Denitrification Media

[Ryan7]

Looking for input;

What kind of denitrification media are your using if any?

What are you running it in? (filter, reactor ect..) and what brand/type?

What kind of results have you seen? (negative/positive)

How much you use? how often replaced?

Anyone using Brighwells XPORT-NO3?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

[Myka]

I have a sulphur denitrator that works quite well with an ORP monitor on a fish only system. I wouldn't recommend it to novice reefers (or reef tanks) as it can crash a tank if used without an ORP monitor or if left unchecked. I wouldn't use it on a reef tank just because reefs seem to be easier to crash than FOWLR or FO tanks. It's the sort of thing you need to pay attention to...not set and forget. It is also quite a pricey piece of equipment, plus the ORP monitor isn't cheap either. Works like a hot dang though.

I haven't heard of any other denitrators being particularly effective. A good skimmer and good maintenance practices are the best long-term solution in my opinion - especially for reef tanks.

[Cal_stir]

I've been running a diy sulphur denitrator on my reef tank for 18 months, no problems. I clean the media, orp probe and reactor @ every 6 months, takes about an hour, I use an orp for control, and the recirc pump pressure for effluent flow, the controller uses a solenoid to increase the drip rate, the effluent passes through a TLF reactor filled with ARM calcium reactor media to raise the ph, my nitrates are less than 1 ppm in a heavily stocked well fed tank. I won't reef without it.

[pinkreef]

i use two little fishies biopellets (less expensive than other brands) in a rena filter cleaned out weekly.
i know it runs too fast but i have no algae or nitrate problems

[pinkreef]

i used the amount following the directions on the bag and i noticed a bacteria bloom for the first few days
ive gradually figured out how much less to use to have less of a bloom
thats the only downside i have encountered
it worked really fast to bring my nitrates down
barb

[naesco]

Have you considered dosing vinegar? Yes vinegar.

Apart from nitrate reduction, the use of vinegar improves the water quality of your tank in many other ways.
reduces nitrate
reduces phosphate
reduces cyanobacterial growth
reduces dissolved and suspended organics

The most recent article in Reefkeeping by Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley, an expert in water chemistry in our hobby for years.

http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index....arine-aquarium

Why waste your money on over priced chemicals that many times negatively effect an otherwise great tank when you can save the money and buy beautiful fish like tangs, and corals?

[FragIt Dan]

I use Brightwell Aquatics XPort products (all three) in 3 separate systems with decent results. Prior to these, I dosed Ethanol (aka Vodka). I switched off Ethanol for two reasons: I was periodically having cyanobacteria issues, but mostly because I travel frequently and so couldn't maintain strict daily dosing (I have since purchased dosers). IMO, the only real advantage to the XPort products over Vinegar is lack of daily dosing. I also found the XPort NO3 and BIO both crumble rather easily and you end up with a substantial loss of product. Now that I have dosers, I think I will switch back to Carbon dosing (this time it will be Vinegar as it is reported to be less susceptible to cyano blooms) as it is much more cost effective than the BA products. I do actually like the XPort PO4 product, but it is essentially GFO but in crouton form and, according to the manufacturer, has greater phosphate uptake capacity. Personally, I would just Vodka dose.
Dan

[pinkreef]

so 15ml per 100gal per week then increas to 30ml and 45ml in the next two weeks? have i got this right?
should i remove the biopellets before trying this?
thanks for the good information

[Bill]

I tried Algae Scrubber, DSB, Vinegar, Vodka, Zeo, everything from A-Z. None worked as well as my DIY sulfur denitrator. Zero nitrates and phosphates going on 2 years now. I don't have any fancy controls on it, but you do have to make sure output keeps flowing and doesn't stop.