Arofanatics Fish Talk Forums  

Go Back   Arofanatics Fish Talk Forums > Arowana Forum > Tank set-ups, Filtration & Water Management > Articles, Resources & FAQs

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 04-10-2007, 05:40 AM   #1
atom
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default All about Denitrator

There has been quite an interest on denitrator recently and by starting this thread, it will provide more info for those who are interested in it.

Let me start by showing what is inside a typical denitrator:



  Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2007, 05:44 AM   #2
atom
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

The 1st picture is showing the denitrator with the top removed.

The 2nd is the content of the a matured denitrator. The black coloured ball is just normal bioball. The whitish coloured is the deniball.

The 3rd is the slime collected in a plastic tub.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2007, 07:07 AM   #3
atom
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

What is denitrator?
A denitrator is a device using nitrifying bacteria under anaerobic (i.e. without oxygen) conditions to remove nitrates. This process is called biological denitrification.

What is denitrification?
From www.wikipedia.org, it means: Denitrification is the process of reducing nitrate and nitrite, highly oxidised forms of nitrogen available for consumption by many groups of organisms, into gaseous nitrogen, which is far less accessible to life forms but makes up the bulk of our atmosphere. It can be thought of as the opposite of nitrogen fixation, which converts gaseous nitrogen into a more biologically available form. The process is performed by heterotrophic bacteria (such as Paracoccus denitrificans, Thiobacillus denitrificans, and various pseudomonads) from all main proteolytic groups.

OR

Biological Denitrification: a bacteria-mediated (i.e. biological) process in which nitrate is reduced into nitrogen gas by denitrifying bacteria (typically facultative heterotrophes) underanoxic (oxygen-free) conditions. The process requires that an electron donor (typically an organic carbon source) be present for the reaction to go to completion.

Sounds complicated? I think so too and I prefer to coin as:
It is a process to remove nitrogen or nitrogen groups from (a compound).

Last edited by atom; 04-10-2007 at 07:34 AM.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2007, 07:47 AM   #4
atom
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Equation for denitrifying process:

Nitrate to Nitrite to Nitrogen


Redox equation (I prefer)

NO3 + 2 electrons + H+ <=> NO2 + H2O

NO2 + 3 electrons + 4 H+ 1/2 N2 (nitrogen gas) + 2 H2O

or taken together:

NO3 + 5 electrons + 6 H+ <=> 1/2 N2 + 3 H2O
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2007, 10:20 AM   #5
nqh71
Arofanatic
 
nqh71's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2001
Posts: 269
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by atom View Post
Equation for denitrifying process:

Nitrate to Nitrite to Nitrogen


Redox equation (I prefer)

NO3 + 2 electrons + H+ <=> NO2 + H2O

NO2 + 3 electrons + 4 H+ 1/2 N2 (nitrogen gas) + 2 H2O

or taken together:

NO3 + 5 electrons + 6 H+ <=> 1/2 N2 + 3 H2O
Wow... Looks like my chemistry lessons many many many years ago... Anyway, thanks for the info... But I am still debating whether having a denitrator or just changing water is more feasible or make more economic sense..
nqh71 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2007, 10:22 AM   #6
^GeNoME^
Dragon
 
^GeNoME^'s Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2001
Posts: 1,510
Default

yew... those bacteria slime/biofilm looks disgusting.. haha.. my mum will kill me if she sees me cleaning those things in my bathroom.. lol

can share the purpose of collecting the slime? gonna add back to the denitrator when u restart it again?

any experience with sulphur denitrator? cos i think it will be way more effective den a bacteria denitrator.. gonna try when i get my 12th month bonus.. tank setup too boring after i remove all my DSBs, plants and NR1000..
^GeNoME^ is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 15-01-2012, 03:53 PM   #7
galaxynote
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by nqh71 View Post
Wow... Looks like my chemistry lessons many many many years ago... Anyway, thanks for the info... But I am still debating whether having a denitrator or just changing water is more feasible or make more economic sense..
balancing redox half eqns

haha
  Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2007, 01:14 AM   #8
silane
Senior Dragon
 
silane's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,136
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by atom View Post
There has been quite an interest on denitrator recently and by starting this thread, it will provide more info for those who are interested in it.
Hi atom,

Great thread, you have there.

3 questions for you:
- what is the flowrate recommended?
- what is the high nitrate removal rate you have achieved and what is the typical nitrate removal rate for a setup?
- is deniball a must? or just good to have? Does it help to performance better?

Thank.
silane is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2007, 01:56 AM   #9
chamikara
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Bro atom/tagore:
If one cant find deni balls, is there another alternative?
  Reply With Quote
Old 07-10-2007, 02:07 AM   #10
atom
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by chamikara View Post
Bro atom/tagore:
If one cant find deni balls, is there another alternative?
Some examples of organic carbon source are alcohols (such as methyl alcohol or ethyl alcohol), organic acids (such as acetic acid) or other similar organic substances including sugars.
  Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT +9. The time now is 03:24 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Copyright © 2000-2008 Arofanatics.com (Since 30th August 2000)