well here is mine, i made it 2 months ago and its not really workin
g, i got it calibrated at 1 drip a second.
[IMG]http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z196/sanababit/DSC00213.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z196/sanababit/DSC00214.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z196/sanababit/DSC00215.jpg[/IMG]
if anyone has any photos please post them, thanks

sana

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11162511#post11162511 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rsman [/i]
...
[b]Should I be monitoring nitrates and nitrites of water output during cycling? I'm only about 2 weeks into cycling and assume the speed up slow down recommendation is for post cycle.[b] NO, the speedup slow down is NOT for post cycle, post cycle you should be leaving these things alone just verify there not cloged and dont touch it.

[b]I would monitor both producing nitrites speed up slowly nitrates slow down slowy no matter if its breakin or broken in[/b] once the unit is broken in, and assuming nothing noteworthy has happened between your last waterchange you should not be adjusting your unit, there bio filters they dont respond instantly to huge changes in your waters quality IE a BIG fish dies and decomposes in your tank! if you try to micromanage these they will fail.

...[/QUOTE]

Let me ask this a little differently. How many days after setting one of these up should I start adjusting the output for nitrates and nitrites? I assume it won't process nitrates the first day. It needs to cycle. During this cycle it sounds like nitrites will temporary increase. So I assume there is a time when testing output and adjusting doesn't make sense. Please clarify the breakin process.

Thanks

nwood, very simply put, set it and dont touch it for a month, just test every so often for nitrites and nitrates, if you see nitrite coming out off the effluent you could always redirect the output to a bucket and let the cycle pass, i had mine for almost to months, its not working really well because off 2 reasons, i transfered the tank to a new one and had to disconect my denitrifier which when i hooked it back up it got a lot of air and oxigen pump into it, and second i had problems with the injecting pump and had to replaced which caused the same problem, right now it has been running for 2 weeks with an outflow off 1 drop per second, and now its just a waiting game. hope this helps

just remember, if you have a lot of flow coming out of this thing it will be a nitrate factory, if you have to slow of a flow it will create hydrogen sulfide that might crash your tank, just test and test and test.

sana

ok sanababit first : how big is that thing give details 1 1 drop per second seems way to slow for the size of that unit.

mwood:
you could start to adjust these things fairly quickly days but at first your testing for nitrite not nitrate, its the test results that tell you when to adjust not time, time is what you have to give it. the nitrite output will not harm your tank unless you have goten the flow wrong. if thats not clear please speak up!!!

hope that helps

well the denitrifier is 28" high by 4" wide with a gallon of bioballs inside, i have tried a slow drip rate (like almost a stream like) for 3 weeks, and no results, after investigating and reading a little bit more i found out that i wasnt giving the denitrifier enough time to culture the anaerobic bacteria, so after the last pump change i talked about on my last post, i slowed the drip rate to 1 drop a second maybe a little bit faster than that, lets say 1 1/2 drops, well after two weeks, my tank is at 20ppm and the output of denitrifier is at 15 ish, i know its not much but hey its better than nothing, i will just let it do its magic and as soon as i get 0 nitrates i will adjust it just like you say in your post, its the test results that tell you when to adjust the unit NOT time.

great post BTW

sana

ooops forgot, its has 100' of 1/4 tubing wrapped around

Sooooo, at first it will not reduce nitrate, but I want the flow just fast enough to not get nitrites. As time goes by I will need to speed up to avoid nitrites till it starts to reduce nitrates around a month????

Ok im thinking 30 inches of 4 inch pipe and 2 60 foot coils of .170 ID tubing. From what ive read and re-read that should handle my 200 gallons of water nicely. Sound about right?

sanababit: I dont see where you mentioned your nitrite level, and are those coils 1/4"OD or ID if its ID then the output of a stream its too fast for starting out. a 5ppm drop now sounds like a start.

mwood: actually at first it will create nitrate not a whole lot and not more than any other large surface area in your tank, but its still more than you had. and while cycling you dont need no nitrites in the output you just want very little nitrites in the output try not to micromanage it IE test every 3 days instead of 3x a day....

the amount of time it takes these to cycle is only a guess, its just like when you cycled your main tank you can do things to speed up the cycle (borrow from others, feed heavily, adjust flow more frequently ....) ((((NOTE that was adjust not speedup or slow down you have to test not guess )))) and you can do things that slow down the cycle (empty the unit, run it with no ammonia/nitrite/nitrate). the 4 to 6 week estimate is just that an estimate. NOW with that you should see some form of droping nitrate fairly quickly its just how much and does it hold that you cant count on.

cb747: 4" pipe is expensive maybe 2" pipe instead use as much pipe as you need to keep the coils under control :D it really doesnt take that much you just need to slow down the flow for a little...

