Taking Reducing Nitrates to the Next Level

In this video we are building my DIY version (what I had on hand) of a Nitrate Reactor. If you have any questions after watching the video feel free to leave a comment or email me directly.
Thank you to Jeff @ Daily Reefing for all of your advice on setting this up. If you have not checked out his channel please check it out!
/ jeffdstafford
Thanks for watching!!
Music by / ikson

[@Davelembo]

Hey Blue. Love the DIY aspect of this and all the thought that went into it. Good luck and keep us posted

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Thanks Dave. Seeing others in action always help give you the confidence to do it yourself

[@tenbearsreeftank5705]

I'm just happy for you cuz this machine has changed my life and change the whole way I Reef

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Yes I can't wait to see the results.

[@dailycoral]

Great setup, looks like you did your research!

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Yes. I had a lot of great help on this one. Thank you for all of your help!

[@BriansAquariums]

Very cool man. I've never seen or heard of a sulfate media for no3 reduction. Very interesting!

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Brian's Aquariums yes it was popular in the 90s but rarely used today

[@OperationDx1]

What is the next level? After sulfur?

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

This and a combination of a good refugium did the trick for me.

[@OperationDx1]

@@BlueCarbonReefing I'm just joking. This is probably the best method. I have a big unit made by aqua max.

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

@@OperationDx1 drastic measures sometimes

[@jeremybw2180]

That is a complex solution to a simple issue. Sulfur media isn't needed to create denitrification. Just some porous stone such as pumice rock. The key to a denitrifying filter is limit flow (start around 1 gallon per hour drip) and limit O2 (which is accomplished by limiting flow). Per my testing in the development of my own denitrifying filter, I find that @ around .25ppm phosphates you are anywhere between 0.60 to 0.34 ppm nitrates. To get any lower than those numbers will likely require carbon dosing, but any lower than .25 and .6-.3 isn't good for corals that feed off these nutrients.

[@haroutvartanian2915]

what kind of pump is that? Can you please tell me the name? Thank you!

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

That is a Tom's Aqualifter

[@haroutvartanian2915]

@@BlueCarbonReefing Thank you. I have four 10 gallon tanks, do you think I can Use one filter and one pump for four tanks. I would connect the airline hoses with 4 way splitters. I’m just trying to really avoid making four of these if I can make one big one and connect them do you think that will work or will I am not be able to control the outflow and have the tanks overflow...

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

@@haroutvartanian2915 I honestly don't know. They were made to be able to both air and water. I am not sure if creating a manifold and using it with 4 tanks would work but I would try it before I bought 4 of them. I just don't know what kind of pressure they can handle.

[@bennis325]

Hi Blue, does this system works? I saw a video, of the upgrade. I am trying to do the same as with your bashsea setup.

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

It did not work great for me but that may have been my system or something it lacked. I could never turn up the flow high enough to make a dent into the nitrates at the time. It did Ultimately work but was not turning over enough water to bring the overall numbers down. My final solution was growing chaeto..

[@Reefkpr1]

Hey Blue! I was listening to Murphy's live stream and heard you and Jeff talking about this and was wondering why I had not seen the video. Came on over to find I was not subbed. I was sure I was subbed but regardless I am now. checkin out your vids to catch up. lol

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

I saw your sub and realized I wasn't subbed to you as well. I am now! Thanks for watching this one!

[@ReeferDave]

Great looking setup. I've read they work great but can put nitrates at zero when it starts working.

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Yea we will see. If they hit zero I can always take some of the sulfur media out

[@louiepage6623]

Like 40£ a liter in UK

[@naimbeats]

Hell yeah love it

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Thanks iReef

[@skullartcollector]

What sulfer you using now? Soil sulfer sold on amazon or landscape places?

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

I am no longer using sulfur at all. I was successfully able to reduce my nitrates down to near zero

[@mikescichlids]

@@BlueCarbonReefing what are you using in place of sulfur to reduce nitrates?

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

I was but am no longer using this system

[@skullartcollector]

Soil sulfer I bought cheapest on Amazon.. Those landscape places have high shipping... I have three eels, high nitrates, I could not grow algae Cheato with success, it probably is the Dr Tim's or the Vibrant killing it..

[@mikescichlids]

@@skullartcollector hi...i have 3 eels too..and will add a 4th when he grows out.....so my nitrates het high too..ive been doing water changes but they just keep going higher...predators put out a ton of waste as you know...have seen the nitrates go down yet for you using this system? I was hesitant to use it because if the acidic nature if it but that's what the aragonite is for so im gonna try it...was just wondering what stage you're at...thanks!

[@camerongallo5940]

I tried biopellets and it algae bombed my tank. I'm going to try this next.

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

I've had zero success with biopellets..

[@camerongallo5940]

@@BlueCarbonReefing how long did it take for the sulfur to start working

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

@@camerongallo5940 a few weeks at least

[@BriansAquariums]

How is this working? I may need to put something like this on my clownfish broodstock tank. I've been using bio pellets for a couple months now but it has not helped yet. I've got 2 boxes of marinepure spheres for the bacteria to grow on as well. Thanks

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

I upgraded to a calcium reactor with a recirc pump. More sulfur media and it is working better. Not turning over significant water volume though

[@KreefAquariumhobby]

Nice !!

[@ProducerReef]

Do you run it open first? Then slow it down? I have a seapora one....

