A year ago I was flip-flopping between getting a denitrator or a zeovit reactor. I settled on zeovit, and ended up with my first cyano bloom that hasn't gone away in 9 months. I didn't see any noticeable decrease in nitrates either. This thread is making me rethink that decision.
New sulfur denitrator working great!
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renato120
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After seen this thread Im about to buy the denitrator. Im tired of high nitrates. I been doing
Two 40g water changes weekly. No3 is between 80 and 40. 80 if I dont do 2 water changes in a week. Once I do it drops to 40. I have a 120g with ann eel and 12 fishes. Including two tangs and a foxface. My anthias need to be fed daily as well.
Two 40g water changes weekly. No3 is between 80 and 40. 80 if I dont do 2 water changes in a week. Once I do it drops to 40. I have a 120g with ann eel and 12 fishes. Including two tangs and a foxface. My anthias need to be fed daily as well.
renato120
Valuable Member
How safe is this for dogs, and humans? Wife is pregnant, and I have two puppies. My tank is in a basement with a very poor air circulation(small window only) The media is sodium sulfide. Reading about the toxicity is looks very bad. I want to buy, the reactor, but after reading it about it I am afraid to pull the trigger.
Jongalt26
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I've been trying to sell my aquamaxx denitrator in our local group. I haven't had the need for it at all recently due to moving, therefore tank reset, and havent needed it at all since then. When I had it up and running it worked great with no noticeable increase in calcium or decrease in ph with aragonite and kept nitrates under control. One time i did forget to turn it on after turning it off for maintenance and noticed the black of hydrogen sulfide so to be safe i just swapped the old media out for new media. Im sure i could've flushed out the sulfide but i didn't. I definitely recommend this unit but i also had success with a remote deep sand bed. Since my rdsb was bulky i replaced it with this to regain some of that space.
LobsterOfJustice
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It's extremely safe - any toxicity concerns are being taken out of context. Heck, if you google calcium hydroxide (i.e. Kalk) it says it causes skin irritation, chemical burns, blindness, and lung damage. GFO is listed as toxic to lungs and mucous membranes. Nobody's worried about kalk or GFO being unsafe.
Don't eat the media and your be fine.
BrotherSheepDog
Community Member
I currently use a Korallin Denitrator with an aqua lifter pump on my Red Sea reefer 525 XL. It is awesome at reducing nitrates.
The only issues I run into is constant Alkalinity levels dropping. Im currently dosing aquaforest's components 1,2 and three which should be dosed equally so it can be a pain considering how the denitrator consumes so much alkalinity.
The only issues I run into is constant Alkalinity levels dropping. Im currently dosing aquaforest's components 1,2 and three which should be dosed equally so it can be a pain considering how the denitrator consumes so much alkalinity.
renato120
Valuable Member
Thank you so much for the reply! I need to make sure the baby, and the puppies will be 200% safe. I guess I will pull the trigger
ReeferBud
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Also about to pull the trigger.
From the different manufacturers (I know of GEO, korallin and aquamaxx), is there any that is a clear winner?
When there is an event that releases H2S and you smell the rotten eggs, does that smell stink up the whole tank (and living room) or is it contained to the denitrator area? In my case, I'll have it in a fish room that's separate from the main tank and since it's a gas, I'd assume that it would stay in the fish room and not be noticeable in the living room.
From the different manufacturers (I know of GEO, korallin and aquamaxx), is there any that is a clear winner?
When there is an event that releases H2S and you smell the rotten eggs, does that smell stink up the whole tank (and living room) or is it contained to the denitrator area? In my case, I'll have it in a fish room that's separate from the main tank and since it's a gas, I'd assume that it would stay in the fish room and not be noticeable in the living room.
CanadianReefer
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I've had one for a while, but never actually set it up. I'm in the process of stocking a new 300g system and I think I'll add it so that I can feed my fish without worrying about the negative effects on the corals. Someone had mentioned that I should wait 3 or 4 months before setting it up. I don't mind doing this, though I'd like to have it installed before I transfer over my corals. Glad to hear people are using them and having good results. I have the korralin version.
I know my aquamax has a small pre-filter on it which I like that really keeps the sulfur and calcium clean, I never smelled the rotten egg smell in mine but they say if you do from what I hear you just turn the drip rate up a little faster. This unit is pretty new to me about 3 weeks old but mine is working very very well!
Randy seems to be the expert in this area and has some extensive detail about hydrogen sulfide earlier in this thread and he did say sulfur in a sulfur denitrator is not likely going to become hydrogen sulfide. I have well water where I live and my wash water goes into a pit in the basement before being pumped out, I smell sulfur coming from that at times when it sits but never had any side effects, burning eyes,
or anything from that and it dissipates very quickly. I'm definitely not an expert but I don't think anybody has anything to worry about with a sulfur denitrator.
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I am using the non-sulfur type bio denitrator and I will get hydrogen sulfides if the flow is trickling. Every denitrator have their own minimum flow rate, lower than this hydrogen sulfide is more likely will become an issue.
LobsterOfJustice
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My equipment is in the garage and it will just smell right around the sump area. A quick adjustment to the drip rate and the smell will be gone the next time I sniff around the sump. It's never bad enough that it's clearing out the house or anything like that. Even if it was running in a stand I don't think it would stink up the house. And it should only occasionally smell during the setup/adjustment phase.
TaylorPilot
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Has anyone tried one of these?
http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/nfp509-nitrate-filter
They have been making them for years, but they never took off. It works by adding a carbon source (alcohol), then pumping water through it as such a slow rate that the oxygen in the water is lowered, creating an anaerobic environment where nitrate eating bacteria will start to grow. You can manually tune it like a calcium reactor, or put a o2/ph probe on it and control the water flow through it with a controller and peristaltic pump.
http://www.theaquariumsolution.com/nfp509-nitrate-filter
They have been making them for years, but they never took off. It works by adding a carbon source (alcohol), then pumping water through it as such a slow rate that the oxygen in the water is lowered, creating an anaerobic environment where nitrate eating bacteria will start to grow. You can manually tune it like a calcium reactor, or put a o2/ph probe on it and control the water flow through it with a controller and peristaltic pump.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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I think H2S is more of a risk in a carbon denitrator than a sulfur denitrator, due to the added organic matter, but a sulfur denitrator could potentially generate hydrogen sulfide at very low or no flow, just as tank water alone closed in a container can do so.
