Denitrators

[aldiver311]

Do they work? Does anybody on here use them? I'm doing crazy maint. on my 240 FOWLR tank and can't bring them down. They are over 200 ppm. They have been for over 5 years I can never get my Nitrates down.I spent a ton of money on upgrades that I needed besides the high nitrates. I added 400 lbs of live rock,changed my sump from a 33 gallon long to a 65 gallon chambered sump, took all my bio balls out, added 3 drains a spray bar from the return pump which is a Reeflo Barracuda,went from a 1800 Mag. I did have a 25 watt UV in the old setup but decided not to add it back in because I still got Ick all the time.Think I was wasting elect. the uv sterilizer. Thoughts anyone??

[BLockamon]

I have not had any luck with the coil-type, but the sulfur-based denitrators definitely work. You have to keep an eye on the alkallinity, but that shouldn't be an issue with a FOWLR.

You can either get a pre-built one from Midwest Aquatics, Korallin, or H&S. There were also instructions for making one yourself in the January 2009 issue of Reefkeeping (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-01/diy/index.php). Finally, any basic calcium reactor will work; just plug the CO2 line and fill with a mixture of sulfur and aragonite. I've used the Caribsea NO-NO3, but the sulfur balls would probably be nicer. Either works, however.

[DarG]

25 watt UV is undersized for a 240 gallon. But they arent cures for ICH anyway. Best used as clarifiers IMO, not disease prevention. The ICH is likely due to the stress on the fish because of the high trates.

I would definitely be looking at a Denitrator (sulphur) if I did everything I was supposed to do in terms of upkeep and still couldnt lower my nitrates.

[aldiver311]

Thanks guys, I was going to go for the Midwest one but I found this one call Aquaipure you feed it Vodka or sugar water and the only byproduct is carbon dioxide. The guy who builds them live about an hour from me so he told me I could come over to his place and check it out before I bought one.Say you don't ever have to change the substrate very low maint. and you dont have to worry about the alk problem you get from the sulfur ones best thing is the price is about 100 bucks less than midweat or koralin models.Check out the site Aquaipure.com let me know what you guys think.

[DarG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14847836#post14847836 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by aldiver311
Thanks guys, I was going to go for the Midwest one but I found this one call Aquaipure you feed it Vodka or sugar water and the only byproduct is carbon dioxide. The guy who builds them live about an hour from me so he told me I could come over to his place and check it out before I bought one.Say you don't ever have to change the substrate very low maint. and you dont have to worry about the alk problem you get from the sulfur ones best thing is the price is about 100 bucks less than midweat or koralin models.Check out the site Aquaipure.com let me know what you guys think.

There are some reefers that dose vodka or sugar. Check the downsides on the reef chemistry forum because I think there are some potential downsides to it. But I dont know much about it.

[Rogger Castells]

Aquaripure is a good denitrator, it will bring the nitrates down in a few weeks, but, the really bad side of it is that it needs almost daily adjustments or it will not work, I had one and gave it away due to that.