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OzIA · 01/09/2018, 08:42 PM

For the water test, I started out with just enough water to float the balls. Everything moved without issue or excessive load. I then added 800 more balls and put in enough water to allow them to float slightly. Again, no excessive load was perceived. Although the balls still clumped together after some time, they didn’t stick as tightly as they had when I ran the dry test. It appears that the more force applied to moving them translates into a tighter more compact molecule. I guess it’s sort of a run-away reaction or action. I have a short video but I’m not sure how to link that in. The attachments seem to be limited to pictures, probably due to size.

I also don’t have any more balls to test with. The other 800 are being used in one of the other test systems. When the time comes to install the new filter, I will removed and rinse those and add them to the other 1600 to complete the bioreactor. Hopefully this will give me a head start on growing the biofilm throughout the reactor.

I’ve thought about modifying the ball structure to prevent them from bonding to each other. I think I can do this by melting the open ends just a little bit by touching them to something hot but that would require a lot of effort. –two sides times 2400 balls, ugh.

I also took the first water sample and sent it off to Triton. I’m fairly confident that I can remove the nitrate without water changes. My hope is to also remove the phosphate without the need for a GFO or Lanthanum Chloride reactor. Also, I hope to understand what trace elements are removed by running the ABS vs just the chaeto system over the next year or so. I’m also hoping that there will be increased biodiversity and plankton food sources will be present. This is one of the claimed benefits of the DyMiCo system.

I need to work on the bubble diffusers and some of the other plumbing and flow components. I also need to complete the drive system for the CFC. I have been going back and forth between a direct drive system, another belt driven system and a gear driven system that I have used in the past.

The gear driven system would be easiest. It’s a “known animal” but I’m out of large nylon gears so I would need to reuse ones from one of my previous systems or find more gears. I’m really moving away from the direct drive system because I’m thinking that if something gets stuck, as it occasionally does, breakage will occur. Right now with the belt drive or the gears, there is enough play to allow them to slip rather than break so I’m focused in that direction.

01/09/2018, 08:42 PM	#12
OzIA Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2016 Posts: 214	Water Test For the water test, I started out with just enough water to float the balls. Everything moved without issue or excessive load. I then added 800 more balls and put in enough water to allow them to float slightly. Again, no excessive load was perceived. Although the balls still clumped together after some time, they didn’t stick as tightly as they had when I ran the dry test. It appears that the more force applied to moving them translates into a tighter more compact molecule. I guess it’s sort of a run-away reaction or action. I have a short video but I’m not sure how to link that in. The attachments seem to be limited to pictures, probably due to size. I also don’t have any more balls to test with. The other 800 are being used in one of the other test systems. When the time comes to install the new filter, I will removed and rinse those and add them to the other 1600 to complete the bioreactor. Hopefully this will give me a head start on growing the biofilm throughout the reactor. I’ve thought about modifying the ball structure to prevent them from bonding to each other. I think I can do this by melting the open ends just a little bit by touching them to something hot but that would require a lot of effort. –two sides times 2400 balls, ugh. I also took the first water sample and sent it off to Triton. I’m fairly confident that I can remove the nitrate without water changes. My hope is to also remove the phosphate without the need for a GFO or Lanthanum Chloride reactor. Also, I hope to understand what trace elements are removed by running the ABS vs just the chaeto system over the next year or so. I’m also hoping that there will be increased biodiversity and plankton food sources will be present. This is one of the claimed benefits of the DyMiCo system. I need to work on the bubble diffusers and some of the other plumbing and flow components. I also need to complete the drive system for the CFC. I have been going back and forth between a direct drive system, another belt driven system and a gear driven system that I have used in the past. The gear driven system would be easiest. It’s a “known animal” but I’m out of large nylon gears so I would need to reuse ones from one of my previous systems or find more gears. I’m really moving away from the direct drive system because I’m thinking that if something gets stuck, as it occasionally does, breakage will occur. Right now with the belt drive or the gears, there is enough play to allow them to slip rather than break so I’m focused in that direction.