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

[ravi197699]

I don't think it is good idea, it will not let the tank cycle and go thought all the stages, but once cycle is complete you can hook up the reactor and let it get mature as the bacteria population is required to process the nitrates... JMO

 

[Arielo1980]

Thank you!
But if I add commercial bacteria?
Regards,

 

[ravi197699]

You can but let the cycle complete even if you use commercial bacteria..

 

[Arielo1980]

Thanks. I'll do it

 

[Tmmste]

Did anyone try to enhance the carbon source with added vitamins or something else? I am going to try yeast extract. It seems to be used with waste water treatment. Who knows maybe it is beneficial

 

[ramona]

Did anyone try to enhance the carbon source with added vitamins or something else? I am going to try yeast extract. It seems to be used with waste water treatment. Who knows maybe it is beneficial

Could you please elaborate on how is yeast extract used in wastewater treatment? I am interested also. Thank you.

 

[gregkn73]

Did anyone try to enhance the carbon source with added vitamins or something else? I am going to try yeast extract. It seems to be used with waste water treatment. Who knows maybe it is beneficial

I added nano3 to enhance phosphate consumption, with no result, measurable or empirical!

 

[2una]

I added nano3 to enhance phosphate consumption, with no result, measurable or empirical!

I'm playing around with a carbon source that does knock po4 down BUT even with that if there's not some no3 available the po4 reduction seems to slow/stop.
So if you are still zero no3 coming out the reactor then that maybe why.
Maybe its a balance of flow to perhaps keep enough 02 present so the no3 don't totally get taken out.
For me coming down to a redox/mv zone of - 116 that seems to be what is happening to me so raising back up to try again to get dialed in

 

[Tmmste]

Could you please elaborate on how is yeast extract used in wastewater treatment? I am interested also. Thank you.

Yeast extract is also used in petri dishes as a source of vitamins and seems to contain different "growth factors".

 

[Tmmste]

I'm playing around with a carbon source that does knock po4 down BUT even with that if there's not some no3 available the po4 reduction seems to slow/stop.
So if you are still zero no3 coming out the reactor then that maybe why.
Maybe its a balance of flow to perhaps keep enough 02 present so the no3 don't totally get taken out.
For me coming down to a redox/mv zone of - 116 that seems to be what is happening to me so raising back up to try again to get dialed in

I have been reading about "enhanced biological phosphorus removal" for wastewater treatment.. there seem to be phosphate acculimating bacteria. I do not know if this might be something interesting to look into? I used several carbon sources (ascorbic acid/vodka/glyserol/vinegar/sodiumacetate).. I did not notice any difference using 1 over the other (apart from that their "strenghts" differ)

 

[2una]

I have been reading about "enhanced biological phosphorus removal" for wastewater treatment.. there seem to be phosphate acculimating bacteria. I do not know if this might be something interesting to look into? I used several carbon sources (ascorbic acid/vodka/glyserol/vinegar/sodiumacetate).. I did not notice any difference using 1 over the other (apart from that their "strenghts" differ)

Its Tropic Marin Elimi NP i'm using. I originally thought it maybe contained some sort of nitrate additive to put weight on the po4 but emailed asking about that & got told no it does not,i dont think it has a po4 binder in it either.
What it is i don't know (its clear) but its working on po4 like nopox would not.

 

[Ivan L]

I thought I would share my destroyer, I'm new to r2r btw
I managed to fit two 6" pvc pipes in my sump right behind my skimmer, height is 18" first chamber and 16 inches the second one, first one is full of ceramic rings (seeded in the sump for a month) second one is full of live rock (I pulled two rocks out from my DT and broke them into 2-3" pieces)
Its a 6 month old 180g bare bottom display tank and 20g of water volume in the sump
As all the media was cycled, it took only 3 days to start getting 0 nitrate readings on the effluent of the reactor, DT is 40ish and during the 2nd day I was getting 80 nitrate reading in the effluent but also nitrites. Current flow is 60 liter per day which is somewhere around 8-10% daily turnover.
Im dosing 5ml of mb7 and 3ml of Vodka-vinegar daily, I would like to hear your advice for how to tune flow in the coming days to reach my goal of 3-4 ppm nitrates steady.
I think this is working like a charm, so sad that Donovan passed away

 

[Rick.45cal]

I thought I would share my destroyer, I'm new to r2r btw
I managed to fit two 6" pvc pipes in my sump right behind my skimmer, height is 18" first chamber and 16 inches the second one, first one is full of ceramic rings (seeded in the sump for a month) second one is full of live rock (I pulled two rocks out from my DT and broke them into 2-3" pieces)
Its a 6 month old 180g bare bottom display tank and 20g of water volume in the sump
As all the media was cycled, it took only 3 days to start getting 0 nitrate readings on the effluent of the reactor, DT is 40ish and during the 2nd day I was getting 80 nitrate reading in the effluent but also nitrites. Current flow is 60 liter per day which is somewhere around 8-10% daily turnover.
Im dosing 5ml of mb7 and 3ml of Vodka-vinegar daily, I would like to hear your advice for how to tune flow in the coming days to reach my goal of 3-4 ppm nitrates steady.
I think this is working like a charm, so sad that Donovan passed away

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Nice Nitrate Destroyer! I’m sure Donovan would be very pleased with your implementation of his creation.

 

[Ivan L]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Nice Nitrate Destroyer! I’m sure Donovan would be very pleased with your implementation of his creation.

