My new sulphur denitrator setup

[Delphinus]

I don't see any H&S reactor on page 1 of this thread? The only pictures I see are the ones I assumed were your reactor?

And... with all due respect, why did you feel you needed a better media? You seemed to be getting results? If anything it's me who needs new media, but I thought your reactor was working for you??? Not trying to be rude I'm just surprised you went and got new stuff already??

[Psyire]

Sorry, I got confused between this thread and my RC thread.

Here is the picture I was refering to:



I don't believe I 'need' better media, but this media would definately be less prone to clogging over time, due to detritus and other floaties such as dust from the tank water getting caught up in the reactor. I would guess that it would reduce the chance of having 'pockets' of stagnant water that may cause the production of H2S as well. (less of a channeling effect) I don't plan to switch to this media quite yet, perhaps a few months down the road once my nitrates are zero... we'll see.

[Delphinus]

Ah, I see. It is an interesting looking media. I haven't found mine to have clogging issues in 8 weeks yet but I can see how the rounded stuff would be better. The only thing is for me 8 weeks in and I can't get it to produce zero NO3 no matter what I try. My last thought is that the tank has a bad microbubble problem, maybe I just have too much dissolved oxygen in the tank water. Since it seems to be an insurmountable issue and nobody can tell me what's wrong with with mine, I'm probably going to take mine offline. No sense in paying for the electricity to run the pump if it's not doing anything. Disappointing on the one hand but on the other hand I'm glad yours is working out for you. Means that it can work.

[muck]

Won't the Corn Pops get soggy after awhile and become useless..?

[Psyire]

Minor setback...

I increased the drip rate a few times over the course of the last week n' a half and managed to go alittle too far with it. The effluent tested at 5ppm, so I just set it back some. I'm guessing it was around 6 drips per second or so. The good news is my tank is still going down, I just tested and it was 25ppm nitrate.

I tested alkalinity for the first time since I connected the reactor and it did drop some. I have been running between 7-8 dKH and it tested at 6.4 dKH. So I may have to keep a closer eye on it, we'll see how things go.

So far, I am still pleased with the results. I plan to do more testing regarding calcium and magnesium when I get some more free time.

[Psyire]

Still going strong, down to 15ppm in the main tank. Algae grow has definately slowed down noticably. Still happy with the results so far

[Quagmire]

Down from 30 to 15 in 2 1/2 weeks.Pretty impressive,Ive been following yours and Tonys threads,to decide if its worth trying out.

[Psyire]

Also, I had some cyano re-appear in my fuge a couple of months ago and it's all died off now. (so it's definately doing something)

[Delphinus]

Sweet....

[TRS]

Have either of you tested and logged Calcium concentrations within your display tanks and the Sulfur Denitrator effluent?

My current parameters are as follows:

DAY 31 TANK PARAMETERS (March 8/07)
pH: 8.4 (by MILWAUKEE pH meter)
Specific Gravity: 1.025 (by ATC refractometer)
Temperature: 79.8 F
ORP: 362 mV (Red Sea Aquazone Plus 100)
Alkalinity: 3.52 meq/L (by SALIFERT)
Calcium: 450 mg/L (by SALIFERT)
Magnesium: 1380 mg/L (by SALIFERT)
P04: <0.03 mg/L (by SALIFERT)
NO3: 50 mg/L (by SALIFERT)*

DAY 31 EFFLUENT PARAMETERS (March 8/07)
pH: 7.5 (by MILWAUKEE pH meter)
NO3: 100 mg/L (by SALIFERT)*
Calcium: 490 mg/L


My Sulfur Denitrator has nearly cylced. I tweaked it too much a couple of days ago so it should zero out again in the next day or so.

I have not been dosing Calcium in the display, yet its concentration remains a constant 450 mg/L. My guess is that the Calcium will be more readily consumed and will be reduced once the Sulfur Denitrator kicks in and the Nitrates can be kept at zero.