OP
OP
My dream pump 
. The MP cubes looks very brittle, don't they?.
. The MP cubes looks very brittle, don't they?.
Poor Man's Nutrients Control - Donovan's Nitrate Destroyer
- Thread starter Donovan Joannes
- Start date
- Tagged users None
Homer Allman
Active Member
They are easily broken. I will probably break them up a bit and wash them off before putting them in the reactor. I got the pump on a scratch and dent sale through Amazon. it was 60 bucks. It has a small scratch.My dream pump
TMB
Well-Known Member
I guess should chime in and give Donovan the credit he is due for sharing this with us.
About 2 years ago I got busy with school and work and long story short, I ended up losing all my corals in a semi-crash due to neglect. The fish were healthy, but chemistry was bad and all those corals caused a huge nutrient spike.
Fast forward about 18 months, and I'm trying to get the reef going again. I knew I could break it down, clean everything and start over, but that is not what I wanted to do. I wanted to revive my reef through proper care and husbandry.
I got the main three elements back in line relatively easily (KH, CA, MG), but NO3 and PO4 were out of control.
NO3 - 200+
PO4 - 1.5
So I began a steady regiment of water changes, cleaning, and siphoning, to go after nutrients and get rid of them. It didn't take me long to decide this was going to be a battle with a 350 gallon tank and N & P this high.
Then one day a few months ago I found this thread and decided, what the heck, lets give this a try.
This is the second attempt - the first one clogged too easily because I used media that was too small.
I skipped the union and just used a holesaw to make a hole big enough to slide in a straight PVC fitting, then glued it together using blue glue. This worked great BTW.
On the second attempt I ordered this media in 2 sizes (1" and 1.5") and filled the tubes with this from top to bottom, making sure there were gaps for water flow.
The reactor is 4" diameter, and 18" tall. This time it works great!! I have full control over water flow.
I'm feeding the vodka through the line in the top with a dosing pump. There is also a 1/4" ball valve on the line in from the manifold that you can see in the backround.
It took a few weeks for everything to get going, and begin to put out zero nitrates from the effluent, but after that all I need to do is monitor the flow and give it a blast if it looks to be clogging up.
I think this has been running for about 1 month and I have gone from 200+ Nitrates down to 4. Yes 4!
Thank you @Donovan Joannes for the idea to do this!!! This thing works great!
About 2 years ago I got busy with school and work and long story short, I ended up losing all my corals in a semi-crash due to neglect. The fish were healthy, but chemistry was bad and all those corals caused a huge nutrient spike.
Fast forward about 18 months, and I'm trying to get the reef going again. I knew I could break it down, clean everything and start over, but that is not what I wanted to do. I wanted to revive my reef through proper care and husbandry.
I got the main three elements back in line relatively easily (KH, CA, MG), but NO3 and PO4 were out of control.
NO3 - 200+
PO4 - 1.5
So I began a steady regiment of water changes, cleaning, and siphoning, to go after nutrients and get rid of them. It didn't take me long to decide this was going to be a battle with a 350 gallon tank and N & P this high.
Then one day a few months ago I found this thread and decided, what the heck, lets give this a try.
This is the second attempt - the first one clogged too easily because I used media that was too small.
I skipped the union and just used a holesaw to make a hole big enough to slide in a straight PVC fitting, then glued it together using blue glue. This worked great BTW.
On the second attempt I ordered this media in 2 sizes (1" and 1.5") and filled the tubes with this from top to bottom, making sure there were gaps for water flow.
The reactor is 4" diameter, and 18" tall. This time it works great!! I have full control over water flow.
I'm feeding the vodka through the line in the top with a dosing pump. There is also a 1/4" ball valve on the line in from the manifold that you can see in the backround.
It took a few weeks for everything to get going, and begin to put out zero nitrates from the effluent, but after that all I need to do is monitor the flow and give it a blast if it looks to be clogging up.
I think this has been running for about 1 month and I have gone from 200+ Nitrates down to 4. Yes 4!
Thank you @Donovan Joannes for the idea to do this!!! This thing works great!
Ponraj A
RIP Mr.Donovan
An update after 68 days of installation and remaking the reactor for 3 times and got success with the 3rd reactor now.
My nitrates are at 2ppm today and it was really great to bring it down from 50 after the 3rd installation on 10 Aug 17. So theoretically this result has been achieved in 41 days. Please find below the image of salifert test done in the tank water.
Thank you @Donovan Joannes for sharing this "Poor Man's nitrate reactor"
My nitrates are at 2ppm today and it was really great to bring it down from 50 after the 3rd installation on 10 Aug 17. So theoretically this result has been achieved in 41 days. Please find below the image of salifert test done in the tank water.
Thank you @Donovan Joannes for sharing this "Poor Man's nitrate reactor"
OP
OP
Congrats @Ponraj A. Now you can tweak your dosing to keep nitrate at that range.
Ponraj A
RIP Mr.Donovan
Yes from today I have reduced the VSV dosing to 20ml per day from 35ml per day. Will check the results after 3 days to reconfirm the dosing regimen.
Now started to think on next task of controlling phosphate which is still in control on 0.135 ppm (Hanna ULR). Some LPS which felt bad are starting to boom up and I hope to see more improvements in near future.
OP
OP
I guess should chime in and give Donovan the credit he is due for sharing this with us.
About 2 years ago I got busy with school and work and long story short, I ended up losing all my corals in a semi-crash due to neglect. The fish were healthy, but chemistry was bad and all those corals caused a huge nutrient spike.
Fast forward about 18 months, and I'm trying to get the reef going again. I knew I could break it down, clean everything and start over, but that is not what I wanted to do. I wanted to revive my reef through proper care and husbandry.
I got the main three elements back in line relatively easily (KH, CA, MG), but NO3 and PO4 were out of control.
