Seems if you use a larger contianment vessel with more bio media you can or indeed have to shorten the coil (15-some say 50 feet) no way you can pump through 50 feet of hose without straining the impeller or useing up hydro.I tried 50 feet of hose & I could blow through but when filled with water,no way! so I shortened to 25 feet still it was imposible to blow water through & no kinks in the hose. so I shortenned to about 3 feet with inlet 2 inches ,I hooked it up backwards in / out at 1st & it caused an air bubble in the denitrator so I reversed it& the bubble disapeared(@ top). So it's under some presure now (I believe it was blowing reverse presure the other way) & now its sucking presure into the vessel .in this denitrator theres about 6gallons plus 4 bags of floating bioballs & DIY sinking bio rings I made from 1 inch pieces of 1 & 1/2 inch leftover hoses & pieces I had kicking around(like the old stiff hoses that have been used for years) about 3 inches.Theres an area of water with no media in the center because mainly it was so large to fill.I used a smaller version of those big round coin jars but this was thick walled & smaller(I know people fill the large ones with change & they break easily) so it seemed overly safe for water under low presure. cork stopper1" drilled twice with 1/2 wood bit for 2 tubes(or elbows or whatever your going to use to attatch your hoses to & from tank) & some aquariumsafe silicone. I slid 1" tubeing over the 1/2 inch tubeing near base to stiffen & strengthen & help keep it straight(verticle) 1/2" in tube fits into 1"tube snugly! i'm use a tiny little powerhead lol(so cute) set to lowest speed to give me a lowflowrate but nowhere near 20 drops per/min. I'm way over that .Ide add more bio balls but I've got a great seal & will not open it unless it looks real gunky & even then I may just blow it into a bucket manualy to dislodge any backups but its hefty & dont forsee any trouble . remember to keep your coil below 15 feet!
Last edited:
