looking for a nitrate and calcium reactor

OU11BB · 01/29/2010, 07:16 PM

I need your help. which do you recommend? does anyone use a nitrate reactor?

redfishsc · 01/29/2010, 10:27 PM

I assume you are referring to either a denitrator coil, or a sulfur reactor, for nitrate. I'm using neither at the moment.

I have found that a sufficiently large refugium works very well for nitrate reduction (as well as providing copepods/amphipods for the filter feeders).

Also dosing a carbon source like vodka or vitamin C works very, very well if you have a good skimmer.

The carbon dosing alone is about the cheapest and most reliable way I've seen to reduce nitrate. You just have to dose CAREFULLY, move slowly, and be patient. And have a GOOD skimmer.

r-balljunkie · 01/29/2010, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OU11BB

I need your help. which do you recommend? does anyone use a nitrate reactor?

at the end of the day, they are one in the same. the only difference is:

1) you add calcium media to a calcium reactor, and inject co2 into the body to lower the ph to melt the media to produce ca and alk

2) you add sulfur media and recirculate and produce bacteria reaction to eat nitrates.

i dont know what your end goal is. if its to reduce nitrates, any old calcium reactor will work, just cap off the co2 injection port, and your good to go. make sure to drip the effluent and monitor your nitrates, as well as alkalinity, as a denitator will zap your alk quickly, in a matter of days.

GL

C

01/29/2010, 07:16 PM	#1
OU11BB Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 55	looking for a nitrate and calcium reactor I need your help. which do you recommend? does anyone use a nitrate reactor?

01/29/2010, 10:27 PM	#2
redfishsc Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Wake Forest, NC Posts: 3,696	I assume you are referring to either a denitrator coil, or a sulfur reactor, for nitrate. I'm using neither at the moment. I have found that a sufficiently large refugium works very well for nitrate reduction (as well as providing copepods/amphipods for the filter feeders). Also dosing a carbon source like vodka or vitamin C works very, very well if you have a good skimmer. The carbon dosing alone is about the cheapest and most reliable way I've seen to reduce nitrate. You just have to dose CAREFULLY, move slowly, and be patient. And have a GOOD skimmer. __________________ "The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers.