- Location
- Queens, 11365
well, that's why you leave a few inches in the bottom. i left 3-4 inches in all 3 of my denitrator, including the one I sold. i would be happy if it last 2-3 years
DIY Coil DeNitrator
- Thread starter alfani
- Start date
well, that's why you leave a few inches in the bottom. i left 3-4 inches in all 3 of my denitrator, including the one I sold. i would be happy if it last 2-3 years
- Location
- Queens, 11365
i guess anything could work, provider you have it air locked and leave enough room for the bacteria to grow but height does matter a little in order to allow room for O2 to be deplete along the way in the airline tube
- Location
- Vernon, NJ
I'm going to make one too my tank is a 450 and I want to build a substantial fish population. my cheato grows like a weed and I have a large reactor of GFO
I have a 6X16 piece of clear acrylic I am going to use
what would increase the capacity , longer tube? 3/8 rather 1/4
I have a 6X16 piece of clear acrylic I am going to use
what would increase the capacity , longer tube? 3/8 rather 1/4
I say you use a thicker tube, also for the fact that it won't clog up as easily, it'll have more surface area for the aerobic bacteria to grow and since you're using a thicker body to begin with, it won't effect the amount of space you'll have for bioballs in the center. You might want to cut it though, 16 feet seems a bit much. Also, find a pump you can use and make sure you have a valve as water will flow much faster through a 3/8" tube. And I'd use 150 feet of tube...keep us updated
Mine is almost done, just got the bioballs from masterswimmer who was kind enough to send me some bioballs...just need to get a "bleed" valve again because I cracked the one that was on it and then just cap it off and start it up
- Location
- Vernon, NJ
6" X 16" LoL
I'm gonna start working on it next week during my travels I'll stop at lowes and get some tubing and fittings
- Location
- Queens, 11365
i doubt you will be able to fit in 75 feet of 3/8 tube into 16 inch tall and be able to have any room for bio balls
- Location
- Vernon, NJ
I do have a 24" X6" piece
I suck at math but here's what I figure
20" divided by .375 = 53 coils
each coil should be approx 17" long ( 5.5" x 3.14=17.27)
53 X17 = 901 divided by 12" should give 75' of tube to coil in tube
should leave about 4" for bio balls
sound right???
I'm going to use the same design as a ca reactor for a cap so that if the need arises I can disassemble and clean
- Location
- Queens, 11365
where do you get 20", do you mean by out of the 24 inch tall cylinder, you use 4 inch for bio balls and the rest to filled with 3/8 tubes? the 3/8 airline tubes are meant to wrap around the inner walls of your cylinder tube and filled the spaces with bio balls. i doubt 4 inch space for bio balls would have enough room the the aerobic bacteria to grow
- Location
- Vernon, NJ
was figuring on leaving 3" on the bottom coil the tube around the inner walls and fill center with bio balls I have both sizes the minis and large ones
and have a 1" space on top
and have a 1" space on top
a thicker tube wont clog as easily, but i believe you will have to reduce the flow rate or make the tube longer to deplete the water of oxygen. It might have more surface area for bacteria to grow, but the surface area to volume ratio of the tube has been decreased, which means it's carrying more oxygenated water
sorry for the late response, i've been using one for almost 2 years.
- Location
- Queens, 11365
yes, this would work..even if you can't fit in the whole 75 feet then 70ish would be good enough
true, the smaller diameter tube actually gives you more contact surface area. A larger diameter tube allows water to flow through the middle portion without contacting the inner walls of the tube.
The thicker the tube is, the longer it needs to be. The established model uses the 1/4" tubing at 75 feet. This is roughly handles about 75-100g tank. Instead of attempting to modify this design to accomodate a larger tank, most people have more success simply making multiple "normal" sized coils. So a 400g tank would have 4 coil denitrators.
Also Alfani, regarding the 1 drop per second. After your coil gets well established you can increase the flow...as long as you are getting 0 nitrates out. Mine is going about 3 drops per second now. The 1 drop per second is just a measurement to start out with. Going too slow can have negative effects. If it starts smelling like sulfur, you are going too slow.
I don't think clear housing will be good, you'll want the chamber to be as dark as possible. Light+neutrium rich water=algae, and algae will produce oxygen when reacted with light source.
IMO, this device is not as maintenance free as some people think. Just look at the inside of any water lines that has been used for a few years, there will be so much crap in there the 1/4" water line will be clogged to a point water will not flow through and is impossible to clear a 75 feet long 1/4" tube.
The one commercial unit I own uses a 3/8" clear soft vinyl hose as the coil. I guess it make it easier to inspect and clear if someone whould go through the trouble of cleaning it every year.
Finally finished mine and i made it so you can open it just in case it gets clogged later in the years...will have pics up soon. Now just gotta wait a good 5-6 weeks for it to work.
I was thinking...if you drip some of that Cycle prodcut into the chamber, could that help speed up the cycling process of the denitrator?
fernandokng
Advanced Reefer
- Location
- Manhattan, New York
pics?
Ooo I'm sorry, I thought people had lost interest in this so I didn't remember to take pics. As soon as I get my camera I'll make sure to post some. I must add though...I think the denitrator is starting to work as things in my tank are doing much better than before, I think it's still cycling though it probably hasnt taken out all the nitrates yet. I'll give it another week and then test my nitrate level
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