No3 reactor

[concentration]

Hello , I wonder if anyone has experience with no3 reactor ?

I currently have a diy in water reactor well ,... It's simply a bottom filled with seachem denitrate and attached a pump into it whole making holds on the other side to allow water flow through it

The seachem denitrate say water flow should not excess 50gph so I got a pump which max flow is only 35 gph

I have set it up for over a month , also added seachem stability which should have the bacteria for eating up no3

Ok it's not working , or not working as good as I expect

I am sure I got enough denitrate for the purpose but it's not working

Any idea ?

 

[CNDReef]

Try slowing down the flow to a slow stream.

 

[concentration]

This is the current design of it , any problem with it make it not working ?

 

[LouieP]

Well I have a Geo's Reef Nitrate reactor. I have recirculating pump on the reactor and a feed pump. When I initially set it up I believe I have a very slow effluent and as the media starting growing the nitrate level in the effluent was reduced. then I starting increasing the effluent rate which started to reduce the nitrate in my tank.

 

[concentration]

Well I have a Geo's Reef Nitrate reactor. I have recirculating pump on the reactor and a feed pump. When I initially set it up I believe I have a very slow effluent and as the media starting growing the nitrate level in the effluent was reduced. then I starting increasing the effluent rate which started to reduce the nitrate in my tank.

Do you mean there MAY also be a problem if the out flow is too slow ?

 

[LouieP]

No, I didn't say that. If the effluent (drip rate out of the reactor) is too fast I believe you wont be able to grow the bacteria that consumes the nitrate in the reactor. The bacteria that grows that consumes nitrate needs to be in an anaerobic environment (no O2). That bacteria needs flow (recirculating pump on the reactor) and the 2nd pump feeds the bacteria food (nitrate) from your tank. As the bacteria grows it needs more food so you will have to increase the effluent, as you increase your effluent your reactor will start to remove the nitrate from your tank at a faster rate.

So, if you test your tank water you may have a 50-100 ppm it doesn't matter, its high thats why you want a nitrate reactor and/or you probably dont want to do water changes. After a week or so you will need to test the effluent for nitrate if the reading is low or zero you can increase the effluent because the bacteria is removing nitrate from your water and needs more nitrate to feed on or it will die. You will also need to regularly test your tank for nitrate because as the reactor matures it will remove all of the nitrates from your tank & you should have a steady stream for your effluent. The nitrate in your tank should be consumed by the bacteria in the reactor which will give you a low or zero reading in your tank for nitrate.

Remember, if you have SPS corals having your nitrate at zero will starve your corals because they also feed on nitrates & phosphates.

Im not a chemist or anything but this is how I understand how a nitrate reactor works. I like to keep things dumb downed because if you can explain something so that a 5-6 year old can understand it, everyone should be able to understand including myself.