Korallin Sulphur BioDenitrator Arrived Today— Let’s Track What Happens

JumboShrimp · Jul 11, 2021

Hey @Bam327, sorry I can't help with the PH angle-- the tank is a FOWLR and I don't test for PH. But here are the instructions I followed:

https://www.aquariumspecialty.com/pub/media/wysiwyg/KL9111K__Manual.pdf

Best wishes, and keep following here for future progress-reports.

Zaireguy · Jul 11, 2021

You use crush coral on top of the sulfur media to help with the co2 and

My nitrates coming out of my reactor is 7.5 right now right where i want to keep them so i will increase the drip rate and test to find that sweet spot

Blue Spot Octopus · Jul 12, 2021

Don't doddle there is one more Korallin large reactor for sale at Marinedepot for a song.

JumboShrimp · Jul 13, 2021

(Believe it or not, I jumped on a 3rd unit, as a spare, along with some spare parts they were selling, like O-Ring gaskets. Don’t. Tell. Wife!)

Blue Spot Octopus · Jul 13, 2021

My wife has been a trooper with my purchases, I mostly bought filters for my RO/DI, spare impellers, an upgraded kit for my Korallin with media, and another skimmer, yeah that one hit a nerve.

Blue Spot Octopus · Jul 15, 2021

I need the small O-rings for my reactor, I did not see those on MD site, I guess I will try my good LHS.

JumboShrimp · Jul 15, 2021

TERRIBLE NEWS / MAJOR SET-BACK.

So these little tiny control valves are tricky. If you have been following, with the success I finally achieved I decided to increase the effluent rate to about 1 or 1 1/2 drops per second. Well it seems for the last week it actually increased to about 3 or 4 drops per second. Consequently, Nitrates have shot back up to their original 160 + ppm, and Phosphates back up to 10 ppm. All gains have been erased.

dyno · Jul 18, 2021

Hi @JumboShrimp I am in the process of setting up a Aquamaxx Denitrator for my fish only that has crazy high levels of Nitrate like your tank did. I wanted to ask you is the aqualifer a reliable pump, or does it get clogged eventually. I remember using one for my old CPR hand on overflow years ago but remember having to buy new ones every 6-8 months cause they stopped working well. Should I get a Kamoer Peristaltic Pump?

So it took you about 7 weeks to get your denitrifier working right?

JumboShrimp · Jul 18, 2021

Yes, it took a full 6 weeks for me to really start seeing progress— but some have said things will happen faster if your Nitrates aren’t off-the-charts to begin with like mine were... 160+ ppm. I’m using the Tom’s Aqualifter (so that is all that I am familiar with; no clogging so far, but of course, 6 or 7 weeks isn’t a reliable long term test.)

JumboShrimp · Aug 24, 2021

Most recent update / plan of action:

Nitrates in the effluent seem to be holding at 5 ppm (down from 160+). I am going to increase the drip rate to a near full stream-- to about where you can barely separately count the effluent drops.

Will this raise the Nitrates again, or can the BioDenitator keep up?... this remains to be seen. But at some point I need to get as much flow going through the unit as possible, because to put a dent in the 150-gallon DT parameters itself (plus 20 gallons in the sump), I can't expect to do it one tiny drop of water every 1-3 seconds. (Just think how many drops of water there are in a 170 gallons!) ;Wideyed

JumboShrimp · Aug 31, 2021

What gives here?? Finally got the effluent down to an amazing 5 ppm Nitrates at 1-3 drops per second. But after opening it up to a much faster output... not a constant flow, but almost, BANG, Nitrates right back up to 160 ppm, just like the tank. :mad:

Blue Spot Octopus · Sep 15, 2021

How is the system doing now since the bad news?

Maverickflyer · Sep 5, 2023

JumboShrimp said:
What gives here?? Finally got the effluent down to an amazing 5 ppm Nitrates at 1-3 drops per second. But after opening it up to a much faster output... not a constant flow, but almost, BANG, Nitrates right back up to 160 ppm, just like the tank. :mad:

So did you ever figure it out?

JumboShrimp · Sep 6, 2023

Nope, I gave up. The kicker is that as FOWLER tanks, it probably doesn't mean a hill of beans anyway, when compared with someone who is trying to baby their corals.

So one unit is still like new, I know I have another unit still in the box (unopened), with lots of extra spare parts; one day I'll probably put it up on the Market forum.