Sump DSB or sulfur denitrifier?

[villious]

I have a 120 gallon mostly SPS tank with a rather heavy bio-load. I do my water changes religiously and I want to implement a nitrate reduction plan. I'm looking at either a DSB in my sump, or buying a midwest aquatic sulfur denitrifier. I've read a ton on both, all good.

My question is, the rough dimensions for my DSB would be 19" x 13" x 4.5" deep. There would be a good 2" flow water across the top as it flows through my sump. Is this enough sand to really be effective? Would the midwest aquatic sulfur denitrifier better serve my purpose and give me much more denitrifing power?

I've read all the threads on a RDSB in a bucket, but just do not have the room under or around my tank, so the sump is my only option for a DSB. Any opinions are welcome. Thanks so much!

v/r
Woody

[corals b 4 bills]

I recently had a tank melt down due to nitrates that rose to 100 ppm after installing a Korallin 1502 Denitrator on my 155 within 4 weeks my tanks nitrates are zero, yea you here the stories but there true, now this dosen't take place of water changes and thats what got me into this mess in the first place but it got my tank back on track. This device once properly set-up is set and forget from what I hear a year or so with regular testing, I'm sold, heck I even have a 4-5" 320 lb. sand bed. (My tunzes could have disturbed the bed also, but thats water under the bridge).

[fingersdlp]

Been there, doing both. I have the smaller midwest unit on a 180 gallon VERY high bio-load tank (think big puffer fish). Unit works great. Only issue I have is the output stream flow rate is inconsistent and I have to adjust it once a week or so. This may be due to the way I have it plumbed in or the cheap control valve on the output line. YMMV.

Before I got the Midwest unit I installed a RDSB in a 27 gallon brute trash can. This helped but not nearly as dramatic a change as the Sulfur denitrator.

If I had a do-over I would probably skip the RDSB and just get the larger Midwest unit for my 180.

I also have a RDSB on a 156 gallon reef. My opinion is the RDSB are a modest assist to reduce the nitrates but not a great help. But they can be put together cheap and if you have the room the additional volume of water they can add to the system is also a plus. However if you have a real nitrate problem and your fish are already hungry from a slim diet then a Sulfur denitrator is a great addition.

Last bit, I also have a refugium on my 156 that grows Calurpa and Cheato. My 2 cents on the effectiveness would be:

1) Sulfur denitrator - Easily the best. Maybe 5 times better than my refugium.
2) Refugium - Pretty good with side benefits. Mine is limited in size so maybe a larger one would have more effect.
3) RDSB - modest improvement but not great in my experience.

[mcrist]

I just purchased the Korallin BioDenitartor S-4002 myself and installed it last night. I will let you know how well it works for me.

[villious]

Thank you fingersdlp! Great info! Priceless :-)

[luke33]

Why not try a fuge first? My trates have been at zero for nearly a year because of the fuge and skimmer.

[Avi]

I've got a 120-gallon reef and I had nitrate readings at a consistent (more or less) 50ppm...even with bi-weekly water changes. I began growing Chaeto in my sump and after a month or two the nitrates did drop to 25ppm but they leveled off there and no matter how much the Chaeto grew, the nitrates didn't drop any further. I added a Midwest sulfur denitrifier and the nitrates have been a consistent 0 and I'm very happy with it, despite some sulfur smell from time to time.

[chrissreef]

I'm going to try a fuge and a 5" tray of sand in my sump =)

hmm, maybe I should get an old wet/dry sump and put the try of sand where the balls would be. hmmm

[corals b 4 bills]

In the beginning the sulfur smell nearly caused a divorce but after a bunch of tweaking there is no smell what so ever. I'm an overloader so I need all the help I can get.

[fingersdlp]

As long as I keep the output flow steady there is no smell from my sulfur denitrator. Only when it drops to a real low flow or stops (happened before I started to adjust if every week or so) do I smell sulfur.

[corals b 4 bills]

Yea you really need to buy another valve I havn't had to touch mine since I got it dialed in.

[Avi]

How fast does the water come out when you have it "dialed in" right?

[corals b 4 bills]

Iv'e got mine running about 65 drops per minute BUT, everyones tank will vary depending on bioload. you will increase it or decrease it as you go don't worry you will know it's set when the smell goes away.

[rnelson]

I ordered the larger Midwest unit for my 480, should arrive later in the week.... I was planning on putting the feed pump in the sump....what is the input size on the Midwest unit and what feed pump should I use? My sump is about 25" tall......

Thanks!

[mcrist]

rnelson I’m curious why you went with the Midwest unit over the Korallin? The Midwest unit is rated for only a 500 gallon tank and the Korallin 700 gallons. Your tank is about the same size as mine and when I contacted Midwest they actually recommended me go with the larger unit from Korallin.

[rnelson]

mcrist,

2 reasons....1) the customer service at Midwest was excellent, and 2) the Korallin S-4002 is $706, the large Midwest is $430. I couldn't justify an extra $276 for 200gal more capacity.

[rnelson]

Double post edit

[JCurry]

Could you please post a link to the Mid-West unit. Thanks.

[rnelson]

JCurry,

Sure, here ya go:

MidWest Aquatic Sulfur DeNitrator

[mcrist]

I just tested my nitrates this evening and found that they dropped from a high of 20-25 to 7 ppm in only 10 days. I am happy to report the Korallin BioDenitrator is doing a great job.

[rnelson]

mcrist,

That's great news.....10 days is really quick!

[mg426]

DSB has worked wonders for me.

[wrott]

I've got my Midwest output fully open for 6 months= no H2S smell and no NO3.
The first 3 months I tried "dialing it in" w/ out success--eventually H2S smell would build-up and I could see bacterial filaments in the bottom of the reactor.
Put a sponge filter on the intake of the tubing, and I would recommend leaving it running wide open 24/7.
I also put the out-flow into the skimmer riser tube to reduce H2S from decreasing pH.

[mcrist]

Originally posted by wrott
I've got my Midwest output fully open for 6 months= no H2S smell and no NO3.
The first 3 months I tried "dialing it in" w/ out success--eventually H2S smell would build-up and I could see bacterial filaments in the bottom of the reactor.
Put a sponge filter on the intake of the tubing, and I would recommend leaving it running wide open 24/7.
I also put the out-flow into the skimmer riser tube to reduce H2S from decreasing pH.

You run your unit fully opened, I've never heard anyone doing that. Any issues?

Good idea about the sponge filter now I just need to find one small enough.

Not sure about the skimmer idea. How did you add the output to the skimmer? Doesn't that affect skimmer performance?

[wrott]

The instructions say to run it w/out restriction of the output to remove all air=O2, and then to "dial it back to dripping". But I keep it unrestricted full time. This seems most logical to me since eventually there are plenty of anaerobic bacteria and you get maximum efficiency flow-through. I found if you start dripping that eventually H2S starts to elute from reactor.
For a sponge, I just cut down a large piece and made a small hole into which to insert tube and then just drop it in sump.
The output tube, I just place in the skimmer riser tube that water flows out of skimmer, over and through foam ring to reduce micro-bubbles---this also allows for more surface area to dissipate gases from NO3 and Ca reactors.