Since we are having the meeting this month on nitrate reactors I thought I would start this topic so everybody can watch the progress of it working. I tested tonight and took some pics of the results the first pic is the reactor in the sump,the second is the P.H. coming out of the reactor and the tank P.H. , The third is the nitrates out of the reactor and the tank nitrates. As you can see I have a slight nitrate problem. This is what alot of fish will get you.
Great pics & documentation on a very relevant subject ! Here a good read too ! Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... 3/chem.htm
Looks like the reactor is doing it's job. Should the reactor eventually catch up with the tank parms? With slow flow through the reactor it should eventually get to treat all the water in the tank. Guess the trick is not to produce more nitrates than the reactor can handle.
I haven't had a nitrate problem since, I won the media reactor from the raffle at the Pet Country event in April. My nitrates stay at 0. It was definitely a great birthday present. I am very pleased with the reactor and just wanted folks to know that they do indeed help.
Hey Sam, this is a really cool project. I've been wondering about nitrates quite a bit. I've historically had zero problems with them, as I have a small tank, with a very small fish load. BUT, I went on vacation for three weeks, and left a neighbor in charge and lost a McCosker's wrasse. Ever since then, I had some bubble algae go crazy!!! Also, I'm not sure what it's called, but some of the grass-like algae that is pretty coarse and pulls out easily. (Don't tell me to get an emerald crab, I already have one, and the 1,426 bubbles of algae are too much for him to keep up with). I've been thinking about a fuge, or a nitrate reactor. I don't, however, have a sump. Would it be possible to design an external reactor that isn't dependent on a sump, or is it to much risk of a "water incident"?
This unit can be a stand alone unit no sump is needed. But you do need enough room for a feed pump to the reactor, but with a little design change you could make it gravity feed.
reviving this thread, but had another question about it. I noticed the ph on the way out is WAYY to acidic. Would you be able to setup a type of baffle box that had the water from the reactor coming in one side, a slow drip of baking soda dissolved in water coming in the other and then pump or siphon the whole load back to the regular sump? May not work, just curious if it were possible.
I guess you could do that. I use kalkwasser as my topoff and have not had a problem with PH but it is 350 gallons in this system if it were a smaller tank then this baffle idea might be needed to keep the PH up
Yes it is doing great. The last time I tested the nitrates were at 5 ppm and when I started the reactor they were around 50 ppm.
Just an up-date. Cory came by yesterday and we tested the nitrates in the frag tank where the reactor has been running for 2 weeks. Showed 0 Nitrates. The reactor had a small leak around the bottom seal so we took it off line and sealed the bottom with silicone. Plan to wait a couple weeks for the silicone to cure and then test before putting it back on line. Will keep you posted of any changes. Tested the 200 gal and Nitrates were over 40 so started the reactor on that one and will let you know what the reading is in a couple weeks.
