DIY Nitrate Reactor!!!

Just found this diy idea on a nitrate reactor i no im starting out but thought it might come in handy
so if any one has any thoughts on it would like to here back.http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...n%26safe%3Doff
RICK

A marine tanks nitrate reduction-oxidation is carried out at a rate of roughly one third of the total nitrate produced by the average amount of live rock present in the systems waters, in the display tank and sump combined.

The rest,a nitrate reactor will oxidise half of that, then whats left over needs to be accounted for or most hobbyists try to reduce that by water changes.

To have your water completely free of nitrate is very easy with out any reactors or dependence on live rock or deep sand beds for much of the oxidation at all really.

You can design a sump quite simply to oxidise all your nitrates and the live rock in the display tank becomes back up with the nitrite cycles oxidation in total.

Virtually no system is promoted that way any more, its all become buy or build it so that you have to buy something.

I will try anything - As I am getting very frustrated with the constant high readings....


even though my current 'dangerous ' levels of nitrate seem to have absolutely no effect on any of my marine life what so ever - I am sure over time it will cause problems......so.....Today I plan on building the simple but reportedly effective nitrate reactor.....it is cheap to build , in fact I should already have most bits and pieces - and it will allegedly reduce the 'deadly' nitrates to <15ppm over time - which for my tank set up would be great.......simple fact is I have nothing to loose....

I was up all night reading all the different articles on this very topic,

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=387870

I think I understand the cycle now and oxidation requirements in my particular set up..and have spent many hours modifying and trying different configurations in my sump - with varying degrees of success....so here we go

.

zhyr wrote:I think you might need several jars of media and quite a large reactor for it

It would actually be more to balance the load - you see with the variety of life forms in each collective tank and the varied diets given, - the nitrate fluctuates slightly..... some days its 20ppm then up to 160+ -over the space of a week - off the scale!!!!!


So my intention is to introduce a greater area for oxidation which is between my current nitrite to nitrate area and presumably balance it out in times of greater load requirements .....overall giving a larger and dedicated low oxygenated area full of anaerobic bacteria.....

Well that's the plan....will it work........do I even know what the hell I'm talking about.........


now I need to make it....

.

I actually made one for my Pico tank and it did work ... for a couple of months at least. It lost it's effectiveness when it got clogged up, like what LiquidG keeps emphasising, prefilter, prefilter, prefilter.

I had one made for my Nano as well, but didn't get to use it as my LFS ran out of Denitrator, plus I was too busy planning the current 4 footer.

I have made a couple reactors out of large stormwater pipe with extreme slow flow, one with bio balls and the next with chunks of coral and both worked to some degree, but they just don’t have the simple surface area to cope with it all easily and obtain raised cal levels from the process of oxidation.

And as denrobate typed and I will build on that, no external bio filtration lasts at its best oxidising levels if there is not adequate pre filtering as your water leaves the tank and once again by settling pre filters just before its to be processed by your external bio communities.

All of this is so easy to make your self,its just about time and understanding the processes.

Power head run skimmers can not be relied on to do any affective pre filtering!

.

Just had a look at that link and now I know where some of the rubbish comes from directed at the poor hobbyists.

It all reads great until!!

This bit is having a go at external bio filters.

Such filters do a fine job of processing ammonia to nitrite to nitrate, but do nothing with the nitrate. It is often non-intuitive to many aquarists, but removing such a filter altogether may actually help reduce nitrate. So slowly removing them and allowing more of the nitrogen processing to take place on and in the live rock and sand can be beneficial.

The science terms are lovely and concise, but some of it,what the!! no way would I go down that road again, I already did that more then 20 years ago, never again!!

The most important thing for longevity with reef tanks is pre filtering, even the live rocks porus aspect is compromised over time if the water is not pre filtered, a skimmer can’t do it,wave makers only make it last slightly longer unless you get a one meter swell in your tank!!

Then you get this idiotic term, nitrate factory, that’s because the porus surface area in and out of the coral,etc is not kept clean!!!

Waiting time of months to a year,boring low life levels in the tank, over crowding issues at every turn and heaps of extra money as this style starts to falter over time, unless you keep very small amounts of life in there that is.

Good luck mate with following this stuff, the tech info is great, but the rest means my algae isnt doing what it is doing and my bio filter can’t have the 0 nitrate that it has??

.

Ture,but if you look around,all take the “may” as this is the way to do it.

Oh well the money making cycle continues and the tank crashes and nitrate poisoning continue or they have just "some" life in the tank.

The problem is most hobbyists put in to much life eventually and then over feed and their tank has no protection from their own mistakes.

You will most likely see what i mean soon enough.
Not to worry,see yah.

.

The way this article promotes, I don’t think you realise that ,myself and others i knew used to do all that in the eighties.

So no it isn’t that at all, that’s just and example of what these types of things go against and you are nearly ready to experience all this for your self with your first marine tank.

As with others you are in for some fun

Holy crap

I just finished typing a full page of info on my set up and the concerns raise about pre filters and feeding and its just disappeared............. I couldn't be stuffed writing all that again .....

Damn it. !

.

Top people on average at reef central,very little politics,i go there regularly to see whats going on of late.

I put a question on LEDs yesterday,they are normally some where quicker on tech then any forums here in uz.

They like the diving we do here in particular.