New sulfur denitrator working great!

[Fudsey]

@patoko878 Have you tried a GFO reactor to lower your Phosphates, it worked for me. I run a BRS single reactor with combination of GFO and GAC.

That does sound like a lot of food too. Try to cut it back a bit and see if it helps.

 

[patoko878]

Also have the GFO rowaphos reactor. I think it’s really the feeding. Done almost everything by the book. Wife admitted she was guilty feeding more than I do when I’m not around. She wants the fish “happy and fat”

 

[patoko878]

What’s GAC?

 

[Zack K]

What’s GAC?

Granulated
Activated
Carbon.

l believe that’s what it stands for.

 

[patoko878]

Thanks

 

[DipSpit]

This is a copy/paste from a thread Icreated hoping to centralize info:

My journey began about 2 months ago when I installed a Korallen BioDenitrator on my 180g cube fed with an Aqualifter.
After following the included directions, my effluent was still measuring NO3 equal to the tank at the 7-8 week mark. I read somewhere on these forums that trapped air could be the cause and to upgrade the pump.

I banged out a decent amount of air by basically shaking the reactor until no more bubbles surfaced and were pumped out. I then used my manifold and upgraded 3/8" tubing to power the reactor.

What am I missing? Will this start the timer over again?

Also - i did notice Alk consumption go up after adding the reactor which should mean that the reactor is working.

What should be my next steps here? I currently went back to the beginning @ 1 drip per 2 seconds and plan to wait a week to test.

Any advice is hugely appreciated.

 

[Fudsey]

Isn't that a very slow drip rate? I thought you were supposed to have 1-2 drips per second. That is what mine is set at.

 

[greg 45]

There is no set drip rate on any sulfur reactor . You need to tune it to your system . You can up the rate to where the water still come out zero nitrates. I run a Aquarium engineering sulfur reactor the flow is around 200 ml min .

 

[DipSpit]

There is no set drip rate on any sulfur reactor . You need to tune it to your system . You can up the rate to where the water still come out zero nitrates. I run a Aquarium engineering sulfur reactor the flow is around 200 ml min .

As I understand it - I keep the set drip rate (1 per 2 seconds) until it read 0. Then I can gradually increase it until NO2 starts to register then dial back a bit?

I dont understand where I am going wrong - I have seen/heard of people with this same reactor open full bore with 0 NO3 effluent.

 

[ReeferBud]

I’ve typically seen 3 drops/sec as the initial set up period flow.

I’ve been using mine for 7 months and couldn’t be happier. Best NO3 control method I’ve used.

Are you measuring ORP inside the reactor? That’s how I determine whether the reactor is operating correctly. Small adjustments to effluent rate can have a large effect on ORP

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’ve typically seen 3 drops/sec as the initial set up period flow.

I’ve been using mine for 7 months and couldn’t be happier. Best NO3 control method I’ve used.

Are you measuring ORP inside the reactor? That’s how I determine whether the reactor is operating correctly. Small adjustments to effluent rate can have a large effect on ORP

Just curious, where do you set it?

 

[Streetdoc77]

This is an awesome thread enjoyed reading it !

 

[ReeferBud]

Just curious, where do you set it?

Randy, I target around -174mv. Seems to work for me.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Randy, I target around -174mv. Seems to work for me.

Thanks.
You never detected any H2S smell at that value?

 

[ReeferBud]

Thanks.
You never detected any H2S smell at that value?

Nope. Not once so far and that was one of my initial concerns before getting the unit.

There have been times when the flow rate decreases too much and the conductivity will go much lower and I start to see some dark matter on the surface of the sulfur... i’ll then flush the reactor but I’ve never smelled any H2S or had any negative effect on the livestock.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Great, thanks.

 

[cumbeje]

Started a new sulfur reactor on my 650 gallon reef. Has brought down nitrates in 4 weeks.

 

[cumbeje]

Sulfur reactor from Geo Reef

 

[ReeferBud]

Looks great. How do you feed it? Is that a secondary chamber for the SD?

I’m still happy with mine. Keep nitrate pretty constant at 3ppm. Only challenge i have is keeping the drip rate constant.

 

[cumbeje]

Looks great. How do you feed it? Is that a secondary chamber for the SD?

I’m still happy with mine. Keep nitrate pretty constant at 3ppm. Only challenge i have is keeping the drip rate constant.

I am using a small power head and yes I have a secondary chamber setup for it. I haven't had any issues with drip rate. I use a graduated cylinder to count mls. Easier than trying to count drip rate.