denitrate coil in a fw tank

[gravereaper0]

Having issues keeping the nitrate levels below 40ppm with my messy goldfish and they're only getting bigger. There's plenty of choices for sw tanks but when it comes to fw no one seems to agree on what to use and if it even works.
I did see a nitrate reductor for fw but it is over $300. But all denitrators just create an oxygen free environment for the anaerobic bacteria to grow, just like a denitrate coil does and can be build for under $50.
So, does anyone here have any hands on experience using one in a fw?
Here's a pretty interesting read/build about it but the results never got posted.
http://forum.simplydiscus.com/archive/index.php/t-62268.html

 

[T1KARMANN]

I have used 3 different types

A shuran nitrate reactor run with sulpha beads and alcohol fed both rubbish
A aquamedic nr1000 which us aquamedic own brand deniballs which brake down over time also rubbish

40ppm nitrate is nothing no need to fuss over that

Some fish can tolerate high nitrate in my heavy stocked old 350 gal tank my nitrates was never below 125 ppm and my FW rays bred in that time and time again

As you are keeping cold water fish then just do 75% water changes per week with a good tap water conditioner like seachem prime and you will be fine

Also clean your filters more often as goldfish are messy

At 40ppm that's nothing to worry about

 

[gravereaper0]

I would like to be at 40ppm, average is above 100

 

[T1KARMANN]

Just do more and bigger water changes its cold water so a temp drop isn't a problem

The only sure way to get rid of nitrate is water changes

I have spent over $2000 with different bits of kit trying to lower nitrates

Nothing on the market works well so not much pont in wasting money trying

The best results I had was a 55g connected to my main tank filled with plants as its not poss to put plants in my main tank

 

[Alyxx]

The best results I had was a 55g connected to my main tank filled with plants as its not poss to put plants in my main tank

Plants are great for removing nitrates. I know goldfish tend to destroy them, but have you seen BBradbury's setups using terrestrial plants with their roots hanging in the water? If you could get something like that set up, you could probably get a pretty good reduction in your nitrates.

 

[gravereaper0]

What about a reactor with seachem denitrate?

 

[T1KARMANN]

Do you really want to start setting up reactors for a goldfish tank

What size is this tank

 

[gravereaper0]

90 gallon with a 20 gallon sump. It has to be as self efficient as possible, because of my job (otr driver) I'm not home to keep an eye on it 24/7 and want to make it as easy as possible for the wife.
And yes goldies are hardy fish but I want as close to perfect parameters as I can get. And I like tinkering with new things.
Also want a reef tank in the future, but first I want to have fw systems down to the T

 

[Alyxx]

90 gallon with a 20 gallon sump. It has to be as self efficient as possible, because of my job (otr driver) I'm not home to keep an eye on it 24/7 and want to make it as easy as possible for the wife.

Hang a good light over your sump and plant it heavily! If you put the lights on a timer, you won't have to do much but trim them. And depending on the plants, you can feed the goldfish some of the trimmings.

 

[tlindsey]

I use a plant called pothos, with two of my aquariums. Ever since using the plants, have noticed a reduction in nitrate levels, lately my 180 gal. stocked with 10 bichir various sizes, took a test from my api master kit, got a reading level of zero. It has a lot to do with your bioload, and how often you do water changes. Sometimes your tap water may be the culprit. I have the plant in my over flow on the 180 gal., because of my silver dollars, 29 gallon african butterfly fish, and bichir grow out have plant stem with root sticking in the tank itself, but have other plants in there such as hornwort, java fern.

 

[T1KARMANN]

90 gal so a good size

If your are set on getting a nitrate reactor then the one that works the best is full of bio media and it need to be dosed with vodka with the use of a dosing pump if you want it to take care of its self that is

If you was a home then you could dose it yourself

You also need a big circulation pump about 1200 lph

I don't think it will be able to handle the bio load of goldfish as it just drips in the tank at about one drip per second to fast and it won't do anything to slow and it will smell of bad eggs

It will also lower the ph and you will need to run a in line calcium reactor to keep the ph stable

The return pipe from the nitrate reactor to a calcium reactor then back to the tank this pipe is the small air line type 4mm

Like I said I have tried loads on my old 350 gal and they was rubbish so much so when I set up my 1000 gal I dumped them

 

[gravereaper0]

Yea that sounds like a headache and if I'm not around the wife definitely won't know what to do if something goes wrong. The sump is a trickle tower and I already ordered 12 kilos of ceramic rings for the middle chamber. Could roots take hold in those or are they too big and heavy to dig through?

 

[tlindsey]

This a first on roots in ceramic rings, but it would be worth a try. Make sure plant is receiving some light from room , for example my plant is receiving light from a basement window. There is more information online under aquaponics for aquariums, you will see how creative people got with using plants. Pothos are not a demanding plant at all Hope I was helpful

 

[gravereaper0]

What I'm gonna do is get one of those big 6"x12" bashsea reactors and fill it up with 4 liters of seachem denitrate. I'm using the term "reactor" loosely here, the seachem denitrate just needs a container with low flow, so actually let's call it a media chamber. Have a Rio 50 or 90 (whichever I can find cheaper) push water through it probably between 10-20 gph. Just a guess, its one of those things you have to dial down. Should I put the pump in the return of the sump or in the trickle tower inside of a filter sock? The output is definitely going into the trickle tower to re oxygenate the water.