Managing P&N in 340 gallon system

[WVNed]

I am using a sulfur denitrator and LaCl on 650 gallons. Phos .09 and Nitrates 15 yesterday.

 

[BZOFIQ]

I am using a sulfur denitrator and LaCl on 650 gallons. Phos .09 and Nitrates 15 yesterday.

How long does it take to establish one?

 

[WVNed]

How long does it take to establish one?

2-3 months for the first one.
I was using Nopox on a doser and gradually tapered it down to 0
I actually use 2 reactors now in series. You put the old one first and it starts the new one quickly in 2-3 weeks.

 

[BZOFIQ]

2-3 months for the first one.
I was using Nopox on a doser and gradually tapered it down to 0
I actually use 2 reactors now in series. You put the old one first and it starts the new one quickly in 2-3 weeks.

Is there a noticeable smell in the sump area and/or room?

 

[WVNed]

Is there a noticeable smell in the sump area and/or room?

From sulfur? Only if you screw up and let a reactor sit with no flow or forget to plug the recirculating pump in for a day.
Then you have to catch a few gallons of the output in a bucket or aerate the heck out of the system. Your ORP will go to -49 or something like that instantly.
Ya I have done that. Then is stinks for a little bit.
Running normally there is no smell.

I made my own reactor that held the same amount of media as a Aquamaxx TS-2. Then I added a 180 gallon tank to my system.
I dropped the TS-2 and splatted it doing the sump upgrade.
Now I have a TS-3 and the reactor I made in series.
I went a little large because I intend to put the 75 gallon in the fish room when I get time. It's sitting on the back porch waiting to be cleaned.

 

[BZOFIQ]

From sulfur? Only if you screw up and let a reactor sit with no flow or forget to plug the recirculating pump in for a day.
Then you have to catch a few gallons of the output in a bucket or aerate the heck out of the system. Your ORP will go to -49 or something like that instantly.
Ya I have done that. Then is stinks for a little bit.
Running normally there is no smell.

I made my own reactor that held the same amount of media as a Aquamaxx TS-2. Then I added a 180 gallon tank to my system.
I dropped the TS-2 and splatted it doing the sump upgrade.
Now I have a TS-3 and the reactor I made in series.
I went a little large because I intend to put the 75 gallon in the fish room when I get time. It's sitting on the back porch waiting to be cleaned.

Thanks much!

I ran it years ago and it was very effective I remember and yes I did forget to open up the flow once and it turned black. I threw the media out back then and never restarted.

Fast forward 10 years and I approach it from a redundancies perspective.

What happens if you have a short power outage and then the reactor is restarted? How risky is that?

In other words, how many hours can it safely sit before you have to flush it? (and start over?)

At this point my nitrates in the old system are high and I'm really debating between starting this and vodka dosing.

 

[WVNed]

Thanks much!

I ran it years ago and it was very effective I remember and yes I did forget to open up the flow once and it turned black. I threw the media out back then and never restarted.

Fast forward 10 years and I approach it from a redundancies perspective.

What happens if you have a short power outage and then the reactor is restarted? How risky is that?

In other words, how many hours can it safely sit before you have to flush it? (and start over?)

At this point my nitrates in the old system are high and I'm really debating between starting this and vodka dosing.

I don't know. With the planned upgrade to a 240, 180 and 75 all running on a bigger sump we got a whole house generator. The power was out for 2 1/2 days this week from a storm.

When I took them off line I dumped them in buckets. I washed the media later and reused most of it plus some because the new reactor is bigger.

I am using a lot less sulfur now and more Matrix because the first go around they plugged easily if I reduced the flow to raise my nitrates.