Thank you rick, I think this is the cheapest and greatest idea I've seen for nitrate reduction, I'll post an update in 2-3 days

 

[Ponraj A]

I thought I would share my destroyer, I'm new to r2r btw
I managed to fit two 6" pvc pipes in my sump right behind my skimmer, height is 18" first chamber and 16 inches the second one, first one is full of ceramic rings (seeded in the sump for a month) second one is full of live rock (I pulled two rocks out from my DT and broke them into 2-3" pieces)
Its a 6 month old 180g bare bottom display tank and 20g of water volume in the sump
As all the media was cycled, it took only 3 days to start getting 0 nitrate readings on the effluent of the reactor, DT is 40ish and during the 2nd day I was getting 80 nitrate reading in the effluent but also nitrites. Current flow is 60 liter per day which is somewhere around 8-10% daily turnover.
Im dosing 5ml of mb7 and 3ml of Vodka-vinegar daily, I would like to hear your advice for how to tune flow in the coming days to reach my goal of 3-4 ppm nitrates steady.
I think this is working like a charm, so sad that Donovan passed away

1.Stop dosing MB7 once the effluent has got to zero.
target should be to have constant flow output with reduced carbon dosing.
So the next step would be slighty increase the flow and increase your carbon dosing to 5ml per day. test the output of the reactor after 3 days and if its still zero, then increase the flow and increase carbon dosing to 7ml per day. Test the output of the reactor after 3 days and repeat this till you are getting the full flow of the reactor.
At any point of stage on the above test if nitrate is detectable then keep the same flow and carbon dosing till the reactor output is getting zero.

After achieving the needed flow output from the reactor, and getting the planned No3 of the display, constant for two weeks, then start reducing your carbon dosing by 2ml every week, subject to you have the same feeding schedule and no addition of live stock.

Hope this helps.

 

[Ivan L]

1.Stop dosing MB7 once the effluent has got to zero.
target should be to have constant flow output with reduced carbon dosing.
So the next step would be slighty increase the flow and increase your carbon dosing to 5ml per day. test the output of the reactor after 3 days and if its still zero, then increase the flow and increase carbon dosing to 7ml per day. Test the output of the reactor after 3 days and repeat this till you are getting the full flow of the reactor.
At any point of stage on the above test if nitrate is detectable then keep the same flow and carbon dosing till the reactor output is getting zero.

After achieving the needed flow output from the reactor, and getting the planned No3 of the display, constant for two weeks, then start reducing your carbon dosing by 2ml every week, subject to you have the same feeding schedule and no addition of live stock.

Hope this helps.

Hi Ponraj,

Actually this helps a lot, so I should increase flow & carbon every 3 days as long as I get 0 nitrates on the output, then whenever I get detectable nitrates that will be the recommended flow for my reactor. right?
Today I've increased flow to 100L per day and carbon to 7ml, I'll check in 3 days and post an update, thanks for sharing your knowlegde.

 

[Ponraj A]

Hi Ponraj,

Actually this helps a lot, so I should increase flow & carbon every 3 days as long as I get 0 nitrates on the output, then whenever I get detectable nitrates that will be the recommended flow for my reactor. right?
Today I've increased flow to 100L per day and carbon to 7ml, I'll check in 3 days and post an update, thanks for sharing your knowlegde.

Hi Ivan,
Its ok doing so, in next 3 days if the reactor output is "0" then increase the flow a bit and carbon by 2ml leave it for a week. Then this continues every week till achieving the maximum flow through the reactor. Once the maximum flow is achieved wait till the tank NO3 is getting same as of the reator output. Then after two weeks second phase of reduction in carbon dosing have to be started.

I am having a doubt that due to having rocks in the second chamber there is more chance that it would get clogged. so watch the flow atleast twice a day, water should not come out through your carbon dosing hole on inlet chamber.

 

[Ivan L]

Hi Ivan,
Its ok doing so, in next 3 days if the reactor output is "0" then increase the flow a bit and carbon by 2ml leave it for a week. Then this continues every week till achieving the maximum flow through the reactor. Once the maximum flow is achieved wait till the tank NO3 is getting same as of the reator output. Then after two weeks second phase of reduction in carbon dosing have to be started.

I am having a doubt that due to having rocks in the second chamber there is more chance that it would get clogged. so watch the flow atleast twice a day, water should not come out through your carbon dosing hole on inlet chamber.

Actually the rocks created a lot of voids and free space don't think it will clogged, just one more thing yesterday I was getting the rooten egg smell on the sump and I increased flow to 150 liter per day, today the smell is gone and nitrates tested 5 in the effluent this moorning, fish and corals seem ok, i'll post an update tomorrow.
Thanks for your help Ponraj

 

[Ponraj A]

Actually the rocks created a lot of voids and free space don't think it will clogged, just one more thing yesterday I was getting the rooten egg smell on the sump and I increased flow to 150 liter per day, today the smell is gone and nitrates tested 5 in the effluent this moorning, fish and corals seem ok, i'll post an update tomorrow.
Thanks for your help Ponraj

you are welcome !!!!

 

[Ivan L]

Hi Ivan,
Its ok doing so, in next 3 days if the reactor output is "0" then increase the flow a bit and carbon by 2ml leave it for a week. Then this continues every week till achieving the maximum flow through the reactor. Once the maximum flow is achieved wait till the tank NO3 is getting same as of the reator output. Then after two weeks second phase of reduction in carbon dosing have to be started.

I am having a doubt that due to having rocks in the second chamber there is more chance that it would get clogged. so watch the flow atleast twice a day, water should not come out through your carbon dosing hole on inlet chamber.

Hi Ponraj quick update
Display tank is currently at 10ppm nitrate, efluent varies from 0ppm to 8ppm depending on the dosing, 2 hr after dosing it test 0ppm, after 6 hr nitrate start raising to 8-9ppm, current flow is 120 liter per day, currently dosing 4ml in the morning and 4ml in the evening, what can I do to have steady nitrates on the effluent?
Thanks