I have 4 inch so thats what ill go with. I already tapped it with 2 fittings down by the base. Ive wrapped the coils around so ill just cut the pipe a little above the coils add some bio balls and get it online. :)

Final height is 23 inches :)

you are right rsman, the thing is i did not test for nitrites, at first i did have to much water coming out, about 5 to 8 drops per second (almost a little stream), this thing did nothing for about 2 to 3 weeks, no nitrite, and maybe it was even raising my nitrates because of the amount of water coming out of it, then had the 2 problems and now i have been ciclyin this thing for about 2 weeks, i tested for nitrates only and im getting a little reduction on the outlet of unit, not to much to do a diference, so i am going to wait for better results.

rsman i will test tomorrow for nitrites and post results, to see whats going on, btw way the tubing is 1/4 O/D

well tested today and the nitrites are at 0, nitrates are at 10 ppm and tank nitrate is 10 ppm, i will test saturday again, please keep this thread alive. thanks

sana

does anyone have a complete DIY with pictures and hardware that we need for this?

I have a 40gal and I can't seem to lower my nitrates and i want to try this out.

before asking read the thread
:bum:

pump size?
 

I looked and may have missed it but with what size and type pump do you all use ?

[QUOTE][i]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10507876#post10507876 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rsman [/i]
[B]you dont put the entire output of the pump down the coil read back i think there are pictures, but a simple T will do fine, especially if the long leg of the T is not hooked to anything

depending on what pump you have you may need to adjust the output at the long end of the T(using above setup) so more or less is pushed into the coil, but use a valve on the output to adjust the final drip rate. [/B][/QUOTE]

just like rsman said
just put a "T" on one of the pump that you already have

hal900oa,
Thank you for your help,

Now can you all help on this so I get this right.

Now as I read 3" x 24" pvc pipe is all the size it needs to be with bioballs inside.
And 50' of .170 ID coil put on the inside of pvc pipe so it will not get light.
Or as I saw coils on the outside is that ok now?
As I reading 50' is ok not 75' too long for size of ID?
If more load add coils of same size beside each other with two valves on each end for flow not two or three coils put together inline?
Also the tee from a pump for water supply.
valve on outlet to set timing.
Timing as:
Alot of nitrite speed up slowly and wait
Alot of nitrate slow down slowly. and wait.

[b]Now can you all help on this so I get this right.[/b] ok i guess its better to ask now then to have a problem later

[b]Now as I read 3" x 24" pvc pipe is all the size it needs to be with bioballs inside.[/b]make it as big as you need to to keep the coil easy to manage
[b]And 50' of .170 ID coil put on the inside of pvc pipe so it will not get light.
Or as I saw coils on the outside is that ok now?[/b]
light = bad just for different reasons in different areas of your unit. light on the coil will cause algae growth which will clog the coils and add oxygen which will make the coil inefficient. light in the bio chamber will kill the anerobic bacteria also bad. having the coil on the outside just means that you dont want a lot of light on the coil it dosnt need to be completely dark always. if you think you might need to expand your unit put the coil on the outside its easier to add to the outside than the inside


[b]As I reading 50' is ok not 75' too long for size of ID?[/b]true

[b]If more load add coils of same size beside each other with two valves on each end for flow not two or three coils put together inline?[/b] yes they need to be in parallel not in series. if you have 2 or more coils then having an adjusting valve AND a cutoff valve per coil makes it easier to adjust as you can cut off the flow to all but 1 coil at a time, and the unit output will be the same as the coil flow its not a requirement its just easier that way

[b]Also the tee from a pump for water supply.[/b] until you get HUGE gravity works
[/b]valve on outlet to set timing.[/b] or input
[b]Timing as:
Alot of nitrite speed up slowly and wait
Alot of nitrate slow down slowly. and wait.
[/b]
sounds good to me