DSB in a bucket; anyone?

[Delphinus]

I fed the bucket using a MJ1200 powerhead in the sump.

I suppose if you have the sand it's worth a try, but, if you had to go out and buy the sand there might be cheaper ways to deal with excessive nitrates. A coil denitrator would probably set you back about $20 in materials.

I have also tried a sulfur reactor, but like with the DSB-in-a-bucket, I have mixed feelings about this method too. Having said that, I'm still running the reactor (I just used a calcium reactor and then bought some sulfur denitrator media). (Well, for that matter, I'm still running the DSB-in-a-bucket too. It's just that I've never had nitrates under 30ppm on this tank, despite a good skimmer and despite a low bioload. I've never quite figured why this is so) The problem with the sulfur reactors is that it is easily overwhelmed, anything beyond the slowest of flows introduces too much oxygen into the reactor and the bacteria population crashes. Maybe a different reactor would work better. Anyhow, most people who try sulfur reactors swear by them. The theory is sound and *most* people have good luck with them.

Interestingly, my nitrates fell to 10ppm after the introduction of two larger clams into the tank a couple weeks ago. I've been tempted to ditch the DSB-in-a-bucket and the sulfur reactor and just buy a few more clams