Anyone use a denitrator?

[krishj39]

Hey, I am buying a used 90 gallon system. The guy bought all the accessories, which is cool. He has a denitrator which he claims worked really well. I haven't heard much about them, and I don't know much about them either. The water is supposed to go through it at 40 drops per minute, which seems ridiculously slow if it is going to filter out nitrates in a 90 gallon tank. I suppose it is trying to provide a low current, anaerobic, dark environment for the nitrate eating bac to grow. Basically, I am just skeptical about the whole thing, what do you guys think?
Kris
Incidentally, I still got the whole setup for a steal, so it doesn't make any difference to me if the denitrator actually denitrates or not, except that it would be cool for my tank if it did.

 

[krishj39]

^^^^bump^^^^

 

[cogreywolf]

Kris,
I have never used a denitrator before, but have heard good things from some of my LFS. I know that it starts off at a slow drip but as the denitrator ages, the flow is adjusted to a higher flow rate. I have been looking for one myself. If you decide not to use it. Let me know.
Michael

 

[wamp]

They work... I used an aquamedic one. Never got the thing to stay at a constant rate though. I got rid of it and did rotine maintance instead.

 

[eslowfiddy]

The best denitrator is weekly/monthly partial water changes depending on your bioload.
It may seem like a pain at first, but after you see the change in how your fish behave and decline in disease, then you will know it is worth the trouble.
90%+ of disease is due to poor water quality.
-ESlow

 

[mpgt]

I think they're great from all I've read. Do some research. I've never had one, but I'd sure like to try one. If it works, that must be preferable to water changes. The denitrator would provide a more stable environment (with no nitrate peaks between water changes).

 

[surfnturf]

They work but if the flow through the denitrator stops (power outage) when flow restarts it can dump hydrogen sulfide into the tank. If you use one, I'd set it up with a gravity feed and dump the output into the sump.

 

[krishj39]

Hey, I have some more questions now, cause I actually have the coil denitrator in my possession.
It sat for a long time (6 months), full of water. Now I can't figure out how to get the thing cleaned out, cause the whole unit is totally sealed, just two holes to attatch air line tubes to (which is what the water actually goes through). It is designed for gravity feed. But, it is pretty clogged, I can hardly get water through it right now, and that is by forcing water through, not by the low pressure it would be if it was gravity fed. Any ideas? It is a Nitra-Gone by Filtronics. Any ideas would be useful.
Kris

 

[surfnturf]

6 months, all of the bacteria are dead. Clean it out with hot water, let it soak and apply hot water under pressure, should get everything clean. Filtronics is now (apparently) Aquatronics. It will take at least 6-8 weeks for the bacteria to establish in the coils, but you may have constant problems with bacterial colonies restricting the flow through the unit. Try to run it, if you start to have problems, abandon it, or better yet, sell it to someone that wants it. HTH

 

[krishj39]

Thanks surf, I will do exactly as you say