AquaMaxx Sulfur Denitrator TS-1

Jongalt26 · Jul 4, 2016

Awesome thats headed in the right direction. The nyos test kit is fairly accurate at lower levels. I dont know how well it compares to red sea though. I use red seal for calc/alk/mag and it does a nice job there.
I let my reactor sit unused, with water in it until i saw nitrates build up (mine are currently 4ppm so not very high now). Letting it sit was a bad idea, there was some black areas in the chamber near the sulfur. I was afraid of hydrogen sulfide so i swapped the media out and got it running yesterday. During a chat on a BRS youtube video someone mentioned that their salt had nitrates (red sea coral reef salt). I tested just the salt mix today and they had 3ppm nitrates. Pretty lame if you ask me. Im going to test reef crystals in a week or two.

Fudsey · Jul 4, 2016

I tested IO Reef Crystals on my last water change and it was 0 with my Red Sea test. This is my 1st bucket of IORC. Before this I was using IO and had tested it and it was 0 as well.

Jongalt26 · Jul 5, 2016

Thats good to know. Thanks!

Fudsey · Jul 15, 2016

Update: 7/15 no pics but NO3 is now between 5-10 but more closer to 10.

I know I feel better about my tank now. So I feel comfortable saying that this system, the AquaMaxx TS-1 definitely works as advertised. Since the start of it only 2 months ago, I have drastically lower the NO3 in my tank from over 160PPM to less than 10.

I would say that is a good result

Jongalt26 · Jul 17, 2016

I'll add my 2 cents in as well Fuds.

tl;dr: Reactor reduces nitrates, does not add any noticeable additional calcium and reduces alkalinity.

The long part:
While i've had the reactor for awhile I didn't have it online while i watched nitrates over time and dialed in kalkwasser dosing. As of now my reactor has been running for 2 weeks.

I have a 70% sulfur and 30% ish coral media.
Somehow my tank ended up with alk at 12.6 and calc at 500 so i pulled KW offline and reduced the output of the nitrate reactor thinking the combination of the two were pushing the levels up. (I like to run 12.1 / 440 although im now going to run 9.5 / 440)

I tested my tank today as well as the effluent of the reactor (nyos test kit for nitrates, red sea for calc / alk)
Tank parameters: 4 nitrates, 400 calc, 10.5 alk
Reactor parameters: 0 nitrites, .5 to 1 nitrates (barely a hint of yellow but not 0), 400 calc, 8.4 alk

On another note, the denitrification reaction produces sulfates however the sulfates are theoretically nullified by the coral media. Delbeek & Sprung indicated that this denitrification method does not produce toxicity however It would be nice to have a test kit that i could use just to verify. Ive been looking at the idip tester which looks like it could be promising and they will be releasing a sulfate test.

Also as of note, according to Randy Farley-Holmes running "tons" of GFO reduces the effectiveness of the nitrate reactor. I dont know by how much the efficacy is reduced nor what "tons" means at this time

Fudsey · Jul 17, 2016

Thanks Rags

Marky Mark · Aug 3, 2016

Fudsey said:
Has anyone tried one of these? I got one yesterday and have set it up in my system, just want to know if anyone else has tried them and how it worked out for them. I also have a few questions for anyone that might have had any experience with it.

Does it always have air bubbles inside?
Is the outflow constant? Because mine is not.

Marky Mark · Aug 3, 2016

I just got mine today. Anyone know the best way to set one up without a sump? I know the pump has to be level with the unit. Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

Fudsey · Aug 3, 2016

What size tank? is there room either behind or beside the tank to put it? Mine sits next to the sump and is easily controlled at that level. pump lifts about 4-5 inches out of the sump and there is around 8" high loop on the return. The 1/4 tubing that comes with it is very stiff and doesn't bend all that easily. I used it for the return but regular flexible 1/4 tubing for intake to pump and to denitrator

Marky Mark · Aug 3, 2016

The tank is a 60 gallon long. Running an Enhiem canister with cured crushed media, no other filter media. Bubble Magus skimmer. Nitrates will not go below 40ppm even with water changes. Reduced the sand bed to half of what it was...now at around 2 inches. Was told deep sand bed is harbor for detritus.

Marky Mark · Aug 3, 2016

BTW...the people at Aquamaxx stated the reactor is too heavy to hang on the tank.

Fudsey · Aug 3, 2016

Ya I wouldn't hang it, I was thinking you could place it on a table or stand next to or behind your tank. And don't get discouraged if it takes a while. Mine took about 6 weeks to seed and then I saw the nitrates start to drop. I did my regular water changes although I don't do weeklies, I do 20% every 3 weeks. and my nitrates are now between 5-10ppm. They will get even lower once I get rid of the wet/dry portion of my sump, but that is another story with more equipment to come.

Jongalt26 · Aug 4, 2016

home depot and lowes sells fittings for the 1/4" tubing to make running it easier. you could just add the supply and return to your overflow. I would think that the pump that comes with the dentrator could lift that high and you could use an aqualifter for the supply.to the.pump

Fudsey · Aug 4, 2016

Well this is discouraging..... Got home from work today and my tank is a little cloudy, look in the sump and I see the effluent coming out of the aquamaxx is cloudy. I look in it and the top, where there is no substrate just water, about 3 inches, is nothing but cloudy. I googled cloudy water in denitrator and all I get is cloudy water links, nothing about denitrators. So I call MarineDepot, where I got it, and talked to a tech, he in turn talked to an Aquamaxx tech who said it can happen and should clear in a day or 2. Well I hope so, because right now my tank looks like crap and I am not a happy person. I check this thing everyday making sure its dripping properly and did so last night when I went to bed. So this happened in 17 hours.

I took it out and ran 1 gallon of fresh salt water through it and it helped a little but still putting out cloudy water. and didn't put it back until the tech said it should be OK to put back. We'll see what it looks like tomorrow but right now tank is hazy.... :mad:

Fudsey · Aug 5, 2016

Well it did clear and the effluent is still coming out at 0 ppm. Tank looks better and it seems to be holding nitrates below 10 ppm.

Jongalt26 · Aug 8, 2016

Thats 'interesting' to say the least. I wonder what causes the cloudiness. I wish Aquamaxx had forums on their site to discuss issues of this nature. I wonder if they have a company presence on some other forums.
Thats good that it cleared out and nitrates are steady.
Did you have any die off in the tank at all?

Fudsey · Aug 8, 2016

No die off and he said it could be an algae bloom. I got some pep. shrimp in there and they were fine too. The effluent had a strong sulfur smell so I turned up the drips but I can't remember if that's the right way to adjust it. It worked none the less. Thank and effluent now both look completely clear.

I agree I wish there was someway to talk to someone or others that have the item and get answers. Thankfully MD called their tech and got answers for me so all is well.