Sulfur Media For Reactior

[backbayreef]

Something is not adding up for me — if your effluent is near zero nitrate and can still maintain higher drip rate, either your nitrate testing is off or your tank is producing more nitrate than you can convert?

If it’s just 3 weeks, then I don’t think that your effluent is zero or close to zero. Try re-testing the effluent with Hanna? It took me 4-6 weeks to see a drop in nitrate since I’m dealing with 450gal and yours is 100gal bigger?

Did your ORP get to -200mV by reducing flow?

 

[X-37B]

Something is not adding up for me — if your effluent is near zero nitrate and can still maintain higher drip rate, either your nitrate testing is off or your tank is producing more nitrate than you can convert?

If it’s just 3 weeks, then I don’t think that your effluent is zero or close to zero. Try re-testing the effluent with Hanna? It took me 4-6 weeks to see a drop in nitrate since I’m dealing with 450gal and yours is 100gal bigger?

Did your ORP get to -200mV by reducing flow?

Good point I forgot about. It took around 60 days for mine to produce zero no3 on 150g's.
Retest with a different method is smart. I always have 2 ways to measure.
Just sent out for icp and my carx was ca number came back 545.
I tested again and got 480 just like before I sent it out. I use red sea.
Pulled out my Salifert and it was empty. Looked at my red sea and it was 6 months expired, nice.
Got a new salifert at lfs and ca was 540 so yea check recheck and retest.
Not sure why ca got so high but I turned the reactor down just to keep it going, 3 bpm, lol.
I am adding esv alk until my ca gets back to 450ish.

Get another method to test no3 and go from there.
I would start over and reduce the bones and add 1/2 of the bone area with the new sulfer.
There is no need to have any bones in the reactor. I just use them to keep the sulfer in place and control the amount of sulfer I can add.

 

[backbayreef]

Sulfur-based denitrification will deplete alk a little as part of the process. If you’re dosing 2-parts in equal mount, you can try to offset a little (more alk) to compensate. If you’re using a CaRx, mix BRS Soda Ash on the side and manually dose weekly? That’s what I do and been working well - alk bounces between 8.5 to 9dKH.

So it’s possible that your Calcium seems “high” because alk is being depleted faster? I use Trident NP and Hanna to validate numbers.

My params are very stable (for now)…but I need to plan when my NP bottom out and will attempt a soft landing at 10ppm. It’s coming down 2ppm/day so I have ~4 days to figure it out! lol

 

[X-37B]

Sulfur-based denitrification will deplete alk a little as part of the process. If you’re dosing 2-parts in equal mount, you can try to offset a little (more alk) to compensate. If you’re using a CaRx, mix BRS Soda Ash on the side and manually dose weekly? That’s what I do and been working well - alk bounces between 8.5 to 9dKH.

So it’s possible that your Calcium seems “high” because alk is being depleted faster? I use Trident NP and Hanna to validate numbers.

My params are very stable (for now)…but I need to plan when my NP bottom out and will attempt a soft landing at 10ppm. It’s coming down 2ppm/day so I have ~4 days to figure it out! lol

Thanks.
My carx keeps alk at 7-7.5.
I am using esv alk, I have 5g buckets of each for other 2 part systems.
Icp was only a week ago at 545.
After a few days of dosing just alk only I have determined my system is using 2.5 dkh daily.
So I am dosing only alk for a couple weeks until ca comes down.
Esv 1 is 30ml 2× a day to maintain an alk of 7.5
I was dripping carx and no3 reactor into a cylinder of bones and stopped. Ph of no3 was 7.1. Ph of carx was 6.5.

Strange as I have ran carx many times and alk was always around 450.

So not sure why ca is so high. It's not hurting anything visually as the system is growing well at 14 months.

I will bring it back to 450 and the readjust the reactor and see what if it keeps ca stable.

Ca was the only thing off except strontium which was high and I stoped dosing it and it came down from 26.
All other test were equal to the icp.

 

[mike.metzger6]

Sulfur-based denitrification will deplete alk a little as part of the process. If you’re dosing 2-parts in equal mount, you can try to offset a little (more alk) to compensate. If you’re using a CaRx, mix BRS Soda Ash on the side and manually dose weekly? That’s what I do and been working well - alk bounces between 8.5 to 9dKH.

So it’s possible that your Calcium seems “high” because alk is being depleted faster? I use Trident NP and Hanna to validate numbers.

