But the bacteria wouldn't die all at once,but slowly as nitrates come down.As they die,they in turn will feed other bacteria,all would balance out.Wouldn't this be the same as the other bacteria in our tanks?.There is always some amonia (fish pee,food breakdown)Nitrites,and eventualy nitrates.I would think the reactor would always have a population,but less pop at 5ppm No3 as 100ppm.
I could be wrong,but it makes sense to me.

In a sparsely stocked and fed system I would agree... but my fish are FAT... haha. It works great so far...:mrgreen:

Reeferaddict, what kind of flowrate ("effluent" output) do you have running through the unit?

The flow through the media, is it "downflow" or is it "upflow"?

Does anyone know, what's the risk of H2S gas being released from a sulfur reactor?

Correct me if I'm wrong here people. If you have a Cal Reactor then you can add half the sulfur and half the arm media or what ever you use for the reactor that you have right.

There is this risk. BUT Apparently it only happens if the main circulation pump stops circulating and goes un-noticed.

I am seriously considering going this route on my tank as well. I'm going to go with a different reactor though.. These guys have a good reputation:

www.midwestaquatic.com

(lots of good info on the site, especially in the product .pdf's / site forums)

You could convert the reactor yes, but not use it as both. They are similar, but the denitrator does not need C02 injection.

Would you be able to turn a Phosban Reactor into one?

I don't see why not, might work well on a small system. (less than 100g)

It would probably be better to run 2 phosban reactors in series. One with sulphur & one with the calcium carbonate.

You would have to recirculate from the inlet to the outlet using a low flow pump. Then tee into both lines and run a slip stream from your tank through the Tee'd in lines.

Hi Mike, that's actually my plan (to convert one of my unused Ca reactors into a sulfur reactor). The Korallin units actually have the same model #'s as their calcium reactors which tells me it's the same units, just plumbed a little different because there's no CO2.

Psyire - I was looking at those Midwest units -- they look good too. Premiumaquatics has them in case you (or anyone else) is looking for a vendor. They carry both the Korallin and those (unless I have my brandnames mixed up -- they have another one besides the Korallin at any rate).

So H2S is only a concern in the event of a power failure or pump stop? Hmmmmmmmm ... I need to do more reading. The problem is ... well .. H2S is some seriously nasty stuff. Reducing the nitrates isn't worth dying for!