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onze Facebook-pagina een korte uitleg geschreven over DyMiCo, waar ik reeds 8 jaar mee werk. Ik post deze uitleg ook hier, helaas nu alleen in het Engels.
Many of you are wondering how DyMiCo, Dynamic Mineral Control works. At the bottom of our page, you can view the basic chemical processes that occur in the sand bed. But how does the system achieve this?
DyMiCo functions a bit like a sand bed or Jaubert system, but with several important innovations:
1. Seawater is actively drawn through the sand bed with a return pump. This means the system is not dependent on diffusion of nitrate and carbon into the sand bed. The amount of water filtered is controlled by the redox value measured inside the sand bed by an IKS Aquastar computer. The lower the redox value, the less oxygen is present in the sand bed, and the more water is filtered. The opposite is also true, where higher redox values trigger less pumping time. This results in a sinusoidal redox value, which fluctuates around an average value of about -200 mV. This value is ideal for denitrification.
2. The sand bed receives a carbon source every hour, which the bacteria use to break down nitrate. This also ensures that carbon does not have to diffuse through the sand bed, like in conventional denitrification systems. Again, this process is controlled by the computer. The lower the redox value, the less carbon is injected. Higer redox values trigger more carbon injection into the sand bed, to stimulate oxygen consumption by bacteria.
3. The sand bed also receives carbon dioxide (CO2) injection, based on the requirements of the user. A pH of 7 is sufficient in most cases to result in high calcium, magnesium and KH/alkalinity levels. DyMiCo works as a powerful calcium reactor, with a capacity of about 10% of the total system volume.
4. Finally, the carbon source and CO2 are actively and horizontally pumped through the sand bed, to ensure that the sand bed is evenly affected. This prevents black patches of sulphate reducing bacteria that produce toxic hydrogen sulfide gas (H2S), a common problem with conventional sand beds.
5. Because the entire aquarium water volume is filtered only once per 24 hours (on average), it removes less plankton and feeds from the water. This is why DyMiCo aquaria are richer in plankton (algae, bacteria and crustaceans) and filter feeders such as sponges, when compared to Berlin systems. The system also uses very little energy, and requires no water changes or Balling additives (calcium chloride, magnesium chloride or sodium bicarbonate).
The attached image shows the basic chemical processes that occur in the sand bed. The blue arrows represent vertical water flow when the return pump is active, and horizontal water flow when the process (or mixing) pump is active.