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- Sep 29, 2017
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Sorry didn't realize that 4fxsk would be censored.
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***Sorry didn't realize that 4fxsk would be censored.
Proof of me being wrong? I’ve been wrong about a tremendous number of things in my life, but I don’t recall ever being wrong about anything relating to sulfur denitrators.
Let’s ignore my opinion for now, and assume I’m ignorant of anything relating to sulfur in a reef tank.
You claimed that every biofilm in a reef tank produces elemental sulfur. Why?
What is the evidence that every biofilm in a reef tank produces elemental sulfur?
what is the evidence that many biofilms in a reef tank produce elemental sulfur?
what is the evidence that ANY biofilms in a reef tank produce elemental sulfur?
Note that I am not asking if there is a biofilm somewhere in some unusual part of the ocean that produces elemental sulfur (like a hydrothermal vent, or a cave, or a on a metal oil well pipe, or deep in sediments) but some evidence that every biofilm on a coral reef does, or that many biofilms in a coral reef do would be nice to see and would support your suggestion.
if i, being a reasearcher apply your opinion being a scientist on your previous posts, i must find them unacceptable.Not a politician, a scientist. HUGE difference. Politicians say whatever they want and hope it sticks.
Yes, scientists nit pick. That's EXACTLY how science works. False claims or hyperbole to make a point, even if the underlying point is correct, are unacceptable to me.
My point was to ensure claims are justified. Not just the overall idea, such as that sulfur denitrators work.
I'm sorry if you do not like it, but I wont ignore things that are posted that I do not believe are correct. If you believe they are correct, then of course you should fire back.
In the past you also questioned the fact elemental sulfur is oxydized by T,denitrificans only when using nitrate or nitrite; You claimed it also used free oxygen and did not accept the prove you where wrong. That time you argument BADES was not safe to use, having no experience using BADES, based on your believe and obviously not on research about the issue.
I am not Belgian Anthias, but will answer your question anyway, since I use the BADES system once I figured it out. You want to put the sulfur in a mesh bag, along with any calcium source you wish to. This is so that you can pull the mesh bag out and rinse it once a month or so. It will still deplete alkalinity. You can mixed it with other media, but the only one that is useful is so calcium source.@Belgian Anthias if I wanted to try this how would I?
Can I just put a bed of this sulfur substrate in my sump? Or in a few mesh bags and expect it to do its thing? what is the ratio of substrate to NO3 reduction? As this won't be in a dedicated reactor will this also lead to a lower alkalinity? Can I mix the substrate with ARM media to help buffer any potential PH? drop?
A description of a practical use of BADES in a reef aquarium would be helpful.
This was a great read! I learned so much!Before I go ballistic at several misleading things you are attributing to me, I challenge you to show where I ever claimed a sulfur denitrator was "not safe to use".
Seriously, did you just make that up? If not, show exactly what I said and where I said it, or retract that claim, I cannot imagine making a claim that they were unsafe (assuming they are used properly), but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt enough to ask you to show what I said.
You have been a member here since 2017. I presume you are not looking to something that happened before you joined. I have certainly not thought they were unsafe at any time in the past 20 years.
In 2015, I published at reef2Reef one of my nitrate articles that clearly describes sulfur denitrators and that the only concern is that alkalinity is depleted, or if you pass the effluent over aragonite, calcium may rise. I had a similar article in 2003 that said essentially the same thing: https://reefs.com/magazine/aquarium-chemistry-nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium/
Thus, there are nearly 20 years of my articles that show how they work and NOT ONCE stating they are unsafe.
Here's exactly what I did say, do say, and stand by:
Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION
Nitrate is an ion that has long dogged aquarists. It is typically formed in aquaria through the digestion of foods, and in many aquaria it builds up and can be difficult to keep at natural levels. In the past, many aquarists performed water changes with nitrate reduction as one of the primary...www.reefedition.com
from it:
Sulfur Denitrators
In these systems, bacteria use elemental sulfur and produce N2 from the sulfur and nitrate according the following equation (or something similar):
2 H2O + 5 S + 6 NO3– → 3 N2 + 5 SO42- + 4 H+
The production of acid (H+) in this reactor can tend to reduce the aquarium alkalinity. It has also been suggested to pass the effluent of such a reactor through a bed of aragonite to use the acid (H+) produced to dissolve the calcium carbonate, and thereby provide calcium and alkalinity to the aquarium. While that is a fine idea, it doesn’t add much calcium and alkalinity to most aquaria.
To estimate the magnitude of the effect, we start with a liberal estimate of how much nitrate might be removed. Say 10 ppm of nitrate per week.
10 ppm nitrate = 0.16 mmole/L of nitrate
Since 4 moles of H+ are produced for every 6 moles of nitrate consumed, this will produce
0.107 mmoles/L of H+ per week
How much calcium this could produce?
Assume that it takes one proton to dissolve one calcium carbonate:
CaCO3 + H+ → Ca2+ + HCO3–
Clearly, this is a substantial overestimate because much of the acid will be used up driving the pH down to the point where CaCO3 can even begin to dissolve. Consequently, we have an upside limit of 0.107 mmoles of Ca2+ per week. Since calcium weighs 40 mg/mmol, that’s 4.3 ppm Ca2+ per week.
For comparison, an aquarist adding 2% of the tank volume in saturated limewater daily is adding on the order of 16 ppm of calcium per day. Consequently, this method may not be especially useful for maintaining calcium. Additionally, the acid produced will have a long term lowering effect on the alkalinity. In fact, it is double dipping on the alkalinity depletion since alkalinity is consumed when the nitrate is produced, and again when it is removed in the denitrator. So if you use a sulfur denitrator, be sure to monitor the alkalinity in the aquarium.