Coiled Denitrator DIY

Discussion in 'I made this!' started by Birdlady, Aug 18, 2004.

to remove this notice and enjoy 3reef content with less ads. 3reef membership is free.

  1. JohnO

    JohnO Moderator

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2003
    Messages:
    1,662
    Location:
    Melbourne, VIC,Victoria
    [quote author=cannon2222 link=board=DIY;num=1092886808;start=105#109 date=11/28/04 at 21:58:58]I just saw this. Anyway, I've heard of people jump starting their  CD with vodka? I would like to hear what y'all have to say about this. phil
    [/quote]

    WHAT??? What brand?

    John :)
     
  2. Click Here!

  3. cannon2222

    cannon2222 Spaghetti Worm

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2004
    Messages:
    183
    Location:
    Waco, TX,Texas
    Hey John, it's Tito's. A vodka made here in Texas. But any vodka would do I guess. [smiley=beer.gif]


    phil
     
  4. reiple

    reiple Fire Shrimp

    Joined:
    Nov 4, 2003
    Messages:
    324
    Location:
    Quezon City,
    Most claims are anecdotal and random. The most you'd harm is your tank. I've tested vodka (basically the idea is loading your tank with food for a bacteria which will rapidly consume nitrates and hopefully phosphates) and while the test was not scientific I'd come to believe it might have effects but the effects are not worth it.

    Water polishing was the most notable result(wow! the water was so clear!). You could do the same safely with activated carbon though. I think it was a german who promoted vodka nitrate reactors.

    DIY CD do work but the balancing act might prove to be troublesome for many. I dunno but a well made, matured and maintained DSB still provides the easiest method, though not as elegant. Mature your DSB properly in 6 months to a year and it works well lowering nitrates. Works in combo with a regular water change (in my case 2-3x a month, 5-10%). Nitrate - 10-20 ppm. But then I do have a terrible bioload. ;)
     
  5. beanoil

    beanoil Plankton

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2005
    Messages:
    3
    Location:
    ,
    3"PVC, 3"cap from Genova, air tool coil, 3"x1.5" reducer, barb fittings, some bio media. Water goes through the coil, top to bottom, into the PVC filled with media. Water exits the top to an oxygenated area, like the overflow. The bacteria are not picky. Give them something to hold on to, a dark wet area, and you are good to go. I have read that one of the bacteria is pseudomonus. It grows well in your lungs, (dark, wet) it will do fine here too. There is a write up on an EPA website that gives info on batch denitrification to reduce nitrates in well water for public supplies, but the bacteria are fed a constant source of ethanol. Look here: http://www.epa.gov/ORD/SITE/reports/540mr01501.htm
    And another site with info on the nitrogen cycle, and it's unique characteristics: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-06/dw/
    The coil denitrator is proven, EZ to set up, and practically maintenance free. Here is a shot of mine:
     

    Attached Files:

  6. dx7fd2

    dx7fd2 Sea Dragon

    Joined:
    May 22, 2004
    Messages:
    544
    Location:
    San Diego, CA,California
    Great design beanoil!! Looks like that has a good diameter in the coil which is a problem for the 1/4" tubing.

    Drew
     
  7. Guest

    Guest Guest

    How does the size/length of coil affect the denitrator? Obviously the longer your tubing the larger the pump required to power it. But if you went from 100 to 200 feet of tubing, would you be able to move the water through it at a correspondingly higher rate?

    Is the diameter of the tubing limited to a smaller size because of surface contact? In other words, if you used larger tubing, would too much of the water move through without interacting with the bacteria?

    Just trying to understand design considerations. Thanks for all the great info so far.
     
  8. Click Here!

  9. dx7fd2

    dx7fd2 Sea Dragon

    Joined:
    May 22, 2004
    Messages:
    544
    Location:
    San Diego, CA,California
    Ben

    The lower the amount of oxygen in the water going into the area where the bacteria reside, the better for that particular bacteria, therefore the longer the tube the smaller the amount of  oxygen in the water, the better for the bacteria. And yes, if the water is moving too quickly the bacteria will not have a chance to do ther job and will also be taken with the water out into the water column of the tank where they cannot survive. ;)

    The nitrate reducing bacteria require as close to zero oxygen as you can get it, no light, and a very slow moving current so that they can feed on the nitrate. The gas that is a result of this is then removed in the water where it is released as bubbles that are pretty much harmless because they will not dissolve in the water and are released in a small amounts. If released in a large amount it can kill the tank. This is what happens sometimes to DSBs, they develop pockets of this gas that iare released all at once and basically crashes the tank!! :p

    100ft is a good length to shoot for, you can also connect two or more of the devices together if there is a space problem and you need to make two coils.