My params are very stable (for now)…but I need to plan when my NP bottom out and will attempt a soft landing at 10ppm. It’s coming down 2ppm/day so I have ~4 days to figure it out! lol

I forgot to mention that my alk def did start to lower since adding the denitirifier. It took about a week before I saw the drop . I keep it very stable between 9-3 and 9.5. It dropped to 9.0 on my trident so I verified with Hannah checker which matched at 9.0. I use a kalk stirrer connected to Neptune dos to dose that. I bumped my doses up about 5% across the board and got ALK back to my 9.5 target. Added some more sulfur media this morning and put in a new Orp probe which I’m waiting for to settle in and hopefully get on the right path. I’m also aiming for 10 nitrate as a final result

 

[mike.metzger6]

Well definitely made some progress today. Pulled most of the calcium media “bones” out of the reactor and added a little more than a liter more of the sulfur media I asked about in the beginning of the post. Also installed a new Orp probe in the reactor. Ran at 250Ml per minute for 45 minutes to purge out any air etc and than set flow rate at 40ML per minute for a starting point. Went from positive 76 on Orp to a negative 202 currently within 10 hours of doing so. Now watch to see what the Orp number does and make adjustments from there and see if we can get this thing to do its job.

 

[backbayreef]

Well definitely made some progress today. Pulled most of the calcium media “bones” out of the reactor and added a little more than a liter more of the sulfur media I asked about in the beginning of the post. Also installed a new Orp probe in the reactor. Ran at 250Ml per minute for 45 minutes to purge out any air etc and than set flow rate at 40ML per minute for a starting point. Went from positive 76 on Orp to a negative 202 currently within 10 hours of doing so. Now watch to see what the Orp number does and make adjustments from there and see if we can get this thing to do its job.

Excellent news! Keep an eye on ORP and don’t let it hit above -300. You should be able to inc/dec flow to keep it in range. You should see your tank’s nitrate decrease in a week/two at 40mls/min.

Edit: sweet spot for me has been between -200 to -250mV.

 

[mike.metzger6]

Excellent news! Keep an eye on ORP and don’t let it hit above -300. You should be able to inc/dec flow to keep it in range. You should see your tank’s nitrate decrease in a week/two at 40mls/min.

Edit: sweet spot for me has been between -200 to -250mV.

That’s what I’ll aim for on the Orp and see how the nitrates look on effluent.

 

[backbayreef]

I was going to hit sub 10ppm so cranked up the flow to near zero mV. Nitrate is coming back up to 13. My goal is find equilibrium at stay at 20ppm — getting close to 10ppm is too dangerous since this thing works too well! lol

@mike.metzger6 how is yours coming along?

 

[mike.metzger6]

I was going to hit sub 10ppm so cranked up the flow to near zero mV. Nitrate is coming back up to 13. My goal is find equilibrium at stay at 20ppm — getting close to 10ppm is too dangerous since this thing works too well! lol

@mike.metzger6 how is yours coming along?

This thing is driving me crazy. Ran it at 40ML per minute thru that first night after adding more media. Orp got up to -272 so I left it alone. Then I checked yesterday and it was at -156. Slowed the speed to 30ML per minute and now it’s hovering at -210 to -215. Nitrates on the tank did drop from 33 to 31:5 today according to trident NP. see what readings I get tomorrow and also going to test the effluent and see where that’s at

 

[backbayreef]

This thing is driving me crazy. Ran it at 40ML per minute thru that first night after adding more media. Orp got up to -272 so I left it alone. Then I checked yesterday and it was at -156. Slowed the speed to 30ML per minute and now it’s hovering at -210 to -215. Nitrates on the tank did drop from 33 to 31:5 today according to trident NP. see what readings I get tomorrow and also going to test the effluent and see where that’s at

I honestly don’t think it’s the volume of sulfur, its flow rate.

Anyway, you’re on the right track. ORP will fluctuate - perfectly normal. I usually adjust twice a day (or as needdd), to get it to hover between -200 to -250mV. You won’t see a noticeable reduction until you hit the tail end of -250mV though. So I would change in increments of 2-3mls to get closer to -250.

Have patience — you are definitely there. Soon you will have my problem since it will work too well and too fast! lol

Btw: you don’t want to get close to zero, too dangerous with little room for error: 20-30ppm is perfect and you’re there already. I would just make sure things are stable going fwd

 

[mike.metzger6]

I honestly don’t think it’s the volume of sulfur, its flow rate.

Anyway, you’re on the right track. ORP will fluctuate - perfectly normal. I usually adjust twice a day (or as needdd), to get it to hover between -200 to -250mV. You won’t see a noticeable reduction until you hit the tail end of -250mV though. So I would change in increments of 2-3mls to get closer to -250.

