Poor Man's Nutrients Control - Donovan's Nitrate Destroyer

[legionofdoon]

Used Hanna on display water first reading was 49 three days later down to 32. I only have one more test packet left so I'll wait until next week to check again. One thing is sure the salifert is absolutely useless to my eyes. From what I see vs what hanna tests at is way different. My nitrate destroyer and display tank show the same color on salifert but 4 and 32 on hanna.

 

[olonmv]

Used Hanna on display water first reading was 49 three days later down to 32. I only have one more test packet left so I'll wait until next week to check again. One thing is sure the salifert is absolutely useless to my eyes. From what I see vs what hanna tests at is way different. My nitrate destroyer and display tank show the same color on salifert but 4 and 32 on hanna.

I switched from Red Sea test kits to hanna because I hate color matching. A nice digital number is right up my alley!

 

[legionofdoon]

Got too curious tested today. Down to 25. So Almost ten points in two days!

 

[legionofdoon]

Tested using salifert today looks like 5, hopefully the Hanna reagents come in soon so I know what it really is so I can adjust it. Once this thing gets working it works fast! I'm running it at about 40 mls per minute, I'm basically just adjusting by nose now. If I smell anything like eggs or sulfur I bump it up a little at a time.

 

[legionofdoon]

I'll hopefully keep it here.

 

[Aqua Man]

@Clarkjw2002 same principle as a remote deep sand bed. IMO the DND would work better.

 

[olonmv]

@Clarkjw2002 same principle as a remote deep sand bed. IMO the DND would work better.

DND’s, when sized and dosed properly are amazing. I’ve kept my nutrients at bay (5-15ppm) since September. Plan on sending for an ICP at the end of the month to see what no water changes for almost 6 months looks like. I dose AFR, diy manganese, cheap vodka and aminos daily. Feed mixture of frozen foods, phyto’s and the occasional reef roids. If one’s not careful, you can strip the water of nutrients like I almost did once.

 

[Aqua Man]

Plan on sending for an ICP at the end of the month to see what no water changes for almost 6 months looks like.

The ICP results would be interesting! Keep us updated!

 

[legionofdoon]

I've been feeding my tank 2 cubes of mysis, or cyclops, a sprinkle of pellets whenever the fish come up to me looking for food (probably 3-4 times)a day and I've been staying around 7-8 on the nitrates it did go up to 11 one day but I was messing around in the sump the day before. I'm going to probably remove most of my chaeto this weekend. It really is the best nutrient removal tool I've ever used. I do get some blooming in the morning and my skimmer is pulling a ton so I'm still kinda doing water changes by replacing the skimate but it's only been about 10 gallons in the last two weeks and not at one time.

 

[legionofdoon]

Stopped getting the bacteria bloom. Nitrates went up a little bit for a day or so but back down to 6.9

 

[mattie_07]

First of all, thanks to everybody for their contributions to this wonderfull subject! I'm planning to make one for my tank soon, its a 300 liter - 80 gallon all in one tank. So I'm limited in size due to the chambers. I think it will be a dual tower with 4" pipes. The thing that concerns me the most is how to reduce the flow. I will work with a pump, and the smallest I can find is a pump for a cat fountain, but its rated 100 liter per hour.

If I have read correctly I need 10% of my total volume, so 10% of 300 liters = 30 liters per 24 hours, this means 1,25 liter per hour, or 0,02 liter per minute... How will I be able to slow down from a pump of 100 liters? I see a pvc valve exists, but I'm wondering if this will be accurate enough to slow down to the required flow.

Any ideas?

 

[olonmv]

First of all, thanks to everybody for their contributions to this wonderfull subject! I'm planning to make one for my tank soon, its a 300 liter - 80 gallon all in one tank. So I'm limited in size due to the chambers. I think it will be a dual tower with 4" pipes. The thing that concerns me the most is how to reduce the flow. I will work with a pump, and the smallest I can find is a pump for a cat fountain, but its rated 100 liter per hour.

If I have read correctly I need 10% of my total volume, so 10% of 300 liters = 30 liters per 24 hours, this means 1,25 liter per hour, or 0,02 liter per minute... How will I be able to slow down from a pump of 100 liters? I see a pvc valve exists, but I'm wondering if this will be accurate enough to slow down to the required flow.

Any ideas?

