DIY Coil De-Nitrator

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[pickupman]

I brought htis over from the old forum... thought it might be good to bring across some of this good old stuff.. besides, I wrote it so I am proud..

One issue many reefers battle in their tanks is a high level of Nitrates. Ammonia and Nitrites are processed by Aerobic (oxygen consuming) bacteria, but the bacteria that process the NItrates into Nitrogen gas only thrive in an Anerobic (oxygen deprived) envronment. While live rock, sump sponges and sand beds provide a place for some of these bacteria, in many cases it is just not enough to handle the bioload of the tank inhabitants.

there are several ways to reduce the nitrate levels in your tank.

One way to reduce Nitrates may include using microporus products such as Seachem's Denitrator. While these products may work, they are expensive and not necessarily long lived. From reading Seachem's website, the Denitrator product they sell is a highly porus granule that can be used for substrate or placed somewhere in the sump.

For those with lots of light in the tank, such as Metal Halide or even VHO lighting, clams are a great choice for reducing their nitrates. Clams feed of this chemical, but they are expensive and if you dont have sufficient light, they wont last long at all.

THe most widely used method of using nitrates is regualr water changes. The theory is that by changing a large volume of your tanks water, you are basically diluting the nitrates. while this is true, many here at FF dont believe in water changes. they are expensive, time consuming and at times Messy.

A solution to Nitrate issues that is starting to catch on in this forum. Many of us have started using De-Nitrator coils. there are several commercial units on the market ranging in price form $70 to $300+. While expensive, these products are effective. But wouldnt you rather spend that hard earned $$$ on fish or corals? De-Nitrator coils are basically a very long piece of tubing coiled up inside a tube or canister with a slow low pressure flow rate. the tubing provides a surface for which the bacteria can attach themselves. in the first third or so of the tubing, you have the Ammonia processing bacteria. these bacteria use some of the oxygen in the water to turn the Ammonia into Nitrite. the second third of the tubing houses the Nitrite processing bacteria. THis bacteria uses the remaining oxygen in the tubed water to process the Nitrite into Nitrate. By this time, the water has been depleted of its oxygen content and the NItrate processing bacteria are allowed to thrive and thus process the NItrate into soluble nitrogen gas which is then expelled at the water surface of the tank or sump.

Knowing these principals, you can build a coil for under $30 not including a pump. mine cost me $22! I bought a 60ft length of 1/4 inside diameter black pvc tubing at Tractor supply Company. it cost me $.22 a foot. I then took a 24" piece of 4" PVC pipe and purchased 2 4"endcaps. I drilled 2 holes just large enought for the tubing to fit thru in one of these caps. I rolled up the tubing neatly and stuffed it into the pipe and ran the two tag ends of the tubing out of the cap with the holes. I then purchased a inline air valve (like used with aquarium air pump) and placed in on one end of the tubing so that I could control the water flow. the other end I hooked up to an existing pump with a low pressure outlet, but several here have used a 4gph fountain pump. I have mine adjusted to about 3-4 drops per second. That is all there is to it.

it will take about 6 weeks or so for the unit to become fully functional (cycle), but from what we have discovered, these devices work wonders on reducing nitrates.

Parts List:
50-60ft 1/4" pvc (air hose) tubing
24" section of 4" pvc drain pipe and 2 end caps (have heard of some using a large coffee can)
1 adjustable air valve
4gph fountain pump

If you have any questions on making your own, please feel free to holler at one of us..

BTW, in service for about 2 years now and working like a charm.

[Viking]

Anything you want to move please do. Its all a help and seems a shame to lose it all.
Cheers.

[billy]

I built a coil down denitrator and have had it running for two months now and the water coming out of it is basically the same as my tank water on nitrate tests. (the same high nitrate levels in both samples). I have controlled the drip rate over the 2 month peroid making it slower or faster, making sure it was never too slow and still no results. What could I be doing wrong??

[Crimson Ghost]

Billy - Can you describe the way you built it?  maybe drop a picture too

[Viking]

I built a coil down denitrator and have had it running for two months now and the water coming out of it is basically the same as my tank water on nitrate tests. (the same high nitrate levels in both samples). I have controlled the drip rate over the 2 month peroid making it slower or faster, making sure it was never too slow and still no results. What could I be doing wrong??

Billy, First welcome to the forum.
One thing i always found was basically if you run it too fast even for a little while you start all over again as you destroy the bacteria.
As above a description of how its built would e a good place to start.
Cheers.

[Tangster]

 Billy did it ever fully cycle ? At just 8 weeks thats asking alot of the coil.. If you just set the drip to 1 drop a  second then it will cure up just set it and forget it everytime you open and close the drip valve you are just starting over I can take up to 4 plus months to see them to fully cycle.

[pickupman]

Agreed. the slow rate is what makes this work.  if it is too fast then there is no chance for the oxygen being depleted from the water.

[Otty]

Has anyone done one of these with pictures to go by. Seems too simple. 

[Reefspinster]

Some good info here Scott :)

http://www.3reef.com/forums/filters-etc/diy-sump-vs-mechanical-filter-43678-2.html

[Otty]

Thinking about trying to tackle one of these. Thanks for the link. Hope Roger is doing ok, haven't seen any post from him lately. 

[Reefspinster]

He's ok,  just a bit under the weather.  If you have any questions about building a coil, drop him a line.  He is checking his e-mail sporadically so he'll probably get back to you :)

[Jsfishes]

HI,

I think it is very interesting.

would you mind to give me detial information, such as circuit diagram so that I can build it myself.

James

[Tangster]

 Buddy I can build on in about 1hr and I have been trying to walk someone on another site through a build and its still not finished and I have about 14 hrs typing time and now close to 6th week and chit chat. And even with shipping to about anywhere in the states its 50.00 plug and play.. I don't use airline any longer and over the last 25 yrs of building them I have eliminated about every weak link during that time .. And with the last one I have spent Hrs on trying to walk a guy through one he changed about 90% of the way I have found and went to what he thought where obvious improvements .. Just like anyone would at face value think as I did with my first few dozen .. Until the weak links appeared .  Oh I offered him a 50.00 unit also (: now at god knows how many hrs he has on it ? But he wasted 20.00 in parts alone (: If I can find the photos he sent me ? I'll see if I can get them posted for you as a How too .