DIY Denitrification Project.

[ReefWannabe]

that sounds good to, but id probably keep the bottom the same, gives more support for the base. I was wondering myself, if there was a reason you used a dome top?

[Timothy]

He probably used a dome because that's the most readily available cap for the pipe. Sure there might be some microscopic advantage to being able to put the outflow at he very top of the dome but I think that's outweighed by the danger of leaks from not having a flat surface for the passthrough to seal against.

As for the bottom My concern with a knockout is that it is specifically designed to be knocked out. True they are probably strong enough for this application but they are very thin where they are designed to break. It's probably fine though. I'd probably strap it to something anyway becuase it would be easy to knock over even with a foot so I figure you don't need a "foot" anyway. I like to make things smaller given a choice to give me more options on where to stick it and I can forsee the foot being annoying under a tank.

THe key for me is the ability to get a good seal you can trust on the passthrough I think.

[ReefWannabe]

i thought about sealing it like you said. If all you want out of the flat top is the seal, take the dome cover and sand down the top just enough so its flat. Then drill the hole. This way you get the dome with the best seal, since the scuffed up surface will hold sealant better anyways

starting mine this coming weekend.

[bjohanson1234]

I am very interested in this project, the question i have is since i dont have a sump or anywhere to have the coil drip into by gravity, is there a low power pump available to do the job for me?

Brian

[bkv1997]

I used a rio 600 pump to power it when I did it.

Brandon

[Timothy]

I always wondered if on couldn't simply use a diverter from the main return pump with a small valve to regulate how much pressure goes through the denitrator. Obviously the high pressure side connections would have to be clamped pretty good but this would eliminate the need for another pump.

BTW, I noticed that Northern tool now has a sheap 50 foot poly hose which might be enough to avoid piecing your internal coil together.

[bkv1997]

I would think that would also work well.

The onlything I noticed was all that tubing bunched up tight, even with the rio 600 wasn't pumping alot of water through it. So timothy's idea might be better, but I wouldn't go any smaller.

They sell those T kits at champion lighting etc for feeding a Calcium Reactor.

Brandon

[neuroslicer]

Walmart has a yellow coil used for air compressors for less than ten bucks. I just cut off the brass nozzle fitting and it was perfect for my DIY coil denitrator. It took 6 weeks for my coil to age to where I recorded 0 nitrates in the output drip.

[Chris]

Brandon,

Are you still using yours? Did it work?

Neuroslicer,

Great idea!

[bkv1997]

I did it for about 4 months and it worked great, but got rid of it when setting up the new system. I now have a bigger skimmer, which helped.

The only draw back to using the tubing suggested is it is a bigger diameter and if you don't have 100% of the oxygen deprived by the time it gets to the end you will kill the anarobic bacteria that resides in the middle part of the chamber.

So a slower drip rate would probably be needed.