I made one for my evo. It’s a straight tube fed by a pump and flow is controlled via a pvc valve. It takes adjusting but can be done. I’m able to adjust down to 3.5ml a minute so I’d imagine that for your volume it’ll be easier.

 

[mattie_07]

I made one for my evo. It’s a straight tube fed by a pump and flow is controlled via a pvc valve. It takes adjusting but can be done. I’m able to adjust down to 3.5ml a minute so I’d imagine that for your volume it’ll be easier.

Thanks for your feedback! Would you be able to share the type/brand of the pump and the pvc valve?

 

[olonmv]

Thanks for your feedback! Would you be able to share the type/brand of the pump and the pvc valve?

For the pump, I use a cheap pump from petco that I modded to work with air line tubing and the pvc valve is one I picked up at Lowe’s. The pump stays on 24/7 but is on a wifi plug just in case.

 

[mattie_07]

For the pump, I use a cheap pump from petco that I modded to work with air line tubing and the pvc valve is one I picked up at Lowe’s. The pump stays on 24/7 but is on a wifi plug just in case.

What is the volume rate of your pump?

 

[mattie_07]

I do not have access to buy crushed coral/rubble to use in the second tower. Is it an option to fill the 2 towers with just these ceramic bio spheres? They have a better surface area in comparison to Seachem Matrix/De Nitrate. The matrix/ de nitrate is also pretty expensive here. Or maybe its better to do layers of de nitrate + bio sphere in the second tower?

Since the goal is to reduce the oxyen in the first tower, a lot of surface area is needed, so why not use the media with the biggest surface area in both towers? These spheres have a hole in the middle, so flow will not be stopped?

Any suggestions?

 

[olonmv]

I do not have access to buy crushed coral/rubble to use in the second tower. Is it an option to fill the 2 towers with just these ceramic bio spheres? They have a better surface area in comparison to Seachem Matrix/De Nitrate. The matrix/ de nitrate is also pretty expensive here. Or maybe its better to do layers of de nitrate + bio sphere in the second tower?

Since the goal is to reduce the oxyen in the first tower, a lot of surface area is needed, so why not use the media with the biggest surface area in both towers? These spheres have a hole in the middle, so flow will not be stopped?

Any suggestions?

Aquapapa 5 lbs Bio Ceramic Rings Aquarium Filter Media https://a.co/d/4RBORDc

I used this by itself with success. Was also gonna use seachem matrix but had ordered the wrong stuff so I went with just the one media type.

 

[mattie_07]

Aquapapa 5 lbs Bio Ceramic Rings Aquarium Filter Media https://a.co/d/4RBORDc

I used this by itself with success. Was also gonna use seachem matrix but had ordered the wrong stuff so I went with just the one media type.

Many thanks for your quick reply. So you just used one media type: bio ceramic rings? You did not use Seachem Matrix? Would you be able to share which pipes you used: diameter + height, and how many media? This way I can estimate how much media I will need.

I will make 2 towers of 4" diameter and +- 23" in height.

 

[olonmv]

Many thanks for your quick reply. So you just used one media type: bio ceramic rings? You did not use Seachem Matrix? Would you be able to share which pipes you used: diameter + height, and how many media? This way I can estimate how much media I will need.

I will make 2 towers of 4" diameter and +- 23" in height.

Yes, I used just the one media and have been since September with success. I now have Matrix in hand but haven’t had to use it. The size of your denitrifier depends on your tank volume. What I did was take Donovan’s volume (80 gallons I believe) and divided it with mine and that gave me a multiplier. After you figure out what your DND volume is go online and search for a PVC volume calculator and you can play with various conduit sizes and lengths.

 

[mattie_07]

Yes, I used just the one media and have been since September with success. I now have Matrix in hand but haven’t had to use it. The size of your denitrifier depends on your tank volume. What I did was take Donovan’s volume (80 gallons I believe) and divided it with mine and that gave me a multiplier. After you figure out what your DND volume is go online and search for a PVC volume calculator and you can play with various conduit sizes and lengths.

Yes I already used your multiplier to design the towers All the PVC material has been ordered, and will be delivered tomorrow. I'm now searching for the media online and I'm guessing how much I will need... I will for sure buy the bio spheres (1,5" diameter, 80 pieces) and now looking how many bio rings, and ceramic rings I will need...