NO3 - 200+
PO4 - 1.5
So I began a steady regiment of water changes, cleaning, and siphoning, to go after nutrients and get rid of them. It didn't take me long to decide this was going to be a battle with a 350 gallon tank and N & P this high.
Then one day a few months ago I found this thread and decided, what the heck, lets give this a try.
This is the second attempt - the first one clogged too easily because I used media that was too small.
I skipped the union and just used a holesaw to make a hole big enough to slide in a straight PVC fitting, then glued it together using blue glue. This worked great BTW.
On the second attempt I ordered this media in 2 sizes (1" and 1.5") and filled the tubes with this from top to bottom, making sure there were gaps for water flow.
The reactor is 4" diameter, and 18" tall. This time it works great!! I have full control over water flow.
I'm feeding the vodka through the line in the top with a dosing pump. There is also a 1/4" ball valve on the line in from the manifold that you can see in the backround.
It took a few weeks for everything to get going, and begin to put out zero nitrates from the effluent, but after that all I need to do is monitor the flow and give it a blast if it looks to be clogging up.
I think this has been running for about 1 month and I have gone from 200+ Nitrates down to 4. Yes 4!
Thank you @Donovan Joannes for the idea to do this!!! This thing works great!
Wow!. 200ppm was extremely high. I am more than happy to share this design with fellow reefers. There is no reason for me to keep it for myself, I learned alot from forums as well and I think this will be the best way to contribute something to our community. I am so happy it works for you as well.
OP
OP
Wishing you the best my friend. My phosphate normally stays below 0.25ppm, most of the time it is lower than 0.1ppm on Sera. As you know, I don't use other method to reduce PO4. The destroyer will use up some PO4 as well, at what rate I am not sure.
Ponraj A
RIP Mr.Donovan
I am using phosbond and dosing iron to lower my phosphate gradually and frankly speaking, i just keep and eye on it and also relying and believing that the reactor will take some once it gets more matured.
Thanks my friend for sharing this wonderful project which saves lot of money for this community.
OP
OP
No problem at all. I am looking forward to hear more good news especially Homer's massive tower
Homer Allman
Active Member
I got my bio rings today. Very similar to the picture posted above. I added them through out the marine pure blocks while packing the reactor. I built my manifold today and hooked up my GFO and Carbon to it. Tomorrow I need to tap in my supply line and drain line to the reactor and it will go live.
questions again. I have 12 bottles of bacteria. You said add one per day. Do I use all 12 during a 12 day period? When do I start the vodka? And lastly I believe you said start at 10-20 ml's a day. thank you again. I can't wait to go live tomorrow and start destroying my nitrate.
questions again. I have 12 bottles of bacteria. You said add one per day. Do I use all 12 during a 12 day period? When do I start the vodka? And lastly I believe you said start at 10-20 ml's a day. thank you again. I can't wait to go live tomorrow and start destroying my nitrate.
OP
OP
I would start biodigest for 5 days straight, one vial daily. If there is a nitrate reduction after a week, you don't need further bacteria seeding. If not, drop a vial and test again in two days.
As for the VSV, split that into several dosage per day. Doing so will ensure the carbon won't exit the reactor and causing bacterial bloom somewhere else. You have to judge the amount of carbon dosage, but starting low is always better than overdosing. Nitrate test will give you some idea about it.
As for the VSV, split that into several dosage per day. Doing so will ensure the carbon won't exit the reactor and causing bacterial bloom somewhere else. You have to judge the amount of carbon dosage, but starting low is always better than overdosing. Nitrate test will give you some idea about it.
Homer Allman
Active Member
thank you thank you and thanks. I hope to start it up later this evening.
OP
OP
No problem at all. I am so excited to know how that monster works for you. I really can't imagine running such a huge destroyer. I really really hope that it won't produce hydrogen sulfide, but higher flow is your main advantage here. Keep your nose open my friend!
I'm curious if there's any reason using a single long piece of pvc say about 4ft wouldn't work? Like if I ran it horizontal across the top inside of my stand? Maybe more difficult for dosing purposes I suppose?
Homer Allman
Active Member
Today marks the day. At 8 PM Eastern Standard time the mega twin tower nitrate destroyer is up and running. After a slight set back earlier this evening with a leak. I redesigned the top to make a factory seal. With the addition of the last fittings on top the MTTND measures in at 5 foot 8 inches tall. My current ball value will not let me fine tune it to the 105 millimeters a minute I wanted. Instead i'm running at 200 ml's a minute. This equals 288000 ML's in 24 hours or 76 gallons a day. With 400 gallon of water to work with and as tall as it is. It may be fine. I'll report results as they happen. thanks for the help and the idea to start with.
OP
OP
Plain horizontal reactor will not fill up the whole length with water. Unless the inlet and outlet level are significant higher than the horizontal pipe, trapped air will continuously replenished. You can make a "U" shaped horizontal reactor (minus the vertical pipe) at both end "elbow" and capped the top part. That will ensure no air will be trapped, provided that the reactor is still gravity fed system (non pressurised).
OP
OP
My logic calculator is only designed for small reactor
. But by volume, your bacteria content is huge. It should be able to process a higher flow rate theoretically.
I plan for it to be pressurised using the manifold run off my return pump. I was going to put the output hose on top of the pipe and then slightly angle the pipe so the output end was the highest, there may be a slight air bubble towards that end but the oxygen shouldn't be replenished. This will be on a 300 gallon system, do you think I would need 2 4ft pipes?
OP
OP
@TMB volume is 350G and he successfully running an 18" high 4" Diameter reactor similar to mine. If i have to design a horizontal reactor at 4' length, I will arrange the pipe perpendicular to each other, with inlet on top and outlet below.
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