Ammonia is Our Friend!

[Ziggy17]

I think many people in the diy dosing thread auto dose. ATO is tricky because nitrifiers might grow in the reservoir.

Could it mix with AFR in a reservoir?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Could it mix with AFR in a reservoir?

We discuss that in the thread. I think you probably cannot mix ammonium bicarbonate into it without risking calcium carbonate precipitation. You can add ammonium chloride, but that recipe depletes alk.

 

[Ziggy17]

We discuss that in the thread. I think you probably cannot mix ammonium bicarbonate into it without risking calcium carbonate precipitation. You can add ammonium chloride, but that recipe depletes alk.

Copy. I’ll search for that thread and see what people are doing. I just don’t know if I trust my doser enough.

Thank you Sir.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

For anything except a very small daily dose, you’ll want to spread it out, making a dosing pump very useful.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/

 

[It’s the Grim Reefer]

Incredibly insightful and worth the read. For a new reef hobbyist, there is incredible value in taking the time to read this article and understand the role ammonia plays in our aquariums. A great share! Thank you.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Incredibly insightful and worth the read. For a new reef hobbyist, there is incredible value in taking the time to read this article and understand the role ammonia plays in our aquariums. A great share! Thank you.

Thanks!

Happy Reefing!

 

[brandon429]

best updated cycling article I've seen. appreciated seeing non-standard ways to cycle, skip cycling, this is very reflective of today's marine setups. 10/10

When compared to older cycling articles that seem to rehash the same info, this has tons of new inclusions. I haven't seen any better cycling article.

 

[KrisReef]

If anyone sees typos or other issues, please let me know. :)

Hey sir,
I think it might be prudent to add a warning section in the article about using Soda Water to drop pH, in that the blast of CO2 can "black out" fishes by displacing O2 with potential lethal impacts up to death from lack of O2, in small containers?

(Also, I don't know if the old link is broken or if my computer is on the fritz?)

speaking of copied section from:

Ammonia is Our Friend

By Randy Holmes-Farley
(Copied section):- :cool:
https://www.reefedition.com/ph-and-the-reef-aquarium/

This is a short summary of it. A drop of 0.3 pH units drops the concentration of the more toxic for of ammonia (NH3) by a factor of about 2.

Bottled or canned soda water (seltzer) can be used to instantly reduce an aquarium’s pH. Be sure to select unflavored soda water, and check its ingredients to be sure it doesn’t contain anything that should be avoided (phosphate, etc.). Many manufacturers list water and carbon dioxide as the only ingredients.

I recommend adding 6 mL of soda water per gallon of tank water to reduce pH by about 0.3 units. Add it to a high flow area away from organisms (such as in a sump). The local pH where it first is added will be very low. Going about this procedure slowly is better than proceeding too fast. If you do not have a sump, add it especially slowly. Some soda water may have more or less carbon dioxide in it than others, and the lower the aquarium’s alkalinity, the more the pH will drop. Also, the higher the pH, the less the pH will drop, because seawater’s buffering capability declines steadily as the pH drops from about 9 to 7.5.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hey sir,
I think it might be prudent to add a warning section in the article about using Soda Water to drop pH, in that the blast of CO2 can "black out" fishes by displacing O2 with potential lethal impacts up to death from lack of O2, in small containers?

(Also, I don't know if the old link is broken or if my computer is on the fritz?)

speaking of copied section from:

Ammonia is Our Friend

By Randy Holmes-Farley
(Copied section):- :cool:
https://www.reefedition.com/ph-and-the-reef-aquarium/

This is a short summary of it. A drop of 0.3 pH units drops the concentration of the more toxic for of ammonia (NH3) by a factor of about 2.

Bottled or canned soda water (seltzer) can be used to instantly reduce an aquarium’s pH. Be sure to select unflavored soda water, and check its ingredients to be sure it doesn’t contain anything that should be avoided (phosphate, etc.). Many manufacturers list water and carbon dioxide as the only ingredients.

I recommend adding 6 mL of soda water per gallon of tank water to reduce pH by about 0.3 units. Add it to a high flow area away from organisms (such as in a sump). The local pH where it first is added will be very low. Going about this procedure slowly is better than proceeding too fast. If you do not have a sump, add it especially slowly. Some soda water may have more or less carbon dioxide in it than others, and the lower the aquarium’s alkalinity, the more the pH will drop. Also, the higher the pH, the less the pH will drop, because seawater’s buffering capability declines steadily as the pH drops from about 9 to 7.5.

Unless the soda water makes the seawater bubble and the bubbles carry away O2, adding CO2 won’t displace O2. It’s not like there’s a fixed space in water for gas. O2 and CO2 do not impact the solubility of each other.