DIY Nitrate reductor

mandarinman · 27 Mar 2012

len 15 m of coiled up 6mm tube with a boyu pump wrapped in filter wool will work very well and easily fit into back of tank. in fact i am going to make one and put it in my tank

Nemos Janitor · 27 Mar 2012

Len said:
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?

the canister has a IN (suction) and an OUT (pressure from the pump). As the canister pumps the water OUT the IN sucks the water back into the canister so the water circulates in the canister.

The drip in is on the suction side of the H so it gets sucked into the canister.

Nemos Janitor · 27 Mar 2012

A better PIC of the H setup.

RFSwanepoel · 27 Mar 2012

mandarinman said:
len 15 m of coiled up 6mm tube with a boyu pump wrapped in filter wool will work very well and easily fit into back of tank. in fact i am going to make one and put it in my tank

Please let us know if this works?

mandarinman · 27 Mar 2012

RFSwanepoel said:
Please let us know if this works?

it does work. as the filtered water travels slowly along the tube oxygen is reduced and eliminated creating an anaerobic zone of tube within which nitrates are broken down and consumed by anaerobic bacteria. flow is regulated by a little plastic valve on exit side of tube. the only thing is placement. i will start a separate thread later this week when i put one together again.

Nemos Janitor · 27 Mar 2012

mandarinman said:
it does work. as the filtered water travels slowly along the tube oxygen is reduced and eliminated creating an anaerobic zone of tube within which nitrates are broken down and consumed by anaerobic bacteria. flow is regulated by a little plastic valve on exit side of tube. the only thing is placement. i will start a separate thread later this week when i put one together again.

Yup it does work. But just be aware that it is like comparing a tea spoon and a bucket when it comes to bailing a waterlogged boat.

RFSwanepoel · 27 Mar 2012

mandarinman said:
it does work. as the filtered water travels slowly along the tube oxygen is reduced and eliminated creating an anaerobic zone of tube within which nitrates are broken down and consumed by anaerobic bacteria. flow is regulated by a little plastic valve on exit side of tube. the only thing is placement. i will start a separate thread later this week when i put one together again.

Please Tag me in that.
Also how often would I have to clean this pipe? Can it go in the bottom of the DT underneath everything else?

Nemos Janitor · 27 Mar 2012

Here are a few old threads.

DIY Coil Denitrater with Carbon Filtering - Marine Aquariums of South Africa

diy coil Denitrator - Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Coil Denitrator - Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Coil Denitrifier - Marine Aquariums of South Africa

Denitrator Coil - Marine Aquariums of South Africa

mandarinman · 27 Mar 2012

thanks nemos janitor i have read some of our old threads and decided to shelve denitrator! i have reminded myself why i gave them up in the first place! getting it set perfectly is a pain. Thanks!!!!!

RFSwanepoel · 27 Mar 2012

lol Date I say it but do you think this would work on a FW setup 2?

mandarinman · 27 Mar 2012

Nemos Janitor said:
Yup it does work. But just be aware that it is like comparing a tea spoon and a bucket when it comes to bailing a waterlogged boat.

that makes sense! only good for smaller tanks

ScottK · 27 Mar 2012

Is a denitrator setup recommended for all tanks? If I am running Zeovit or another bacteria dependant filtration method is this still required?

Nemos Janitor · 27 Mar 2012

SliverZA said:
Is a denitrator setup recommended for all tanks? If I am running Zeovit or another bacteria dependant filtration method is this still required?

I have not used the Zeovit system so i cannot comment but i would assume not.

it is either

Denitrator
DSB
bio pellets

And a denitrator will work on bathwater tanks.

RFSwanepoel · 27 Mar 2012

Nemos Janitor said:
And a denitrator will work on bathwater tanks.

Thanx

My Bathwater tank need it

2balive · 27 Mar 2012

Eureka

Nemos Janitor said:
the canister has a IN (suction) and an OUT (pressure from the pump). As the canister pumps the water OUT the IN sucks the water back into the canister so the water circulates in the canister.

The drip in is on the suction side of the H so it gets sucked into the canister.

Ah, so it is a canister "filter"? The pump is inside the canister and not on the beginning of the "water feed" line? That would make sense and work.

Would I improve the efficiency if I load the canister with a media like deNitrate?

butcherman · 28 Oct 2013

Been reading this through, very interesting.

where would one dose the vodka?
what size feed pump would one use for the canister filter?
how often dose one need to dose vodka?

Nemos Janitor · 28 Oct 2013

The green Ehime pipe is the sump return to the tank. The airline tube with the little green air adjuster adjust the drip rate into the filter. The faster/slower you set the drip rate in the same drip rate exits the filter. With this H contraption no flow through pump is needed.

Vodka can be dosed daily. The amount is trial and error. Have a look at these instructions. Same principle.

One can either syringe the vodka in or dose with a dosing pump.

http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/manual-operation-nfp-nitrate-reactor