Part 5 - Operating Notes:
Connect your pigtail so that it receives water from your aquarium via the overflow recovery tank (surface skimmer) or anywhere after the pre-filter. You can run with the flow rate wide open until either unit is filled with water, then check to see if you can maintain a flowrate of one drop per second. You may have to move your unit lower or closer to the sump area of your system to get it to flow properly. Once you are able to establish a flow rate of 1 drop per second, turn the unit off for two or three days to start the oxygen depletion within the unit. After two or three days of sitting idle, but before you start the unit up, place five little grains of regular cane sugar (or hummingbird food if you have it) into the pigtail tube, clamp it off so you don't get more than a bubble or two of air inside the tube, then reconnect and start the system.
o speed up the initial cycling process, you may want to run the unit at 1/2 flow rate for about two to three weeks, 30 drops per minute. Then increase the flow rate to the normal 1 drop per second.
It may take up to two months for the unit to become totally operational, however, don't be alarmed at the seemingly high reading of the effluent, which during cycling may show almost pure nitrite as an effluent, remember you are concentrating everything. A newly started system, if readings taken from the effluent will show an enormous amount of ammonia, which will decrease and the readings will show an enormous amount of nitrites, again, this will be followed with what appears to be a reading well over 140 of nitrates. These readings of the effluent are normal and will not upset the balance of your aquaria. The proper way to read the effluent of a denitrator is by regular water tests of your aquarium's water. Not by reading the effluent from the denitrator.
Once the denitrator is completely cycled, nitrate measurements may be taken at the output of the denitrator and the drip rate slowly reduced, by never more than one drop per minute, until a reading of zero nitrates is given by your test kit. Perfect adjustment is obtained when increasing the drip rate by 1 drop per minute shows a slight nitrate reading with the test kit. The test should not be performed for two days after any adjustment to the unit is made. Never reduce the output driprate below the exact count as measured above to insure that no hydrogen sulfide is produced.
If you are using the flat polycarbonate or acrylic denitrators, you can watch for signs of efficiency and adjust your flowrate upwards as needed. The facultatively aerobic/anaerobic bacteria will form a black area in the denitrators, if this black area seems to be pretty far from the re-oxygenation chamber, you may increase the flowrate, just a little at a time, until the black or active area is within 4 columns of the re-oxygenation chamber, the last two columns of the denitrator unit. Once the bacteria are established, even though they may grow to reach the re-oxygenation chamber, slowing down the effluent will not cause this area of the denitrator to clear up. Whatever flowrate was required to reach maximum efficiency should be noted and always use that flowrate with your particular unit.
Flowrate is counted only at the exit of the denitrator, not at the input, it is possible that the input can be as much as double as the output, due to vacuum in the drip reader if you use one. A drip reader is useless on a denitrator, because it will always fill up with water after a couple of weeks anyhow.
Special Note: Never let the denitrator dry out or run out of water. In the even of a long electrical outage, it is better to shut the unit off than to let it run dry. If you should come home and find that the unit ran out of water for some reason or other. Simply add five grains of sugar to the pigtail and restart the unit at the proper flowrate. Never, Never, Never up your flowrate or you will kill the facultativily aerobic/anaerobic bacteria, if the unit ran dry, humidity in the unit, once restarted should maintain all the bacteria colonies within the unit. Even a unit of either type, that ran dry, should still have plenty of water in the re-oxygenator part of the system to hold the humidity in and keep any further oxygen from entering once restarted.
If you have any questions, please e-mail me at raiar@inlink.com please be specific in your questions if you want specific answers.
All of the units depicted, work exceptionally well, and I have built and used each one with great success.
The units using airline tube or the smaller polypropylene double skinned sheeting will clog up and stop working after a year and a half or so. Or if a lot of debris is introduced to the system. A little jolt of water from your water pump will usually get them flowing again, but don't introduce too much oxygenated water to the denitrator in the process.
The larger units usually work totally maintenance free for years.
If you are fortunate enough to have a continuous nitrate reading below about 4ppm in your aquaria, it would be wise to introduce about one or two drops of regular hummingbird feed mixture, into your pigtail about once a month. Again, keep the airbubbles down to a minimum when doing this.
Those of you who have higher nitrate readings in your tank, will never have to feed your denitrator. In fact, you may want to consider building a second unit to handle the excess nitrates.
One last thing I want to stress is the importants of water changes. A denitrator does just that, removes nitrates, it does nothing for any other of the contaminants in your aquarium. Phosphate levels should be monitored more often and/or a strict regimine of water changes practiced.
