DIY Nitrate reductor

Nemos Janitor

Nemos Janitor

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I was browsing some of the DIY threads the other day and saw this one.

DIY denitrifier? - Anything DIY Related

Now i have a tank that uses an old canister filter as a anaerobic filter. This contraption was put together in Malaysia and found it's way here. It works very well so if one has and old canister filter kicking around you might consider.


This is what the contraption looks like.

Canon12_5_09176.jpg



All you need is a working canister filter filled with ceramic rings/bio balls or sintered glass. Two 25mm PVC T joints. Two 25mm PVC elbows. An old undergravel filter stem. A bit of air tubing and an air adjuster valve.

How it works is that the canister circulates the water through the two T pieces. So the suction pulls the water pumped out of the canister.
Water is dripped into the clear drip counter at a rate of 1 drip per second. When the water drips into the circulating water flow it overfills the device and it drips back into the tank.

Feel free to ask questions.
 
Ok easier to just explain again.
you will need.

a) old canister with filter media. No filter floss, mats etc just bio ball or sintered glass.
b) 2 x 25mm PVC T pieces
c) 2 x 25mm PVC 90deg elbows
d) 2 25mm hose tails
e) 100mm 25mm clear PVC pipe
f) 1 25mm PVC end stop.
g) 1 air adjuster.
H) length air pipe
i) small piece 25mm PVC pipe.

Cost of fittings etc about R50.00

1) Glue the two T pieces together using a bit of PVC pipe and make an H.

2) Glue the two hose tails into the bottom of the H these you will use to connect the piping from the canister to.

3) On the inlet side of the H glue in about 50 to 100mm of clear PVC. This is so that you can see the drip rate going into the nitrate filter.

4) Drill a small hole in the end stop and glue a small piece of pipe so that you can fit a piece of air tubing onto to feed the filter with water to be processed.

5) Glue the two elbows together as you see in the top PIC. arrange these to suit your application. they are the drip return. The only stipulation is that it cannot be higher than the height of the clear PVC inlet. You can see the water level in the top PIC.

6) Fill the canister with tank water and a bit of vodka if you want. But make sure that the pipes are full of water. Then switch on the canister and the water will circulate within itself. So the water being pumped out is going through the H and back into the in of the canister.

7) I normally tap into the sump return pump for a water feed to the drip counter but you can use a separate pump if you like. I control the drip feed with the green air adjuster.

8) Set the drip counter to about one drip per every 2 seconds to start with.

9) at this point every drop that enters the reactor a will drip out the return.

10) Let it run for a few days and measure the nitrate coming out of the reactor. Then slowly increase the drip rate until you get the desired nitrate level you want.

11) You can feed the nitrate filter with Vodka or a carbon source to improve efficiency.

Enjoy
 
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i took ten metres of six mm tube and curled it up behind my first nano. i put a tiny powerhead in tank to push water through pipe slowly and a hose clampon the other end to regulate drip rate. the oxygen depleted as water moved slowly along tube and after about three and a half metres water in tube becomes anaerobic. by the time water comes out the other side of tube it has zero nitrates. pretty simple. a small powerhead. 10 m of plastic tubing and a hose clamp called it denitrification coil
 
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mandarinman said:
i took ten metres of six mm tube and curled it up behind my first nano. i put a tiny powerhead in tank to push water through pipe slowly and a hose clampon the other end to regulate drip rate. the oxygen depleted as water moved slowly along tube and after about three and a half metres water in tube becomes anaerobic. by the time water comes out the other side of tube it has zero nitrates. pretty simple. a small powerhead. 10 m of plastic tubing and a hose clamp called it denitrification coil
Click to expand...

Cool
 
great thread NJ, you all will be amazed on how effiecient this filter can be
 
butcherman said:
So, no need for an ORP controller? I think i am going to have to build me one of these!
Click to expand...

nope, when the nitrates from the effluent are 0 then its working 100%

if there are nitrates then adjust the flow

its that simple
 
yip, slow it down so we get more anorobic growth
 
All good,but be carefull for a too slow flow,because if you get the rotten egg smell,then you cause more harm to your system than good.
 
Yup then you are creating problems with ph. it is better to have return pre skimmer so that sulphur can get aerated out. but if you get sulphur smell up flow ever so slightly.
 
Nemos Janitor said:
16324f6c63c43787f.jpg

Ok please excuse it is a quick drawing. Will do a better one later. Please ask questions if it does not make sense.
Click to expand...

Hi @Nemos Janitor, trying to think-up a skinny DIY one that I can fit into the back of my Boyu, but struggling to understand the flow principle.

In the H piece (the two T pieces), how do you get the flow to go from right to left?

The inlet pipe will be at a higher pressure than the outlet pipe, so would the water not simply bypass the canister and take the shortest route across the pressure differential and flow from left to right over the H piece?
 
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