Denitrifier

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has anyone built a coil denitrifier?

i have a 3" freshwater tank with a pair of big (dirty :) goldfish in it and
was wondering if it would help at all.

the tank is about 150L with about 50L in the sump. It's running a trickle
filter ATM (which, BTW is better than the fluval 404 i had before it, and
cheaper too).

thanks.

[Bill Stock]

> wrote in message ...
> has anyone built a coil denitrifier?
>
> i have a 3" freshwater tank with a pair of big (dirty :) goldfish in it
> and
> was wondering if it would help at all.
>
> the tank is about 150L with about 50L in the sump. It's running a trickle
> filter ATM (which, BTW is better than the fluval 404 i had before it, and
> cheaper too).
>
> thanks.

You might consider an auto water changer. I've collected most of the parts
for one, but I have to move the tank (75G) before I can hook it up. I may do
it this summer if the fish go to their cottage (Pond). I found the biggest
success with feeding less. I had been feeding them ( 5 large GF) about a
tablespoon of pellets twice a day. I had to clean the filters every two
weeks and Nitrates were a problem. Since I cut them back to less than a
tablespoon the Nitrates have dropped considerably and I only clean the
filters once a month.

Plants might also be an option, but my GF never met a plant they didn't
like.

[Elaine T]

wrote:
> has anyone built a coil denitrifier?
>
> i have a 3" freshwater tank with a pair of big (dirty :) goldfish in it and
> was wondering if it would help at all.
>
> the tank is about 150L with about 50L in the sump. It's running a trickle
> filter ATM (which, BTW is better than the fluval 404 i had before it, and
> cheaper too).
>
> thanks.

Yeah. George Booth tried it about 10 years ago and despite his best
efforts, it went anaerobic. I don't know of anyone who has had any
success. You can search at thekrib.com for denitrification and find our
old crash-and-burns.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[Rocco Moretti]

Elaine T wrote:
> wrote:
>
>> has anyone built a coil denitrifier?
>
> Yeah. George Booth tried it about 10 years ago and despite his best
> efforts, it went anaerobic. I don't know of anyone who has had any
> success.

I thought the point of a coil denitrifier *was* to go anaerobic. That
is, in the first few feet "regular" bacteria use up the oxygen, so in
the rest of the coil the water is anaerobic so that the NO3 -> N2
bacteria can work their magic.

Although, I know practically nothing about denitrifiers, coil or
otherwise, so I'm probably greatly mistaken.

[Elaine T]

Rocco Moretti wrote:
> Elaine T wrote:
>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> has anyone built a coil denitrifier?
>>
>>
>> Yeah. George Booth tried it about 10 years ago and despite his best
>> efforts, it went anaerobic. I don't know of anyone who has had any
>> success.
>
>
> I thought the point of a coil denitrifier *was* to go anaerobic. That
> is, in the first few feet "regular" bacteria use up the oxygen, so in
> the rest of the coil the water is anaerobic so that the NO3 -> N2
> bacteria can work their magic.
>
> Although, I know practically nothing about denitrifiers, coil or
> otherwise, so I'm probably greatly mistaken.

Sorry - I was unclear. First the denitrators did what they were
supposed to - grew anaerobic populations of denitrifying bacteria. Then
sulfur reducing bacteria populated the denitrators and fish started
dying from H2S. Nobody has yet figured out how to get a stable
population of nitrogen reducing bacteria without sulfur reducing
bacteria in freshwater.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

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my tank is in the lounge room, and no where near a tap, so a water changer
is not an option.

i've added a small refugium in the sump and filled it with plants (its a
fast growing string like thing covered in ~20mm radial leaves, no idea what
it's called though). it runs on a reverse daylight lighting cycle. this
has helped the water a LOT.

plants in the tank itself don't last long, mainly because as you said, GF
never met a plant they didn't like.

thanks for the replies.