth has slowed to a virtual standstill.
The problem? Fish diseases. After one round of killer Ick, one round of
bacterial stop-eating-hang-out-at-the-top-and-die-in-24-hours disease, and
two rounds of Columnaris, I had had enough. Water tested fine; pH 7.0, no
ammonia, no nitrites. And all of my other tanks have been WAY healthy.
What finally convinced me to yank the Nitrex box was when I added a new
clown loach from another healthy tank and he got Columnaris too.
So, I pulled the box out of the tank. I opened it up and was greeted by a
foul rotten-egg odor. So much for the Nitrex stuff not allowing
sulfide-producing bacteria to grow. Immediately, the fish looked
healthier, and that evening my angelfish ate his first healthy sized meal
in a while. The clown loach is healing up too.
The moral is: don't try denitrification. It's not worth it. Really,
it's not.
by eethomp-at-welchlink.welch.jhu.edu (ELAINE THOMPSON )
Date: 8 Dec 1994
Newsgroup: rec.aquaria
Well, after the DIY coil denitrator stories that George and others
(sorry...I forgot who else) posted a few months ago, I should have known
better. But, I tried installing a Nitrex box in my 29g planted tank,
thinking that maybe something that was commercially available would work.
NOT! So here's my sad story that will hopefully convince you not to try
Nitrex.
I put the gadget in at the start of October. It's an almost sealed box
with a medium that is supposed to selectively grow denitrifying bacteria
and allow only a slow flow of water through. Nitrates did drop within a
couple of weeks to below 25 ppm--the bottom of my cheap test kit. Before,
they were between 25 and 50. Great, I thought. It works, and the algae
growth has slowed to a virtual standstill.
The problem? Fish diseases. After one round of killer Ick, one round of
bacterial stop-eating-hang-out-at-the-top-and-die-in-24-hours disease, and
two rounds of Columnaris, I had had enough. Water tested fine; pH 7.0, no
ammonia, no nitrites. And all of my other tanks have been WAY healthy.
What finally convinced me to yank the Nitrex box was when I added a new
clown loach from another healthy tank and he got Columnaris too.
So, I pulled the box out of the tank. I opened it up and was greeted by a
foul rotten-egg odor. So much for the Nitrex stuff not allowing
sulfide-producing bacteria to grow. Immediately, the fish looked
healthier, and that evening my angelfish ate his first healthy sized meal
in a while. The clown loach is healing up too.
The moral is: don't try denitrification. It's not worth it. Really,
it's not.