Nitrate Filter
- Thread starter Jgray152
- Start date
Umm, depends on how large but I only needed a 1/2" drill bit so thats all I used. When you drill any holes, the key is to spin the drill bit slow, no matter what your drilling. To fast with to much pressure will over heat the bit or cause what ever you are drilling to splinter, crack, melt, etc.
No the plastic did not melt. I did have to "clean up" the holes with a knife but thats about it.
Please note that these canisters can only stand about 10 inches of head safely. Beyond that and your asking for trouble.
You can do what I did, remove the gasket from the lid (remember what the height was before), squeeze some silicone into the groove (very little amount) and replace the seal, push the seal down till its about 1/32" or 1/16" above the original height. This makes for a very tight fit and the tabs can be a bit of a pain to snap on after that. I don't know how the tabs will hold up long term.
After I did that seal mod, I was able to drop the canister down to about 20 inches without it leaking. I do not know the limit but for now, the weekness is the fitting I have installed, one of them likes to leak a bit so I have to play with it to get it to seal better.
Also, if you are going to use an external pump, DO NOT have the discharge side of the pump on the intake side of the canister (don't have the pump pressurize the canister), keep the suction side of the pump on the discharge side of the canister. This could help the cover seal as well, depending on how much flow you will have, but just remember the head height restriction.
No the plastic did not melt. I did have to "clean up" the holes with a knife but thats about it.
Please note that these canisters can only stand about 10 inches of head safely. Beyond that and your asking for trouble.
You can do what I did, remove the gasket from the lid (remember what the height was before), squeeze some silicone into the groove (very little amount) and replace the seal, push the seal down till its about 1/32" or 1/16" above the original height. This makes for a very tight fit and the tabs can be a bit of a pain to snap on after that. I don't know how the tabs will hold up long term.
After I did that seal mod, I was able to drop the canister down to about 20 inches without it leaking. I do not know the limit but for now, the weekness is the fitting I have installed, one of them likes to leak a bit so I have to play with it to get it to seal better.
Also, if you are going to use an external pump, DO NOT have the discharge side of the pump on the intake side of the canister (don't have the pump pressurize the canister), keep the suction side of the pump on the discharge side of the canister. This could help the cover seal as well, depending on how much flow you will have, but just remember the head height restriction.
By the way, the awful stink in the canister is a good sign. Don't expect a lot in terms of the ammonia and nitrite. The bacteria works significantly slower anaerobically (their metabolism is much less than in an aerobic environment).
I couldn't say how the presence of ammonia and nitrite will affect the consumption of nitrates, but deductive reasoning would indicate that since ammonia is a higher energy food source and less so for nitrite, the nitrate consumption should be much less than in an environment without them.
I couldn't say how the presence of ammonia and nitrite will affect the consumption of nitrates, but deductive reasoning would indicate that since ammonia is a higher energy food source and less so for nitrite, the nitrate consumption should be much less than in an environment without them.
Not yet, havn't had time. Still interested in doing so though.
I figure since the junk I put in there is always going to be decomposing and creating ammonia, I figure there will always be ammonia in the canister, especially as the oxygen gets depleted, maybe it already is.
I have a picture which shows something very interesting. The intake tube for the filter didn't have any water in it last night. I had removed water through it to take
some tests and decided it was better to have it empty for head pressure sake since its been leaking a tiny tiny bit through one fitting.
Now last night, I think around 9pm I noticed the water level in the tube which wasn't there before. I also noticed small little tiny bubbles forming just under the lid. So I marked the water line. In the morning (after work), the water line was a higher, so I marked it again, I then got a little sleep, woke up around 3pm and notice it was a little higher.
The little bubbles are coming from some where but considering they are very small, I would suspect they are coming from within the canister, maybe from the anaerobic bacteria? Nitrogen? Maybe I should see if they are flamable
Here is the pic. Deregaurd the first two bottom lines.
I looked at the filter again and you can see small bubbles trapped within the media, bubbles that have yet to reach the surface. I find this interesting and exciting, kinda like a science experiment
Now if these bubbles are nitrogen, would this mean that its not getting absorbed in the water, therfor the water is not rich with nitrogen? This would also mean that the filter WILL accumulate trapped gasses over time so over time it would need to purge, or, maybe now that I modded the seal, I can have the fx5 pump into it which then it will purge its self all the time.
In this article it explains that denitrification returns nitrogen to the atmosphere which seems to jive with my observation.
This reminds me if all the time when I was younger, poking a stick into thick mud in a brook, watching all those bubbles come up to the surface, and that awful smell.
Also this article tells you denitrification removes nitrogen from nitrogen rich waters. So this would mean that the water coming from the denitrator which involves denitrification, would put out water which has little to no nitrate or nitrogen.
Correct? Any input on this would be great.
Now if these bubbles are nitrogen, would this mean that its not getting absorbed in the water, therfor the water is not rich with nitrogen? This would also mean that the filter WILL accumulate trapped gasses over time so over time it would need to purge, or, maybe now that I modded the seal, I can have the fx5 pump into it which then it will purge its self all the time.
In this article it explains that denitrification returns nitrogen to the atmosphere which seems to jive with my observation.
This reminds me if all the time when I was younger, poking a stick into thick mud in a brook, watching all those bubbles come up to the surface, and that awful smell.
Also this article tells you denitrification removes nitrogen from nitrogen rich waters. So this would mean that the water coming from the denitrator which involves denitrification, would put out water which has little to no nitrate or nitrogen.
Correct? Any input on this would be great.
Jgray152;2894185; said:I looked at the filter again and you can see small bubbles trapped within the media, bubbles that have yet to reach the surface. I find this interesting and exciting, kinda like a science experiment
Now if these bubbles are nitrogen, would this mean that its not getting absorbed in the water, therfor the water is not rich with nitrogen? This would also mean that the filter WILL accumulate trapped gasses over time so over time it would need to purge, or, maybe now that I modded the seal, I can have the fx5 pump into it which then it will purge its self all the time.
The bubbles are a good indication that things are going as planned. Your assumption is off a little. The water is at its saturation limit and it can't absorb any more nitrogen, so it is gassing off in the form of bubbles. When the system is in operation, the water flow will carry the nitrogen to the tank and water surface where it can off gas directly to the atmosphere. There shouldn't be any bubbles building up in the container at that point.
Don't bother. It won't test for elemental nitrogen. It is a standard nitrate and ammonia test kit.Jgray152;2894379; said:
