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De nitrification coil


paul b

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I built this coil a few years ago and it worked well.  A de-nitrification coil is a simple device that reduces nitrates to zero for no money and it is a simple design costing maybe $25.00 to build.  Hurricane Sandy put an end to the thing as it needs constant water flow and a few days without water flow will make the thing as helpful as some of our rock singers.  I have posted the construction before but I will do it again in my book that is not out yet.  Basically it is a long tube where anerobic bacteria grow on a diet of nitrates and Vodka.  The Vodka keeps them smashed so they don't realize they are working for free.  The thing also needs 3 weeks to a month to start working but now it reduces nitrates from 40 (which my reef is) to zero.  It is still cycling in my workshop and I will again install it on my tank as soon as I get some time.

The device is just the blue tube, the rest of the stuff is just my normal workshop stuff.

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The tube on the right is tank water and the tube on the left is water that leaves the coil.

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long island, I spent 20 summers at 846 dune road Westhampton beach and have been thinking of going back to do a seahorse count with a grid at swan island,  Morices inlet Shinokock inlet got me started diving, have you been too the Riverhead aquarium? I hope our nonprofit can be half as succesfull as that place, as a kid i collected spotfins and other tropicals in the fall and sold them to pet stores, when can i read your'e book, I'm all about filters, soon I might be feedig more then 30 cubes of shrimp a day into 600 gallons, 16 cubes now plus lots of live food horses grow fast changing 150 gallons a week, my tanks are 66 degrees the keys are great but i miss cold water 

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I know Dune Road well and go there a few times a year as my wife's cousin has a home near there.  I also know Riverhead Aquarium well and have donated some fish that got to large to them.  My cousin was the Architect that designed the place.  The text part of the book is done but I am working on the DIY parts which require a lot of photography and diagrams.  My wife who has MS has been very sick and in a lot of pain so i am spending most of my time helping her so the book is taking a back seat.  But I hope to finish it soon.

 

I did most of my diving in the Long Island Sound from 1974

 

 

 

Comparatively, a biopellet reactor is a much smaller device and requires a pump to push water thru the reactor and doesn't consume vodka- you actually get to drink it instead.

I sometimes lay under my denitrification coil and drink the Vodka after it goes through the coil.  Sometimes the bacteria just can't drink any more and they leave me some

Edited by paul b
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yes i want to buy a copy when its done, i took care of my dad for years and now look after my mom, so breeding fish keeps me happy i cant  go anywhere anymore, i have sick friends so keep up the good work with your'e wife, we all know what it is like for you, 

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I did a lot of research on these a few months ago, but of course the interwebs says it doesn't work. Enter Paul B. to once again show that these older ideas do in fact work just fine.

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Usually the net says things do work, when they don't.  I want to perfect this thing even though I keep changing it around.  I am looking for the perfect device if there is such a thing.  The problem is that every time you change it, it takes a month to start working so it is time consuming.

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My simplified system.  The large clear thing is an empty bio pellet chamber, There are just brittle stars in there, like a 5 star hotel, it is just there because I wanted to build one but I hate bio pellets as I think they are stupid and I almost crashed my system with them.  The smaller acrylic thing is a chamber where I can control the water height and it controls the amount of water going through the de-nitrification chamber.   As you can see, I have an acrylic fetish
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I don't like bio pellets gave mine to my brother, he also does not like them, you like boats, boat building nut my whole life, built a 32 foot cat, giving to the conservancy as I cant use it, now restoring an 18 foot 1957 chris craft, that means replacing every board almost, its fun, have you ever raised mysis shrimp? going to try maybe

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I never raised Mysis shrimp as all summer I collect amphipods by the thousands.  I think bio pellets should be burned as a stupid invention, but I know many people like them

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I think that would be to much trouble, to large and to heavy.  I am also not sure if it would work.  I just added a 4' tube of sand to the thing to increase the surface area because even if it works at one drop a second, that is to slow.

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I must have read about this remote "DSB in a bucket" from Calfo. He has a long string on RC from 2005: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=595109

 

The water doesnt pass through the sand. Input and output are both above the sand level. Or use an old aquarium. Or put a bucket in a tub and just let it overflow if you dont want to have to put a bulkhead on a curved bucket. Moderately high flow. You can find pictures by googling: denitrification diy bucket reef.

 

I like the idea of a 20L with say 8" of sand plumbed in line after mechanical filtration for extra denitrification for a 100gal reef. Keep it in the dark.

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Ah now I remember. This sand idea was discussed alongside denitrification coils, bioballs, biowheels, etc in an old "your first reef tank" type book. Thats why it came to mind and i wondered if you had ever heard of it. Seems like some advantages and some disadvantages over a coil

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I have been tinkering with different designs for many years.  They do all have some issues that mostly come with the proper flow.  To little and you get hydrogen sulfide and to much you get nothing.  I am trying to remedy this, but it isn't easy

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  • 4 weeks later...

Out of curiosity, is there any reason in particular you dislike biopellets? Like vodka, they're just another source of carbon/energy for the beneficial bacteria in the tank to use.

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i have a 60 gallon wet dry it seems to have reduced my skimmer waste by 70 percent? the bio balls cost a lot of money $800 but once it is set up no work, why am i the only one that has one? is there a down side? i gave away my bio pellet reactor just a fad, rocks in a sump, another fad i think, but would like your'e thoughts on wet dry, walt

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I used bio pellets a few months ago and almost crashed my tank.  I just don't like them as my corals started to croak and the tank just didn't look good.  After I threw them out things improved greatly and now the tank looks better than it has in 40 years. 

 

WE all had bio balls.  I had loads of them and still think they are a great invention.  I think they are better in a fish only but still a great idea.  You just need a better way to also remove the nitrates.  A natural way is to use bacteria in a de nitrification coil or live rock.  My coil is working pretty good but not yet fast enough so I am still tweeking and cycling it.  It reduces nitrates of 60 to zero but not on the first pass.  I am still experimenting with it and it is still running.

 

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The thing finally seems to be cycled and it is working about twice as fast as the original design.  This one is the same coil but I added about 5' of sand in a 3/4" pipe.  It is processing about one drop a second and so far turns nitrates of about 40 to zero in the 10 minutes or so the water takes to get through the device.  I am not going to install it on my tank yet as I still need to do more testing.  It has been cycling for one month but I still want to process water faster.  The test results are from the water entering the device and coming out. 
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