Sulphur denitrator

[X-37B]

Any media reactor with a peristaltic pump will work.
I ran a deltec and it kept no3 at <5 easily.
Simple to run. Takes about 60 days before its fully operational.
I removed it and no3 sits at 20. I see no difference running <5 vs 20.
Also used to keep po4 at <.1.
Now only adjust with gfo when it hits .2.

 

[JGT]

What media did you use in it? Im going off this diagram but some of the things I can't find. The only bio rings I can find are ceramic. Im assuming that will be fine but the pic only mentions ceramic on the bottom.

Don’t have to follow this exactly. Any porous media will work. I used a combo of some small live rock pieces and ceramic media balls I bought on Amazon. You want bigger media so it doesn’t clog.

 

[JGT]

This is what I used.

 

[X-37B]

What media did you use in it? Im going off this diagram but some of the things I can't find. The only bio rings I can find are ceramic. Im assuming that will be fine but the pic only mentions ceramic on the bottom.

I used these in my ozone reactor.
K1 bio media are hdpe. They make several sizes. These are 11×9mm.

 

[HOLYREEFER]

I run one on my tank always have since 2001 when we use to chase “0”

I just took it offline so my nitrates can go up I’m fishing Phophsate levels at the time but I love mine it keeps my nitrates at 5 when it’s on

 

[backbayreef]

20ppm is good. I would stop chasing number trying to land at 10ppm.

I’ve done sulfur denitrator, refugium, and carbon dosing across my 450gal, 150gal, and 90gal tanks. As a matter of fact, I had sulfur denitrator running on all 3 tanks at one time. The 90gal went from 132ppm+ to now under 30ppm. I’ve since shut them all down and went with carbon dosing, less dangerous than sulfur and more controllable.

Instead of doing vinegar, try vodka at 1/6 the volume?

 

[56longroof]

20ppm is good. I would stop chasing number trying to land at 10ppm.

I’ve done sulfur denitrator, refugium, and carbon dosing across my 450gal, 150gal, and 90gal tanks. As a matter of fact, I had sulfur denitrator running on all 3 tanks at one time. The 90gal went from 132ppm+ to now under 30ppm. I’ve since shut them all down and went with carbon dosing, less dangerous than sulfur and more controllable.

Instead of doing vinegar, try vodka at 1/6 the volume?

Im ok with 20 without carbon dosing. The tank is slightly overstocked and I feed heavy. Im wanting to simplify things and reduce the amount of stuff to buy or dose. Without a carbon source the nitrate would be 50 or more.

 

[backbayreef]

Im ok with 20 without carbon dosing. The tank is slightly overstocked and I feed heavy. Im wanting to simplify things and reduce the amount of stuff to buy or dose. Without a carbon source the nitrate would be 50 or more.

Understood. So you got some choices to control NO3:
1. Sulfur Denitrator
2. Refugium
3. More nitrification: rocks, sand, bio-bricks
4. Biopellets
5. Carbon dosing
6. Fleece rollers
7. Water changes!
8. Many more …

Some reefers do a combination of those methods. For my 450gal with 30 big fish, I’m just doing carbon dosing (and recently fleece roller) to keep nitrate under 20ppm.

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

You can use the "search" feature here on R2R and track my journey with an expensive Korallin Bio-Denitrator and see why I could never find success getting it dialed in. (In fact I still have another one new in the box which I never attempted on my second 150-gallon tank.) Possibly you will have better success where I failed-- but it could make an interesting read, along with other searches here. Best wishes.

I remember your journey and you cannot say that you didn't try, I also bought some other Korallin bits to convert my Calicum reactor and like most things they are still in the box.

 

[56longroof]

I switched to a Donovan Nitrate Destroyer and it keeps my nitrates around 10 ppm without the slime issues. I use ceramic rings on the bottom and bio balls above. A small pump is enough to move water through the system. Affordable Aquaria ships the unit and media reliably.

This is exactly what Im looking for. Im tired of all the slime.

 

[56longroof]

I switched to a Donovan Nitrate Destroyer and it keeps my nitrates around 10 ppm without the slime issues. I use ceramic rings on the bottom and bio balls above. A small pump is enough to move water through the system. Affordable Aquaria ships the unit and media reliably.

Do you have a link for Affordable Aquaria? I couldn't find anything on their site.

 

[Blue Ring Octopus]

Any media reactor with a peristaltic pump will work.
I ran a deltec and it kept no3 at <5 easily.
Simple to run. Takes about 60 days before its fully operational.
I removed it and no3 sits at 20. I see no difference running <5 vs 20.
Also used to keep po4 at <.1.
Now only adjust with gfo when it hits .2.

I have that reactor as well the alcohol based nitrate reactor, which pump are you using on the Deltec, I have the Aqua Bee pump and lots of trouble with it.

 

[X-37B]

I have that reactor as well the alcohol based nitrate reactor, which pump are you using on the Deltec, I have the Aqua Bee pump and lots of trouble with it.

I only pull through the reactor with the Kamoer.

 

[JGT]

This is exactly what Im looking for. Im tired of all the slime.

That’s the beauty of the DND. You will get slime but it will be contained within the DND. Nothing makes it way to the tank.

 

[56longroof]

That’s the beauty of the DND. You will get slime but it will be contained within the DND. Nothing makes it way to the tank.

How much carbon do you dose into it?

 

[JGT]

How much carbon do you dose into it?

Started at 5 ml/day. Tracked NO3 and slowly increased until I saw an appreciable drop. Currently at 25 ml/day and yesterday’s NO3 was 13.6 so going to hold at this point and see if there is any more drop or not. Playing around with the flow will also have an effect on NO3. Lower flow or more carbon will result in lower NO3. Gotta play around a bit until you find the sweet spot. Want the flow to be a steady slow stream so the slime doesn’t clog the output.
I also started out by seeding the DND with a bucket of saltwater. Dropped my pump in the bucket and pumped it into the DND and then back to the bucket. Seeded 5ml of MB 7/day for 3 days then started adding the 5ml of carbon for the next 2 days. Stopped MB 7 after day 5 and then started to up my carbon.

 

[Leko]

i'm using a SD + partial vinegar dosing to control nitrates in my 125g fowl .
( I have some gsp but it's really a fowl)

My topoff water - 1tsp/g kalk and 50ml vinegar/g. Full carbon dosing rate is 75ml/g (fresh ro water + vinegar )but I use less - 50ml. Partial vcd. This mixture keeps my dk at 8.5. The tank evaporates 1 gallon a day so the tank gets 50ml of vinegar + 1 tsp/g kalk saturation solution per day.

I had to do significant tinkering with the makeup solution to keep the dk from rollercoastering.

Just one guys input , maybe you can add this to the rest of the input.

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Stock 6" PBlue tang, 4" majestic, 2 clowns, 5"White Cheek tang , 4" regal , 6" fox face 2" coral beauty( 4" PBrown tang killed by white cheek).

 

[SeaDweller]

It’s fantastic. I used one on my old set up and I overfed my fish constantly (13-14 large tangs and multiple anthias) in a 240, and I could control NO3 from 0 to 1,2,5… any number. At the time, the sulfur beads became difficult to find. Not many people were using them anymore when I started to a few years ago, and it was popular back in the day. Look it up.