Denitrifying coil works like a charm

[Paul B]

I built a few of these over the years and was not crazy about any of the designs but this one I made last month works 100%.
My reef now has a nitrate reading of 40 and I figured it would be a good time todesign a new Denitrification device but I had no idea it would work so good and so fast. They usually take a couple of months to fully work but I had it running for a month and I just tested it. Water going in has a nitrate reading of 40 and with just one pass through the device which takes about 10 minutes, water comes out with zero nitrates. Not one or two, but zero. I never thought the thing would work so well and as soon as I get time I will install it on my reef.
I have some reservations about lowering my nitrates now, which seems wierd considering what everyone thinks about nitrates but for some reason, my tank never looked so good and the corals were never so big. SPS, LPS and leathers are growing faster than I have ever seen them grow.
I doubt it is the high nitrate levels but I wish I knew what it was. I may just install the Denitrification coil for a little while to slightly lower the nitrates to see if it affects the growth rate.
I have been cycling the device with Vodka.
It only processes about a gallon an hour or so but I will measure it exactly when I have time.

 

[mluz]

what are you using for a pump? i tried before but i could not make it work properly.

 

[thirty5]

I built a few of these over the years and was not crazy about any of the designs but this one I made last month works 100%.
My reef now has a nitrate reading of 40 and I figured it would be a good time todesign a new Denitrification device but I had no idea it would work so good and so fast. They usually take a couple of months to fully work but I had it running for a month and I just tested it. Water going in has a nitrate reading of 40 and with just one pass through the device which takes about 10 minutes, water comes out with zero nitrates. Not one or two, but zero. I never thought the thing would work so well and as soon as I get time I will install it on my reef.
I have some reservations about lowering my nitrates now, which seems wierd considering what everyone thinks about nitrates but for some reason, my tank never looked so good and the corals were never so big. SPS, LPS and leathers are growing faster than I have ever seen them grow.
I doubt it is the high nitrate levels but I wish I knew what it was. I may just install the Denitrification coil for a little while to slightly lower the nitrates to see if it affects the growth rate.
I have been cycling the device with Vodka.
It only processes about a gallon an hour or so but I will measure it exactly when I have time.

Are you going to share how it is made????

 

[Paul B]

The pump is the tiniest powerhead I could find.
I will tell how I built it as soon as I get a little time, I have to draw a sketch but I am planting a tree right now.

 

[JonnyIce]

Tagging along...love Paul's inventions and tricks!

 

[samksy]

tagging along, sounds very promising.

 

[Paul B]

I got a nice 2lb cod fish on the grill and I ran out of propane so I am waiting for the oven to heat up. Anyway, the denitrifying coil is a 3" PVC pipe on the outside. Inside that is a 2" pipe with 40' od PVC tubing wrapped tightly around it, that is inserted inside the 3" pipe. Inside the 2" pipe is a 1 1/2" pipe and inside that is a 1" pipe. Then a 3/4 pipe, a 1/2" pipe and a 3/8" pipe. The pipes were grooved on my radial arm saw to give them more surface area but that is probably not necessary.
The water flows from the tank to the 40' coil then into each pipe. One end of each pipe is capped so the water has to flow through each pipe then to the next and next and so on. The capped ends are on opposite ends of each adjacent pipe. The water way is only about 3/16" between each pipe so there is plenty of surface area.
These things work because the coil strips the water of oxygen with the help of Aerobic bacteria, then the oxygen free water travels through the rest of the thing on a 10 minute voyage where it contacts anerobic bacteria which strips away the nitrates.
They can be dangerous because if they are not designed correctly or if they run too slow, hydrogen gas can develop which is poisonous. Once it is cycled, you can't shut them off of the sulfide will develop.

 

[Mattl22]

Will this lower phosphates also?

 

[Paul B]

I doubt it

 

[Dre]

You should have a Patent on it...

 

[Paul B]

I have enough patents, they aint cheap and besides, I didn't invent the thing rangehat

 

[Paul B]

Denitrator, not to scale

 

[ravi197699]

hi very nice build i have built mine as well and it took 3-4 weeks before i saw results and mine is built with cheap calcium reactor and i am using sulfer media and calcium media and functionality is same as calcium reactor with drip and right nitrates in the tank with hanna checker is near 0 i it helps only with nitrates not with phosphates.

 

[Paul B]

I didn't think it would do anything for phosphates.

Now that I know the thing works, I took it apart. I want to re-design it with some venting valves so I can get the air out in case I want to open it and clean it. The way it is now, I can fill it if it is empty but if I open it up to do something or check it out, it gets air pockets. The air relief valves will also allow me to check the water in different parts of the device to test for nitrates or hydrogen sulfide. I am curious as to which section does what and I may be able to eliminate some sections on future prototypes.
I still have water flowing through the coil to keep the bacteria alive.

 

[Mattl22]

Paul this is awesome!!! Do u think it will make ur nitrates in ur tank 0 and do u think that is good !! I've never had a nitrate issue they always test 0 I wonder if that is accurate though?? What test kit u using???

Very cool thread please keep posted

 

[Paul B]

I don't remember what test kit I have, someone gave it to me. I normally don't test anything but I wanted to have one to test this device. Just for kicks.

I am not sure what it will make the nitrates in my tank but as i said, I am not sure I want to lower them yet.

 

[StatenAlan]

Tagging along =] nice build, im going to research some other DIYs of this myself.

 

[Paul B]

I am putting it back together with some tweeks and I wil start cycling it again. I changed the flow from bottom to top just to make construction easier and I added 2 air vents and test ports. Right now I don't want to lower the nitrates too much because for some reason the corals are growing very fast. I have a giant mushroom that for 5 years was a tiny mushroom looking thing, now it is close to 9" across and it grew in a few months. I am afraid to feed the thing because it is taking up too much real estate and is covering some neighboring corals which are themselves getting too large for the tank.

This shows some of the internal parts, two of the tubes are inside other tubes and are not shown.

I am cycling it again now and when it starts to work I will install it. This is a view from the inside top.
Those tubes let out the air and I can test the water in different parts of the thing to see which part is doing what.

 

[iliriano]

can you post the spec or are you goin to build some and put it f/s.

 

[Paul B]

can you post the spec or are you goin to build some and put it f/s.

NO, I am not going to sell the things. It is basically a coil to remove the oxygen and after that you can run the water through bioballs or rocks, anything that bacteria will grow on. It also has to be sealed so the water does not get oxygenated inside. I used PVC pipes, one inside the other only because I had them.
I did not invent denitrification coils and there are many variations.
Just get about 40" of tubing, wrap it around a pipe or put it in a bucket and fill the space with bio balls or anything else that is inert. Put the top on and pump the water first through the coil then let it slowly go through the media, then back to the tank. In a month or two it should start to process nitrates but be careful. These things could produce hydrogen sulfide which is poisonous to sea creatures. I smell the effluent a couple of times a day because the stuff smells bad of rotten eggs.