Nitrate Reactor - Restart question

[JohnS_323]

The aqualifter on our nitrate reactor quit for few days (weeks?) and we didn't realize it. The media mix has been sitting there with no water running through it the whole time. My question is do I need to replace all of the media in it or would I be OK to just flush something like 20g of water through it? I have some sulfur left over but none of the Seachem Matrix. If I need to swap it all out, I'll need to get some more. Anyone have any idea what would be best?

 

[MikeNapoli]

No idea john but i'm bumping this up so you can get an answer.

 

[Carlo]

Probably not really a big deal John.

Look at the media and make sure it's not blackish. If not try hooking it up to a bigger pump and flushing it by running the water faster then you normally would. Run 20-50 gallons through it and then give it the sniff test. If you don't have the rotten egg smell you're alright and can just restart it.

If the media is dark or you can't get rid of the rotten egg smell then open the reactor and dump the media. Soak it in a 50/50 mixture of tap water and bleach for 24 hours. Stir/Mix it up every few hours. If the water gets dark pour it out and make up a new 50/50 mix. Just keep doing this until the water doesn't darken up anymore. Usually one or two solutions will do the trick and the media will be clean again.

NEXT. rinse the media well in tap water to get as much of the bleach solution off of it and then mix up a container of RO/DI water and add a decloranator to it like Amquel. Use about 5 times the recommended dose as you want to remove any traces of the bleach. If you feel paranoid rinse it in RO/DI water and then soak it again with the decloranator.

Put the media back in the reactor and get started again. You of course can add a bacteria product to the reactor to get it kick started if you want.

You shouldn't need to replace the media as it should clean up just fine if you use the procedure above. When you retop the unit off with sulfur don't go crazy with it. Just put about 1/2" to 1" of sulfer on top the media.
Through experimentation I'm finding this to work better overall (less sulfer then most people use). If you for some reason want to change out the media PM me as I have something better now then the matrix (looks similar but performs better).

Hope that helps,
Carlo

 

[JohnS_323]

Great info. Thanks a lot, Carlo.

You have a PM.

 

[AnDom1]

Hi John

Any idea what went wrong with thw Aqualifter??? Is it dead altogether?? I haven't set my reactor up yet as I decided to go with sulphur beads (from current PA Group Buy) instead of the Carib Sea ARM sulphur I bought which looks more likely to clog over time. (Thanks Carlo)

If you'll recall our PM's on the subject, the Coralife's pump was not a true recirculation pump in that its intake could also draw in aquarium water. So if even without the Aqualifter some water should have been drawn into the reactor. Unless you had the valve on the black hose pinched shut.

I'm concerned as I too have an Aqualifter.

Dom

PS... I'd personally replace the Matrix if you can't clean it without bleach which is a pain to remove completely.

 

[JohnS_323]

Hi Dom,

I'm not sure what went wrong with the aqualifter. I seem to experience that quite a bit with them, though. They seem to only have a 1 to 1.5 year useful life. I use them for a couple of different things in my systems. Most notable is the one attached to my overflow box on the 65g tank. That one seems to fail on a yearly basis. I just view it as a "wear" item and make sure I have plenty of spares on hand. There's probably a better solution to what I'm doing but it's what I've gotten used to, and since they're only $10 it's not so bad.

BTW, I am going to replace my media because when I initially set up the reactor I misunderstood what Matrix to use and am using a carbon labeled "Matrix". It works but isn't really the right stuff.

 

[DaveK]

Carlo made an excellent post on what to do to get a nitrate reactor going again.

However, you also might want to test your water and see if you really need one. If the system can maintain nitrate levels close to zero with out the reactor, you don't need it. It will then be one less thing you need to worry about.

 

[Phyl]

Unfortunately, it wasn't maintaining before the reactor. No harm in double checking before we start it back up again though!

 

[Carlo]

I see the Aqualifters failing at about 10-12 months also John and view it the same way as a "wear" item. I try and keep 2 extra pumps on hand for replacements and for general "play" pumps to try stuff with.

There are definitely better built (and lasting) pumps out there but it's still hard to justify paying 6 to 8 times more for them.

Just a FYI type piece of info. I'm not running a sulfur reactor anymore. I still have it running exactly the same as before but without the sulfur media. It's now a Nitrate Reactor but not a Sulfur Nitrate Reactor. The media I use allows me to run about 4+ liters worth in the model 250 which allows a huge amount of room for bacteria to colonize. It's like having 200-250 pounds of live rock in a reactor (bacteria wise). With the right flow (adjusted using the same method as previously explained (using ORP) I can still keep the reactor O2 deprived without the downside of the sulfur (which throws off the ionic balance of the tank over time). I also find it a lot easier to adjust over time.

What I like about not using the sulfur in the reactor is that it will kind of self adjust bacteria wise to the tank conditions. If there isn't excess Nitrates in the water there isn't a fuel source so the bacteria in the reactor dies off (just like in your live rock). With excess nitrates in the water the bacteria grows back and repopulates the media. There isn't the "forced" sulfur fuel constantly being released in the reactor. It's more natural this way and has more of the effect of having added a few hundred pounds of rock to the system but without the cost and without the need to try and keep the rock semi clean or finding a place to add the rock.

Now if I were to start a reactor from scratch I'd kick it off with a couple pellets of sulfur or a little vodka and then let the reactor run naturally without an external food source. It's probably easier to start with a couple sulfur beads instead of the vodka for most people as it will slowly get used up over time so the reactor will be easier to adjust over a longer time period. If the reactor running naturally can't keep up with the nitrates then I'd say that the persons husbandry practises need to be looked into and adjusted. The person could always add a couple more pellets if needed to help a bit while trying to manage the tank better too.

I could probably some up my view now as using the reactor and media as a "smart live rock replacement/addition" and the sulfur itself as a "bandaid".

I hope this didn't confuse things for anyone but I just thought I'd share my more current experiences with both my own setup and those people I've been helping with similar setups.

Carlo

 

[JohnS_323]

More good info. Thanks Carlo. Is this media available for sale? If so, I'll probably take a ride out there one night this week.

 

[Carlo]

Yes per PM but I don't want to comment further on the specific media here in the General Discussion forums as it's sort of vendor specific and it doesn't belong here. If anyone needs/wants more info on the media itself just post a thread in the Allquatics forum.

I'd rather keep this thread "general" as much as possible and non-product specific. The idea behind my post will work with some other medias also but probably not to the same effect.

Carlo