Watched, this is interesting for sure! Curious to see how far this can kill nitrates. I have never seen carbon dosing in freshwater before. Nice build!
Nitrate reactor
- Thread starter ryang85
- Start date
Would it be possible to get a video of you dosing? I'd like to see and understand the interface better.
I don’t mean to jump in the way here and video would be more clear.
The way I understand it is there is a barb fitting with a valve that is opened then the vodka is injected then the valve is closed behind the injection.
Kinda like when meds are used with an IV drip.
Yeah I kinda get it and I had a unit that worked like this once in my life. Im not understanding how when the valve is open it doesnt spew water. The one I had was a specialized port that you would stick a syringe (no needle) in to and inject the vodka it worked on pressure.
So I guess I'm just being dumb, but I'm just not getting it. I have designed a couple of these and would like to get that part down too. I was just dumping the vodka in front on the feed pump. Thats not as effective as getting into the right spot.
So I guess I'm just being dumb, but I'm just not getting it. I have designed a couple of these and would like to get that part down too. I was just dumping the vodka in front on the feed pump. Thats not as effective as getting into the right spot.
- Dec 9, 2019
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Maby this weekend I'll put together a video since there seems to some interest in this.
It actually works exactly like an IV. The valve stays closed until the syringe is attached. Then opened and there is actaully very little pressure in the line. (Since it's just hydrostatic pressure from the inlet method.)
It's enough to barely creep the plunger up on the syringe and I actually let the plunger fillnall the way up with water before I inject it back in to get the air out.
Then I press is down to inject and then close the valve.
Here are some better pictures of that set up. I have it set on the auto doser now so now I just leave the valve open all the time and the doser pump acts as a check valve to prevent any back flow. Remembering to dose 2 times daily became a massive pain. That's why I really liked the doser so I dont even have to think about that whole part.
It actually works exactly like an IV. The valve stays closed until the syringe is attached. Then opened and there is actaully very little pressure in the line. (Since it's just hydrostatic pressure from the inlet method.)
It's enough to barely creep the plunger up on the syringe and I actually let the plunger fillnall the way up with water before I inject it back in to get the air out.
Then I press is down to inject and then close the valve.
Here are some better pictures of that set up. I have it set on the auto doser now so now I just leave the valve open all the time and the doser pump acts as a check valve to prevent any back flow. Remembering to dose 2 times daily became a massive pain. That's why I really liked the doser so I dont even have to think about that whole part.
- Dec 9, 2019
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Also as a quick update. The water in the tank is back to being pretty clear. Not crystal clear but I can clearly see across the other side of the tank and from the front it's not noticable.
- Dec 9, 2019
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Up to 25gal/day and holding a clean zero nitrates on the output. Increasing by roughly 1 gal per day.
Dosing 15ml vodka per day. And increasing it by 1ml per day.
After cutting back on my feeding to a normal amount and my nitrates are leveling off in the tank. Holding steady at 30 ppm with no daily increase. Also the tank water is back to being crystal clear.
On my first reactor I seemed to over run the flow trying to find the sweet spot and set it into swings where oxygen levels increased and killed off all of the anoxic bacteria then dropped too low and killed the aerobic bacteria in the coil, I'm going slow to avoid that from happening this time.
Dosing 15ml vodka per day. And increasing it by 1ml per day.
After cutting back on my feeding to a normal amount and my nitrates are leveling off in the tank. Holding steady at 30 ppm with no daily increase. Also the tank water is back to being crystal clear.
On my first reactor I seemed to over run the flow trying to find the sweet spot and set it into swings where oxygen levels increased and killed off all of the anoxic bacteria then dropped too low and killed the aerobic bacteria in the coil, I'm going slow to avoid that from happening this time.
- Dec 9, 2019
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Up to 30gal per day. Dosing 21 ml vodka per day. Out of curiosity I tried three 7ml doses of vodka per day and it seems to be fine so far. I'm going to try and stay with it and see what happens. I've been having to swap filter socks every 2 or 3 days instead of weekly so there is some slime being produced. But it's not too much of a hassle to swap filter socks and throw them in the washer every other week.
Nitrates in the tank are hanging between 20 and 25ppm and just starting to barely drop. With weekly water changes I should be around 10 to 15 ppm. And then I will adjust vodka and flow to hold steady.
To measure my daily flow I use a table spoon and a timer on my phone.
To convert seconds per tablespoon(T) to gal/day the equation is
337.5÷T= (gal per day)
Nitrates in the tank are hanging between 20 and 25ppm and just starting to barely drop. With weekly water changes I should be around 10 to 15 ppm. And then I will adjust vodka and flow to hold steady.
To measure my daily flow I use a table spoon and a timer on my phone.
To convert seconds per tablespoon(T) to gal/day the equation is
337.5÷T= (gal per day)
- Dec 9, 2019
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Running 30gal/ day and just backed off vodka dosing to 15ml per day. Tank is sitting at 10 to 15 ppm nitrates and holding steady regardless of water changes or how aggressive my feeding is. I'd say the reactor is officially dialed in. I always seem to have to make small adjustments but I'm not planning on changing much over time.
This is probably going to be my last update unless something goes wrong or someone has questions. Hoepfully this thread inspired or at least helped out some people.
This is probably going to be my last update unless something goes wrong or someone has questions. Hoepfully this thread inspired or at least helped out some people.