    Most of the nitrate removal is performed after the coil in the chamber with the bio-ball material or whatever you choose to use as media for the bacteria to adhere to.

    Drew
     
  10. Kentanner11

    Kentanner11 Coral Banded Shrimp

    Joined:
    Apr 18, 2007
    Messages:
    364
    Location:
    Tucson AZ
    Heres a q. would a fluval 1 work for a pump it has somewhat mech. filtering. Would it be too powerfull? GREAT Ideas!
     
  11. Slayer311

    Slayer311 Plankton

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2008
    Messages:
    5
    Mine works!!

    First off, I would like to thank Birdlady for the initial post and the great pictures of progress on your project.

    Following Birdlady's general plans I went to homedepot and purchased everything I needed minus the pump which is a RIO 800 purchased from my LFS and about 60 bio balls, both can be found for very cheap online. Listed below is parts list purchased from Home depot. Sorry no pics built it too fast in all my excitment :)

    3foot section of 4inch drain pvc pipe
    2 4in drain pipe caps
    2 3/8in male thread to 1/4 inch push in air hose derlin connectors
    2 3/8in female thread to 1/4 inch air hose brass screw on connectors
    60feet of 1/4in air hose
    10feet of 1/4in air hose
    4x 3/8in rubber gaskets
    2x 3/8in washers
    1x 1/4in to 1/4in push in air hose T adjustable valve
    1x Super glue PEN
    pvc primer
    and finally pvc cement

    I used the derlin connectors on the inside of the chamber and brass on the outside so there will be no metal parts sitting in salt water. The 3/8in thread of the derlin connectors gets threaded through the cap via a hole drilled 3/8in which allows you to thread the connector through and the brass connector threaded onto that forming the bulkhead connection with the rubber gaskets on both sides of the bulkhead and the washer on the outside side of the chamber to keep things nice and water tight. The rest is built in the same manner as Birdlady's construction. Very easy to make and proved to me leak free my first time around.

    Few tips:

    1. When making the coils i first wrapped the coils around the OUTSIDE of my chamber to be, taped on each end, once all coils were completely wrapped I submerged the chamber in my kitchen sink filled with HOT water. After about 5min being submerged you can take it out and once you remove the coils they will now form coils about the same size diameter of the main chamber. (easier to fit into inner chamber this way)

    2. When starting the coils I found using a 3inch super glue pen worked AWESOME, i started on one end and was able to put a dot of super glue every 1/3 turn of each coil to keep them nice and tight, and as stated previously super glue is innert once dried so no harm to the fishies. I was also very pleased with the 4in drain tube as I have a rather fat forarm from the numerous sports i play and I could still just barely fit my arm into the chamber to apply glue with the super glue pen. And with the super glue pen, it isn't free flowing thus making little to no mess, you have to apply it just as if you were writing something.

    4. I setup the rio pump with the thin rectangular outflow nosel and the 1/4 air hose nipple ran inline with it and 5ft of 1/4 in hose tapped off that nipple leading to the intake of the denitrator. I believe the nipple is intended to add air to the outflow in the tank, but if setup right it actually pumps PLENTY of water for a 160 DPM rate even at 1/4 turn on my adjustable valve

    3. After about 7hours of allowing the pvc cement to cure I started to run water through it to leak check it, and found zero leaks!! however I did notice that a lot of pvc cement fumes were still trapped in the chamber. So rather than being hasty and running this on the tank straight away, I submerged my pump in a 5gallon bucket and let the pump run through 3 full 5 gallon buckets of tap water into the tube to clear its throat sort of speak. The 4th 5gallon bucket I mixed a fresh batch of saltwater dechlorinated and added a double dose of Cycle(benefitial bacteria for new tanks) to the mix and ran the full 5gallons through the chamber(takes a couple hours per 5 gallons) The water coming out was now fume free and ready to add to the tank and prefilled so i don't have to steal 2 gallons from the main tank.

    4. Double dose of cycle, not sure if this is the cause, but after only 3days my nitrate count coming from the chamber went from 30ppm to zero ppm!!!! Simply Amazing. I started out the cycle at 80drips per minute and bumped it up to about 160dpm after a reading of zero ppm nitrates. It may be too soon but I hope not, will keep everyone posted.

    Any questions plz feel free to ask :)
     
  12. Slayer311

    Slayer311 Plankton

    Joined:
    Apr 26, 2008
    Messages:
    5
    Update

    Well, not such a great idea to raise flow level after only 3 days, nitrates coming out of denitrator re-elevated to tank level. As soon as i noticed this i slowed rate back down this morning and this evening it is once again producing zero nitrates at 80DPM. I think i'm going to wait about a month before raising flow rate again, but all still looks promising!! :)