Coiled Denitrator DIY

On the top lid where the tubing goes in and comes out. I wanted to use threaded fittings but my "better" half insisted I did not NEED threaded fittings.

Guess what....he now wants to use threaded fittings but everything is glued together so I gotta start over.......***sigh***

 

I had a feeling there might be some trouble with running the tubing through the top and using silicone  :-/.

One of the problems with silicone is that it soes not crosslink different kinds of plastic. I have been using WELDON 16 glue (available at plastic manufacturers) as my crosslinking glue and have had really good success. It does not work as well crosslinking polypropylene or polyethylene to acrylics or PVC. It took some research to come up with what it will do and what it won't.

I am a building a second CD for my Jack Dempsey tank and will post some pics of the top. It is similar to yours this time, Birdlady, in that I am using ABS (it looks like black PVC, if anybody uses it make sure it says NSF on it) for the body and the bottom cap and the top is the gasket fitting I used on the first CD and my skimmer. I found these nice little quick disconnects at USPlastics that I am going to use so that I can easily disconnect the pump (RIO 50) for easy pump maintenance. I will be using hard aquarium tubing, like the kind traditionally used for attaching airstones into the tubes of UGFs, as the tubing glued through the top. These can be glued to vinyl tubing.

 

Hey Drew!
Can you either post a pic of your "gasket" style lid or write me detailed directions? ;D ;D ;D

Pretty Please???? That way, if need be, I can make alterations without making a new coil this time!

You jinxed me when you said " It is never too late to modify Birdlady!!! !" Thanks !!!!

 

there is a screw top for 4" that can work too.

 

Crutkas,

The materials I used are as follows:

2 pieces 1/4" thick acrylic, PVC, or ABS sheet (the acrylic is clear but it is cheaper also) that are 1" larger than the outer diameter of the main body of the CD, either square or circular (if you use thinner use 2 pieces for the top and 2 for the bottom and glue them together. It has to be rigid enough to bolt a gasket in between and not bend. (I got these at a plastic manufacturer that does large orders but has scraps and was able to cut me 2 scraps 6 1/2" x 6 1/2" for $1).

1 piece 1/8" thick rubber gasket material (I found some of this at Home Depot for $5 that was 12" x 12", you might have to ask or dig around in all the plumbing departments to find it)

ISP Weldon 16 bonding glue (this stuff is easy to use and comes in very handy because you can glue various different plastics together that other glues will not bond properly) I have only been able to get this at a plastic manufacturer.

8 - 1 x 1/4" inch bolts, nuts, and 2 washers each. ( I got 1" galvanized bolts and used nylon nuts and washers. You can use 1" nylon bolts but I find that they strip easily).

Tools:

The hard way...a Hack Saw, coping saw, drill gun, a very dull 1/4" drill (or a plasdrill from USPlastics.com), sandpaper, various files are helpful if you have them, exacto knife or one-sided razor blade, sockets or wrenches for the bolts.  [smiley=builder2.gif]

The easy way...router and table, drill press, belt sander, band saw, Dremel, various circular files, exacto, sockets, hole punch or leather punch... [smiley=hehe.gif]

The first thing to do is to lay out 8 holes on the plastic for the gasket bolts. It is easiest to tape the 2 pieces of acrylic together and drill them at the same time, that way the bolt holes line up. Draw lines from corner to corner to determine the center point of the plastic. Then draw lines frome side to side and top to bottom this will give you 8 lines from the centerpoint, consider these the radii of a circle. Draw as large a circle as you can from the centerpoint and then draw a circle the size of the outer diameter of the CD body, also from the centerpoint. Then find the half way point of each radii between the outer circle and the inner circle. The half way point is the mark for where to drill the holes. Be as exact as you can but as long as you mark on the edge of each of the acrylic pieces which side is the gasket side and where the two pieces are to line up the holes will be just fine. If you are going to make the top circular keep the pieces taped together and cut them on the outer circle. You can sand, file, or belt sand these 2 pieces so that they are smooth. Make sure you make the line up marks before you seperate the plastic.

Using either piece mark the gasket material to shape and cut with scissors or exacto so that the gasket is bigger than the pieces, then mark the holes on the gasket and again make sure you mark where the gasket lines up with the acrylic. Make the holes in the gasket material as accurately as you can and make sure the bolts will fit through the holes. Sandwich the gasket in between the 2 pieces of acrylic and put in a couple of bolts to keep it together, then using a razor cut the gasket to the shape of the acrylic.

