how do fluidized beds work?

[armagedon48]

well i work at petsmart and argue with my manager alot on how the system works lol..

anyways, they claim the fluidized bed removes the nitrates. now if the water entering the chamber has no O2, then sure i can see it consuming nitrates as it would be an anaerobic zone. however i was told that the water passes through a O2 reactor, then goes into the fluidized bed.

what does the fluidized bed do? how does it work?

 

[Curtswearing]

First things first......WELCOME TO REEF FRONTIERS!!!

Probably the most popular FBF used in the hobby is made by Rainbow Lifeguard. That particular model will not perform any denitrification because they don't want it to. The water enters the sand in a waterfall effect to purposely Oxygenate the water. The goal of this model is to get rid of Ammonia and Nitrites and nothing else.

 

[armagedon48]

are there any models that break down nitrate? this is what the FBF at petsmart apparently does.

as of right now i have found no info that claims the fluidized bed will reduce nitrates. however i have found several hints saying its used in that way.

 

[Curtswearing]

I don't know all of the brands so I cannot comment on that.

I will say this.

Ammonia=dangerous in any tank
Nitrites=dangerous in a freshwater tank, much less dangerous in a marine tank. However, it's good for it to be minimized.
Nitrates=downright annoying in a freshwater or marine fish-only tank, slightly dangerous for many corals in a reef tank.

I'll be honest with you, if your FBF is reducing nitrates, it's not operating as efficiently as possible for reducing the more dangerous forms of Nitrogen.

 

[MikeS]

are there any models that break down nitrate? this is what the FBF at petsmart apparently does.

as of right now i have found no info that claims the fluidized bed will reduce nitrates. however i have found several hints saying its used in that way.

Actually, a Fulidized bed can accelerate nitrate production in a tank similar to the way a wet/dry filter can. They work by exposing the media (sand) to a good deal of oxygenated water from the tank, creating an ideal environment for ammonia and nitrite reducing aerobic bacteria to thrive in. This can accelerate nitrate production by rapidly converting ammonia and nitrite before it has a chance to be removed by other means such as skimming, water changes, carbon, ect.

MikeS

 

[ecobalance]

sulphur based media

I,ve seen some new sulphur based medias lately,that are mixed with agronite to help lessen alk drop.The lable on the container states that it is experamental and does not take responsibility for loss of livestock.With a updraft reactor and a way to regulate flo,i have heard these work well.A close eye must be kept on alk and ph.