Hello,
I don't know if this post will be useful, but...
I had bought a Korallin S3002 a while ago. I found the instructions to be somewhat... limited (I've attached them to this post). I also found the reactor to be a little difficult to control, often getting nitrate breakthrough or too little flow to have an effect on nitrates. This led me to make a series of modifications to the reactor that I felt helped. I added a new S3002 to a new system, and photographed the process I used to unbox, set up, and modify the reactor. For me, personally, sulfur denitrators have proven to be the best and most reliable way to reduce high nitrates once they are established.
1. So this is how the reactor comes, with most of the media inside the reactor chamber in separate bags. The Eheim pump comes with the reactor, but ships separately.
2. Here is the top of the reactor as it comes shipped. There are two bulkheads cemented to the top flange, and the purge line. The newer reactors also come with a probe port, presumably for an ORP probe. There was nothing in my instructions about this port, and I just use testing for NO3- and NO2- in the effluent to monitor reactor performance.
3. I removed the packets of media from inside the reactor. Leave the bottom plastic disc and bottom blue filter on top of the bottom disc.
4. I add the sulfur media. If you have a funnel, this helps. The sulfur prills go everywhere. You add all the media they send you. You may need to tap the reactor to help it settle a little lower.
5. Then I put the top disc on top of the sulfur media, and the top blue filter pad on top of the top disc.
6. Then you add the aragonite media they send with the reactor. You can use regular aragonite calcium reactor media if you ever need to replace the aragonite. It's important to keep the o-ring clean and clear of aragonite when adding it.
7. Bolt the top lid to the reactor body. You will need to shift the aragonite media over to the side to allow the return pipe to be inserted into the aragonite media. That's what the wooden spoon is for. The paper towel roll is there to prevent the reactor from rolling off the table. Although I didn't show it, before bolting the top flange on, I removed the plastic vertical bolt that is used to affix the Eheim pump. Why I removed this small plastic bolt is discussed below.
8. Now, here is where I start modifying the reactor. The first thing I do is replace the tubing compression fittings with john guest fittings. They are backwards in the photo, below, but I place the threaded by john guest elbow on the inlet, and the threaded by john guest valve on the outlet. Placing a valve on the outlet is helpful to purge the reactor of gas that accumulates, especially when the reactor is getting established. I found the clear tubing that they provide can become occluded with scale and john guest valves easier to control.
9. It's a little difficult to remove the teflon tape that comes with the plastic compression fittings. You'll want to get all the old teflon tape out of the threads. I use teflon tape on the threads of the new john guest fittings. Here is how the inlet and outlet manifolds come out after I've modified them.
10. I also put a thin layer of teflon tape on the bulkheads affixed to the lid for the inlet and outlet pump manifold. I've found that over time, these threads can stick. A thin layer of teflon tape will allow you to always be able to unthread them if you ever needed to in the future.
11. I remove the compression fitting from the top flange of the reactor before proceeding on. You'll need to remove the old teflon tape from the 1/4" threaded port in the top flange.
12. I construct the new headspace purge out of a thread by john guest valve, with a 1/4" threaded pipe nipple and a 1/4" threaded coupling. You'll need a threaded pipe nipple of sufficient length to clear the inlet and outlet manifolds and to clear the Eheim pump. Be sure to use Teflon tape on all your pipe threads.
13. Here's the new purge line threaded into the top flange. Please note I've since removed the plastic bolt before bolting on the top flange even though it's shown in the photo below.
14. Time to unbox the Eheim pump. You do not use the blue filter or disc, which is for submersible applications.
15. Remove the filter from the front as shown, below. The filter is for submersible applications and isn't needed, although I reuse it. You'll need to slide the base off first. Using teflon tape, thread on the inlet and outlet compression fittings.
16. Slide the base back on. It goes on the side as shown, so that the discharge is to the left side when facing the inlet. Then slide the plastic grate back on (this isn't necessary). Then slide the rubber tubing that comes affixed to the inlet and outlet manifolds on to the suction and discharge compression fittings on the pump as shown.
17. All you have to do now is thread the bulkheads on the inlet and outlet manifold to the bulkhead fittings on the lid flange of the reactor. I found that they do not align exactly no matter how hard I tried, and the pump certainly would not fit on the plastic bolt that I removed back up in step 7. But the plastic bolt isn't really necessary.
18. Although you can feed the reactor using a dedicated powerhead, or off a pressurized line from the return pump, I found these methods difficult to achieve a variable and controllable rate of flow, which is what really helps get the most out of your reactor. So I affixed a Kamoer peristaltic continuous duty dosing pump. For my installation, the pump sits on a wooden platform to keep it above the water surface of the sump. The tubing in a peristaltic pump can break, which could lead to a syphon out of the tank. I use the following setup to convert from the tubing to john guest fittings.