Home | Denitrator Index | Next
Connect your pigtail so that it receives water from your aquarium via the overflow recovery tank (surface skimmer) or anywhere after the pre-filter. You can run with the flow rate wide open until either unit is filled with water, then check to see if you can maintain a flowrate of one drop per second. You may have to move your unit lower or closer to the sump area of your system to get it to flow properly. Once you are able to establish a flow rate of 1 drop per second, turn the unit off for two or three days to start the oxygen depletion within the unit. After two or three days of sitting idle, but before you start the unit up, place five little grains of regular cane sugar (or hummingbird food if you have it) into the pigtail tube, clamp it off so you don't get more than a bubble or two of air inside the tube, then reconnect and start the system.
o speed up the initial cycling process, you may want to run the unit at 1/2 flow rate for about two to three weeks, 30 drops per minute. Then increase the flow rate to the normal 1 drop per second.
It may take up to two months for the unit to become totally operational, however, don't be alarmed at the seemingly high reading of the effluent, which during cycling may show almost pure nitrite as an effluent, remember you are concentrating everything. A newly started system, if readings taken from the effluent will show an enormous amount of ammonia, which will decrease and the readings will show an enormous amount of nitrites, again, this will be followed with what appears to be a reading well over 140 of nitrates. These readings of the effluent are normal and will not upset the balance of your aquaria. The proper way to read the effluent of a denitrator is by regular water tests of your aquarium's water. Not by reading the effluent from the denitrator.
Once the denitrator is completely cycled, nitrate measurements may be taken at the output of the denitrator and the drip rate slowly reduced, by never more than one drop per minute, until a reading of zero nitrates is given by your test kit. Perfect adjustment is obtained when increasing the drip rate by 1 drop per minute shows a slight nitrate reading with the test kit. The test should not be performed for two days after any adjustment to the unit is made. Never reduce the output driprate below the exact count as measured above to insure that no hydrogen sulfide is produced.
If you are using the flat polycarbonate or acrylic denitrators, you can watch for signs of efficiency and adjust your flowrate upwards as needed. The facultatively aerobic/anaerobic bacteria will form a black area in the denitrators, if this black area seems to be pretty far from the re-oxygenation chamber, you may increase the flowrate, just a little at a time, until the black or active area is within 4 columns of the re-oxygenation chamber, the last two columns of the denitrator unit. Once the bacteria are established, even though they may grow to reach the re-oxygenation chamber, slowing down the effluent will not cause this area of the denitrator to clear up. Whatever flowrate was required to reach maximum efficiency should be noted and always use that flowrate with your particular unit.
Flowrate is counted only at the exit of the denitrator, not at the input, it is possible that the input can be as much as double as the output, due to vacuum in the drip reader if you use one. A drip reader is useless on a denitrator, because it will always fill up with water after a couple of weeks anyhow.
Special Note: Never let the denitrator dry out or run out of water. In the even of a long electrical outage, it is better to shut the unit off than to let it run dry. If you should come home and find that the unit ran out of water for some reason or other. Simply add five grains of sugar to the pigtail and restart the unit at the proper flowrate. Never, Never, Never up your flowrate or you will kill the facultativily aerobic/anaerobic bacteria, if the unit ran dry, humidity in the unit, once restarted should maintain all the bacteria colonies within the unit. Even a unit of either type, that ran dry, should still have plenty of water in the re-oxygenator part of the system to hold the humidity in and keep any further oxygen from entering once restarted.
If you have any questions, please e-mail me at raiar@inlink.com please be specific in your questions if you want specific answers.
All of the units depicted, work exceptionally well, and I have built and used each one with great success.
The units using airline tube or the smaller polypropylene double skinned sheeting will clog up and stop working after a year and a half or so. Or if a lot of debris is introduced to the system. A little jolt of water from your water pump will usually get them flowing again, but don't introduce too much oxygenated water to the denitrator in the process.
The larger units usually work totally maintenance free for years.
If you are fortunate enough to have a continuous nitrate reading below about 4ppm in your aquaria, it would be wise to introduce about one or two drops of regular hummingbird feed mixture, into your pigtail about once a month. Again, keep the airbubbles down to a minimum when doing this.
Those of you who have higher nitrate readings in your tank, will never have to feed your denitrator. In fact, you may want to consider building a second unit to handle the excess nitrates.
One last thing I want to stress is the importants of water changes. A denitrator does just that, removes nitrates, it does nothing for any other of the contaminants in your aquarium. Phosphate levels should be monitored more often and/or a strict regimine of water changes practiced.
Home | Denitrator Index | Next