One of the pieces of acrylic will need to have a hole cut in the middle of it to allow access to what is inside the CD body. Using the inner circle marked on the plastic you will need to cut a hole either exactly or slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the CD body. I used a router but it can be done with a drill and a coping saw. You can cut this inner whole in the gasket also should you so desire. I actually cut holes in the gasket
slightly larger than the in/out connections which allows the gasket to act as a means of blocking light getting into the CD.

After you coil the tubing in the CD body you can glue the bottom part of the gasket flange to your CD body...then you can figure out how you want to plumb out the top and make appropriate decisions as to configuring your connections. Once you have made those decisions you can fill the unit with the Bio-material and at that point it is very easy to fill the unit with water from your tank and then attach the upper gasket flange ond gasket. I would use the old 1-5, 2-6, 3-7, 4-8 torqueing sequence, and go through the sequence a couple of times lightly, it is plastic after all!! 8)

Here is a pic of some of the parts of the top and the little inline filter I am using..I am putting sponge filter material in the filter just in case some particulate matter gets into the mix:

 

Here's the acrylic pieces:

I hope this will help you out!!

Drew

 

hello everyone..... i'mmmmmm backkkkkkkk. i ripped my bicep off of the bone and needed surgery. this a very cool discussion about a very cool device. i have had the same cd running for 9 years and as of checking my nitrates this morning they were 0. by now most of you have seen some of the pics of my 125 reef and it is quite full, coiled denitrators absolutly work, so keep making them guys. mine is clear but the tubing is black. the ones i am making for the shop i work at are pvc with clear tubing. i have gone to using a porus material instead of bio balls or hair curlers (seachem matrix is one, ehiem substrat pro is another) i think either one of those have more surface area than hair curlers. i cant make them fast enough for the shop, and with my arm the way it is, i may not be making them for a while(good thing i made some extra before the surgery) if any one has any questions please don't hesitate to ask. good to be back guys( well...... kinda back.

 

[quote author=da_colts link=board=DIY;num=1092886808;start=90#96 date=09/18/04 at 20:46:43] if any one has any questions please don't hesitate to ask. good to be back guys( well...... kinda back.[/quote]

I do have a question or 2 ;D

1-( What do you use for a pump? )

2- do you take the water from the main tank or from the sump for the input, or doesn't it make a difference? :-/

Thank You for your help.......................... John

PS Also sorry to here about your accident!!!!

 

Dude!!! Ouch!!!!! Feel Better!!! Da_Colts....how was your trip to PA??? ;D

I actually got to That Fish Place 2 weeks ago....it was a lot different than the last time!!!
Tons of Corals and stuff!!!

 

thanks guys for the well wishes. as far as a pump goes i only use the output of an already existing pump i.e. main wet dri, skimmer pump etc. the secret is to either use the little ball valve that comes with all larger rio pumps( the ball valve goes inline from the pump and you use the venturi nipple to feed the cd)or you can make 1 very easily, lowes sells 3/4 to 3/4 threaded black pvc connectors and petsmart and other pet shops sell the riged tubing that connect to the little white airstones in undergravel lift tubes. all you do is drill a small hole( a wee bit smaller than the riged tubing) in the 3/4 by 3/4 connector, then cut a small piece of the rigid tubing(about 3/4 of an inch) and stuff it into the hole you just drilled, don't go too far in as it will interfear with the water flow.look on the inside of the connector and stuff the rigid tubing flush with the top inside of the connector( you don't want to see any of the rigid tube sticking out on the inside of the connector. super glue the rigid tube to the connector and run the connector inline of your main pump or your skimmer pump( aspirating skimmers wont work as they take a lot of the pressure away from the pump, kent marine te, aqua medic turbo floater,any skimmer that has a airline that hooks up to the back of the skimmer pump.) if this is too much work and i know it seems like it is, marine depot sells the 3/4 to 3/4 connector with a bleed off nipple already attached, the only drawback is the thing costs 9 bucks while the connector at lowes costs 28 cents and the rigid tube at the pet shop is usually less than a dollar for a 3 foot piece. my cd is pulling water from my berlin skimmer pump from the nipple of a rio pump(the best part of a rio was the ball valve they give you)but all the new cd's i make have the connector from lowes used as i cannot buy rio pumps just to get the cool ball valve. it should not matter weather you use sump water or tank water as it is all the same water, if you check the water in your sump or your tank you will probably get the same nitrate reading unless you stirred up the sump before the reading. mine uses sump water, and all the customers i have sold mine to use sump water. i have been making them for about 3 months and the first guy that bought one brought his water in to be checked, his nitrates dropped from 80 ppm to 40 ppm in 3 months. these things do work, the only drawback is the waiting period to grow the bacteria. by the way birdlady my pa trip was wonderful, i bought tooooooo much stuff. the wife and i caught the noah show and had a really good time, we will be back.