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

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JumboShrimp

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The guy at my LFS said his friend used one, and "it took a long time to get going, but once it did, he never had to do a water change." I guess that right now I'm stuck in the "once it got going" phase of this $400 experiment. ($800... I bought one for each tank.) LOL o_O
 

tehmadreefer

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Great old school technology, and yes they come with that lil eheim pump. Surprised you found one as there isn’t a global shortage but teacher it’s outdated and they just don’t make anymore. You get used or new?

it’ll take a few weeks to get dialed at a minimum.
 

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That’s the problem— a month in and the effluent is still 160+ Nitrate... same as the display tank.

I have it at 1 drop per second (per the instructions). “If... the nitrate level of the effluent is lower than the nitrate level of your aquarium water, the BioDenitrator has begun reducing nitrate (NO3).” “It will take 4-6 weeks for denitrifying bacteria to fully colonize the media in the BioDenitrator.”

So technically I’m not at 6 weeks yet, only 4, but I was expecting some lowering of 160+ in the effluent.
If you want to know if you are making any progress, I think you should test the effluent for nitrite. If their is nitrite, the denitrifying bacteria is most likely growing. Hopefully the nitrate level isn't so high that you need to try to do something different than what the instructions say(I have an idea that you could try, but I don't know if it would be necessary.)
 
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If I recall back about 4 weeks ago, after initially running it 'wide-open' for a day or two, I tested Nitrite, and instructions said if it was Zero, that meant it was time to clamp the output down almost to a standstill. But no harm in testing it again-- I'll let you all know what I come up with for Nitrite effluent now that a month has gone by. ;)
 
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Tested the effluent's Nitrite level today: Zero. Guess I might have to wait the full 6 weeks to see Nitrate and Phosphate budge at all (?)

@tehmadreefer, they were indeed back-ordered almost everywhere; here in the U.S. I gathered that everyone was literally waiting on the same ship's container to arrive. Because I was on a waiting list, I was able to snap two new units, but at least from my seller they blew out 70 of them almost right away. :cool:
 

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Tested the effluent's Nitrite level today: Zero. Guess I might have to wait the full 6 weeks to see Nitrate and Phosphate budge at all (?)

@tehmadreefer, they were indeed back-ordered almost everywhere; here in the U.S. I gathered that everyone was literally waiting on the same ship's container to arrive. Because I was on a waiting list, I was able to snap two new units, but at least from my seller they blew out 70 of them almost right away. :cool:
If the effluent has zero nitrite, and it doesn't have zero nitrate or close to zero nitrate, I think the denitrifying bacteria(sulfur oxidizing)may not be in the sulfur denitrator. I think that you should run the SD wide open for at least 2 to 3 days(the bacteria don't need low oxygen conditions to grow), and test for nitrite each day, if you measure nitrite, reduce the flow to one drop a second. That is what I would do. If the bacteria are in the aquarium(and are not in the SD), I believe that running the sulfur denitrator wide open would greatly increase the chances of the bacteria getting into the sulfur denitrator.
 
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Thanks a bunch, @Jon_W79. I believe that tracks the instructions, and what I “recall” doing, but if nothing changes at 6-weeks I think I will do just as you have suggested and track (test) Nitrites much better during the wide-open phase.
 
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I just read on another forum, "Trying to lower nitrates in a system with 50 ppm or above nitrate levels can be long and frustrating." (Mine is 160 + ppm, so maybe there is truth as to why one-month out, no changes... i.e, "long and frustrating.")

But I am going to wait at least a full 6 weeks, because If I do a large (50% ?) water change now, I will blow my experiment. :(
 
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High-Five, everyone!

I took a stab at testing the effluent for Nitrates today, expecting to continue to be disappointed: 40 ppm!! (Dropped from 160+ As you will recall.)

Let me repeat the test tomorrow, and also check Phosphates... in case the test is a fluke. ;)
 

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Ok, I will repeat my question what feed pump are you using? I know it has an Eheim pump so does mine, so if you are adjusting the exit flow from a stream to a drop are you using a different feed pump, or are you simply using the Eheim pump that came with the reactor?
 

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Good to hear, thanks on the feed pump, I am going to hook mine up hopefully this weekend. I have a Kaomer adjustable Peri pump that I want to use, my Nitrate is like your bright orange on the Nyos test it aka 160+.
 
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I’m not as sure that the Bio-DeNitrator will help with my sky Phosphates as well, but I do intend to find out! (Lol.)
 
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Sorry... my Post #34 should reflect "Nitrates" not "Phosphates" (Duh! o_O )

Good news regarding Phosphates, too, however. Here is where we are on the effluent since the beginning:

NITRATES down from 160+ ppm to (now): 40 ppm
PHOSPHATES down from 10 ppm to (now): 2 ppm ;Happy

I think I will get brave and increase the effluent output to about 2-drops per second, and see where I am in a another week.
 

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I have a aquamax on my 240.marine depot has them on clearance as well as the sulfur i got a big bundle of the sulfur since it was discounted so much
 

Bam327

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Did your PH go up with the drop in nutrients?
I just pieced together a conversion from the c1502 to the s1502. Everywhere was out of the conversion kits so I had to make do putting it together myself but I have no instructions. Can you explain the start up to me? I’m assuming that I flush it like I would other media until it’s clear effluent. Then I slow it to 1 drip per second until I reach 0 nitrates on the effluent and then increase 2-3 drops per second until my nitrates are where I want them?
 
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