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  • Results 1 to 7 of 7

    Thread: Building Denitrifying Trickle Tower combo

    1. #1
      Milaz is offline Junior Member
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      Post Building Denitrifying Trickle Tower combo

      Hi Guys,

      Thanks to many posts from you and others on this and other forums covering various trickle tower filters - and speciallly to great web site of Syd aka Manky Sanke - link is here - http://www.mankysanke.co.uk/html/goo...de__pt_16.html - I went on to build my slightly modified version of denitrifying trickle tower combo - if interested, attached pdf covers it with pictures and comments.

      For more details on how it works in real life you may look at my posts here - http://www.koiforum.uk/water-treatme...wer-combo.html

      Really happy with its performance - if this post may help someone else to DIY your own version, please share with us your own experience!
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    2. #2
      Grumpy is offline Senior Member
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      Please tell how much volume you are pumping thru the towers. Also, without knowing the ammonia load (number & size of fish) it is hard to know how successful you tower is, can you provide more information on your system?

      Thanks for your post.

    3. #3
      montwila's Avatar
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      I am Looking forward to hearing Syd speak at the Pacific Northwest Koi Club Association convention in Portland, OR. USA on this very topic. The convention is the first weekend in June 2018.

    4. #4
      BWG is offline Senior Member
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      So if the tower top is sealed with a cap and the bottom is sealed with standing water how does the nitrogen gas escape that the denitrifying bacteria release?

    5. #5
      montwila's Avatar
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      I am speculating here as I have printed all the links but have not read the current ones yet. I did read the full document (like 74 pages) and Syds old posting (5 pages) on his web site a few years ago. I even bought the Laterite and baskets but have not modified the pond/waterfall yet to try them. I would believe the Nitrogen goes into solution and when it gets exposed to the atmosphere it then would "off gas" into the atmosphere. The anoxic baskets in the original threads from a couple years ago did the same thing from what I remember reading. The process is so slow (and molecules so small) that it never generates nitrogen bubbles. I would think it probably starts to off gas in the trays that the vertical pipes sit in, in the above picture. However I think it might takes several passes to get it to off gas and reach the atmosphere. Maybe a high flow aerated tower/clarifier/shower would get it to off gas in one pass.

      I am not worried about the off gassing of the nitrogen as this will happen once it is exposed to "air" due to the laws of partial pressures. What I am worried about is the possibility of the bacteria not using all the Oxygen molecules and leaving it as NitrIte (NO2). The media pictured probably will not house enough organics but if it did collect them them - How do you ensure H2S is not created? I think that is the balance: too fast and NitrItes might be formed. Too slow and H2S might form as the system cannot clean itself. Then again I am not a chemist (as Syd is) and all those + and - really confuse me.

    6. #6
      Paultergeist is offline Senior Member
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      In my experience, when most people are talking about "denitrifying towers," they are speaking about off-gassing organic forms of nitrogen -- namely ammonia, nitrite, and/or nitrate. While showers seem to be excellent at facilitating aerobic nitrification (ammonium --> nitrite --> nitrate) as well as encouraging oxygen exchange and off-gassing CO2, reports are pretty inconsistent as to "denitrifying towers" actually getting rid of significant amounts of organic nitrogen forms. While some comparatively small amount of ammonia can be off-gassed at fish-friendly pH levels, most of it gets converted to nitrite (NO2-) or is driven towards the ammonium (NH4+) form due to the pond pH......these ionic forms of nitrogen cannot be off-gassed.

      I see the concept of denitrifying towers come up periodically and -- while there is indeed some benefit to incorporating showers in a pond -- I do not see convincing evidence that these devices actually "denitrify" to any significant degree.

    7. #7
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      Okay, I got around to reading the printed material from the posted links today.

      The nitrogen, in solution, does escape when it is exposed to the atmosphere. Possibly using a shower or other form of aerated filtration or stream.
      The NitrIte concern is mitigated by ensuring a very low flow rate (literally a trickle) and monitoring the actual discharge from the towers by testing for both NitrAte and NitrIte and adjusting the flow to keep the amount returning to the system below 5 mg/l of NO3. So the possibility of NO2 being produced is very low.
      The system as pictured with the tray allows the owner to see the amount of organics that might be in the bottom of the filter/tower and you will know when it needs to be cleaned preventing enough organics to produce H2S. This cleaning may actually set the filters back slightly as it would have to be lifted out of the tray allowing some air - oxygen - into the filter so it may take a few hours or a day to become anaerobic again after being placed back into the water in the tray.

      I have a 2.2 aquadyne pressure bead filter with a FF/clarity unit behind it returning to the QT tank. I am currently adding a three tray 4.5 cu ft shower to this circuit which will take the bulk of the flow on that circuit. I may just cut the flow to the FF and turn it into a trickle shower. By blocking the breathing holes around the top and adjusting the legs to hold more water in its base, I am thinking it may come close to the described filter. The rated flow as a FF is 900 gallons an hour on this clarity unit. If I cut this down to 100 GPH then I (in theory) would have a single turn over each day through it. Certainly worth a try if I can reduce the daily 10% water change.

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