Have patience — you are definitely there. Soon you will have my problem since it will work too well and too fast! lol

Btw: you don’t want to get close to zero, too dangerous with little room for error: 20-30ppm is perfect and you’re there already. I would just make sure things are stable going fwd

First of all thank you very much for the feedback and the tips. It’s greatly appreciated. I didn’t realize I was gonna have to change flow rate on the daily but I’m perfectly OK with that. Right now it’s -228 so I’m gonna let that ride for right now and test the effluent later on today. Then like you said try and find that sweet spot maybe between 225 and 250 if the nitrates are coming down and then if I get too low of a number just increase the flow like you suggested. My goal is 15 nitrate so that way it’s half of what I have now but still quite a ways from chancing bottoming it out. I feel like the rate of reduction is probably gonna be maybe 2 ppm per day? If that’s the case with try to and P testing daily bottoming out shouldn’t be an issue.

 

[backbayreef]

First of all thank you very much for the feedback and the tips. It’s greatly appreciated. I didn’t realize I was gonna have to change flow rate on the daily but I’m perfectly OK with that. Right now it’s -228 so I’m gonna let that ride for right now and test the effluent later on today. Then like you said try and find that sweet spot maybe between 225 and 250 if the nitrates are coming down and then if I get too low of a number just increase the flow like you suggested. My goal is 15 nitrate so that way it’s half of what I have now but still quite a ways from chancing bottoming it out. I feel like the rate of reduction is probably gonna be maybe 2 ppm per day? If that’s the case with try to and P testing daily bottoming out shouldn’t be an issue.

That’s why I have a webcam pointing to the ORP meter while at work. The Kamoer can be managed remotely so I can just adjust on the fly, usually by 2mls/min increments. Not scientific but it’s through trial & error for me. Each tank is different but yes, my 450gal was getting reduced by 2ppm a day (see chart).

Have faith - this will work! Once dialed in, it’s good for at least 12-18 months. Have done this many years ago but without an ORP probe and peristaltic pump — I think it’s much easier now. Oh, the Trident NP saved a lot of time as well.

 

[mike.metzger6]

That’s why I have a webcam pointing to the ORP meter while at work. The Kamoer can be managed remotely so I can just adjust on the fly, usually by 2mls/min increments. Not scientific but it’s through trial & error for me. Each tank is different but yes, my 450gal was getting reduced by 2ppm a day (see chart).

Have faith - this will work! Once dialed in, it’s good for at least 12-18 months. Have done this many years ago but without an ORP probe and peristaltic pump — I think it’s much easier now. Oh, the Trident NP saved a lot of time as well.

Yeah I have a full apex setup as well as hydros. I have the Orp for reactor on my hydros app and also the hydros soul pump so I can view both remotely and make changes on the fly as well

 

[backbayreef]

I still need to get the Apex to work - lol. That’s so stupid of them though… ugh

 

[backbayreef]

Yeah I have a full apex setup as well as hydros. I have the Orp for reactor on my hydros app and also the hydros soul pump so I can view both remotely and make changes on the fly as well

Very cool setup — btw, you should start a build thread so we can see your whole setup?

 

[backbayreef]

You should really plan for your exit plan to slow down denitrifying process - remove half the media or increase flow? For me, I’m running at a steady stream, -50mV. I’m trying to soft land my nitrate at 20ppm :)

 

[mike.metzger6]

You should really plan for your exit plan to slow down denitrifying process - remove half the media or increase flow? For me, I’m running at a steady stream, -50mV. I’m trying to soft land my nitrate at 20ppm :)

Yeah once I see nitrate moving downward on a daily basis I will figure out how much it’s dropping roughly each day and then adjust my flow towards the end when near my target according. Like I mentioned I’d like a steady 15 nitrates on the tank. I have quite a few fish and want to add some more so I like the fact that I can dial up or down and hopefully keep it right where I want it.

Very cool setup — btw, you should start a build thread so we can see your whole setup?

Here’s a video of my tanks for reference. 210 and 120 plumbed into 300 gallon sump and a standalone 33 gallon Red Sea nano max XL I set up about a month ago that’s going to be a seahorse tank.

 

[backbayreef]

I thought I saw this setup in YT somewhere or that’s another influencer? :)

Speaking of YT, can’t see the videos though — can you upload to YT and share a link instead?

 

[mike.metzger6]

I thought I saw this setup in YT somewhere or that’s another influencer? :)

Speaking of YT, can’t see the videos though — can you upload to YT and share a link instead?

The influencer wasn’t me but I also do tank breakdowns and a lot of people who have come to buy stuff from me tell me I should start a channel so maybe it’s time lol

Didn’t realize videos wouldn’t load in here but just uploaded to YouTube. Here’s two links.