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

You can run it at the initial setup full blast to try and get all of the air bubbles out but after the first day or two I would slow down the flow to one drop per second

[@timgentry]

I know it's been a while since you made this video but I was wondering what you are putting on the John Guest 1/4 in push connect fittings?

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

The were just screwed into the outputs that came on the reactor. Because there is no real pressure building up there was no leaks. It worked just fine.

[@tenbearsreeftank5705]

You must do that 1st for 24 hours that's really gonna establish the bacteria that's an important part

[@seralaltidor370]

How is working out for you? Are you still using it? I have two of those media reactors lying around so I may do the same thing? Thank you for sharing

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

It worked so well I took the reactor offline and am now considering dosing Nitrates to get them back to a readable range.

[@seralaltidor370]

Blue Carbon Reefing oh wow! I have 10 tangs and I’m heavy handed when it comes to feeding so I may be good. Going to this set up when I have some down time. Thanks again for the video

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

@@seralaltidor370 You are very welcome. give it time. It took a couple of months before I started to see a difference.

[@seralaltidor370]

Blue Carbon Reefing ok. Thanks again

[@seralaltidor370]

Hey, where did you find the sulpher media? I can’t find it anywhere. Thanks again

[@Winny_HTX]

Have you noticed your alkalinity dropping faster since you set this up?

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Nothing significant

[@tenbearsreeftank5705]

Yo blue. Your definitely going to have to change that pump I myself had to return mine and get more of a small type powerhead as you said in the video it was wide open and only dripping out that's not going to be fast enough to feed all that bacteria when it actually grows it eats like crazy. Mine almost runs as fast as an RO water filter. I mean if you have any questions about that system I think you have a little too much aragonite cuz it's powerful and it goes a long way I have a lot less and I have a 600 gallon tank but I've been through all the ups and downs with the sulfur denitrifier. The fast of the flow the faster it removes the nitrates the slow of the flow the slower it remove zit yeah but definitely definitely bigger pump because the bacteria is going to start to starve you definitely will not be feeding it fast enough with that pump and they clog a lot they like to stop a lot hit me up you got any questions about it I almost became an expert in them because I went through every issue

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Thank you for the input. I did also buy a couple of small eheim pumps that will do 79 gph and 159 gph if I need to step up the flow on this. I figured I would start slow and work my way up if needed.

[@tenbearsreeftank5705]

If you ever get a rotten egg smell which you probably will when the bacteria really gets going that just means turn up the flow the bacteria is underfed

[@tenbearsreeftank5705]

And if it's a really bad strong smell I would divert it for at least a chamber or two full of water and then diverted back into the tank

[@DiepBlueC]

but ten bears doesnt it need to start out very slow (or almost off) to colonize the reactor and create anoxic environment for the bacteria to thrive? I am just starting one myself (well a few weeks ago) and every time I left the flow really slow, nitrates in effluent would be really low or zero, but as soon as I exceed a drop per second or so, the nitrates went right back up to the level of the tank (~30ppm). very interested to hear any tips! thanks, and good luck Blue Carbon!

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

So far i am seeing the same thing Deepblue. I am assuming i will be to keep turning up the flow as the bacteria establishes

[@oscardbedoya]

Can you let us know how is it going? Did it work? I always used this type of reactors on my set ups and I never had to worry about nitrates. However, I think your set up is overkill. Let us know please. Thanks

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

I upgraded the nitrate reactor to a bigger and better version. It is working and doing its job but I havent been able to turn the flow up to a significant amount to drop the nitrates significantly

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Yea I am not sure but based on some research I may not have enough phosphate to feed the bacteria

[@ReefingwithO]

What are your phosphates? I'm battling high phosphates (.4) but I have 0 nitrates.

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

.058 was my last test.. they are consistently low

[@DwightMcCharles]

Great Video Jon. Are you still vodka dosing while doing this?

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

No I stopped the vodka dosing over a week ago. My skimmers were going crazy, probably from how much vodka I was dosing.

[@DwightMcCharles]

Blue Carbon Reefing thanks for the reply

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Anytime Dwight!

[@xclusivereef5805]

Hey Blue it's been a few months on this. how's it going you still using this?

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Hey Xclusive. I upgraded to a larger calcium reactor CM202. It is still working but I haven't been able to turn the flow up yet to make a significant impact. check out the video here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaKcf5psra5kn7s

[@BriansAquariums]

8:53 lol Catscalways have to check out what's going on. I have 2 of them myself.

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Brian's Aquariums yes she is a camera hog.. 😂

[@tenbearsreeftank5705]

You need to seed it with your tank water you fill it with your tank water put the lid on no pumps know nothing water read let sit for 24 hours then slowly start dripping to a fast fast pace

[@tenbearsreeftank5705]

I told blue reach out to me cause I have a lot of experience in them but he fired at all upon his own and then midway through reached out to me

[@FriendM2010]

Nice job on the setup, may give this a try... Egads, do not operate any heavy machinery today, as I just saw a black cat cross your path 😳😳😳

[@dmd733]

1 drip per second = 34 gallons per YEAR :)

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

That is an interesting fact... thanks Dave D!

[@williamtrego6576]

More like >400 gal per year

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

Probably depends on the size of the drip but I was calculating greater than 300 gallons per year which is still too slow

[@DEXTER-TV-series]

Dislike for music. Sorry.

[@BlueCarbonReefing]

I like the song but thanks for watching!