I hope this helps,
Matt
I don't know if this post will be useful, but...
I had bought a Korallin S3002 a while ago. I found the instructions to be somewhat... limited (I've attached them to this post). I also found the reactor to be a little difficult to control, often getting nitrate breakthrough or too little flow to have an effect on nitrates. This led me to make a series of modifications to the reactor that I felt helped. I added a new S3002 to a new system, and photographed the process I used to unbox, set up, and modify the reactor. For me, personally, sulfur denitrators have proven to be the best and most reliable way to reduce high nitrates once they are established.
1. So this is how the reactor comes, with most of the media inside the reactor chamber in separate bags. The Eheim pump comes with the reactor, but ships separately.
2. Here is the top of the reactor as it comes shipped. There are two bulkheads cemented to the top flange, and the purge line. The newer reactors also come with a probe port, presumably for an ORP probe. There was nothing in my instructions about this port, and I just use testing for NO3- and NO2- in the effluent to monitor reactor performance.
3. I removed the packets of media from inside the reactor. Leave the bottom plastic disc and bottom blue filter on top of the bottom disc.
4. I add the sulfur media. If you have a funnel, this helps. The sulfur prills go everywhere. You add all the media they send you. You may need to tap the reactor to help it settle a little lower.
5. Then I put the top disc on top of the sulfur media, and the top blue filter pad on top of the top disc.
6. Then you add the aragonite media they send with the reactor. You can use regular aragonite calcium reactor media if you ever need to replace the aragonite. It's important to keep the o-ring clean and clear of aragonite when adding it.
7. Bolt the top lid to the reactor body. You will need to shift the aragonite media over to the side to allow the return pipe to be inserted into the aragonite media. That's what the wooden spoon is for. The paper towel roll is there to prevent the reactor from rolling off the table. Although I didn't show it, before bolting the top flange on, I removed the plastic vertical bolt that is used to affix the Eheim pump. Why I removed this small plastic bolt is discussed below.
8. Now, here is where I start modifying the reactor. The first thing I do is replace the tubing compression fittings with john guest fittings. They are backwards in the photo, below, but I place the threaded by john guest elbow on the inlet, and the threaded by john guest valve on the outlet. Placing a valve on the outlet is helpful to purge the reactor of gas that accumulates, especially when the reactor is getting established. I found the clear tubing that they provide can become occluded with scale and john guest valves easier to control.
9. It's a little difficult to remove the teflon tape that comes with the plastic compression fittings. You'll want to get all the old teflon tape out of the threads. I use teflon tape on the threads of the new john guest fittings. Here is how the inlet and outlet manifolds come out after I've modified them.
10. I also put a thin layer of teflon tape on the bulkheads affixed to the lid for the inlet and outlet pump manifold. I've found that over time, these threads can stick. A thin layer of teflon tape will allow you to always be able to unthread them if you ever needed to in the future.
11. I remove the compression fitting from the top flange of the reactor before proceeding on. You'll need to remove the old teflon tape from the 1/4" threaded port in the top flange.
12. I construct the new headspace purge out of a thread by john guest valve, with a 1/4" threaded pipe nipple and a 1/4" threaded coupling. You'll need a threaded pipe nipple of sufficient length to clear the inlet and outlet manifolds and to clear the Eheim pump. Be sure to use Teflon tape on all your pipe threads.
13. Here's the new purge line threaded into the top flange. Please note I've since removed the plastic bolt before bolting on the top flange even though it's shown in the photo below.
14. Time to unbox the Eheim pump. You do not use the blue filter or disc, which is for submersible applications.
15. Remove the filter from the front as shown, below. The filter is for submersible applications and isn't needed, although I reuse it. You'll need to slide the base off first. Using teflon tape, thread on the inlet and outlet compression fittings.
16. Slide the base back on. It goes on the side as shown, so that the discharge is to the left side when facing the inlet. Then slide the plastic grate back on (this isn't necessary). Then slide the rubber tubing that comes affixed to the inlet and outlet manifolds on to the suction and discharge compression fittings on the pump as shown.
17. All you have to do now is thread the bulkheads on the inlet and outlet manifold to the bulkhead fittings on the lid flange of the reactor. I found that they do not align exactly no matter how hard I tried, and the pump certainly would not fit on the plastic bolt that I removed back up in step 7. But the plastic bolt isn't really necessary.
18. Although you can feed the reactor using a dedicated powerhead, or off a pressurized line from the return pump, I found these methods difficult to achieve a variable and controllable rate of flow, which is what really helps get the most out of your reactor. So I affixed a Kamoer peristaltic continuous duty dosing pump. For my installation, the pump sits on a wooden platform to keep it above the water surface of the sump. The tubing in a peristaltic pump can break, which could lead to a syphon out of the tank. I use the following setup to convert from the tubing to john guest fittings.
I hope this helps,
Matt
