Ammonium chloride dosing Question

[mr.lordacan]

Hi All,

I have a 40G reef that has recently come out of a GHA outbreak. One big change is my nitrates have dropped dramatically. For the better part of 1.5 years my nitrates have sat at 20ppm. About 1 month ago they dropped to non-detect (Salifert).

With heavy and frequent feeding, my nitrates are now at 2.5ppm.

I would like to cut back on the feeding, long term I’m not sure if I should be feeding as much as I am.

I was considering dosing nitrates but realized I have a bottle of Dr.Tim’s ammonium chloride from when I cycled my tank. I was thinking I could use this to help raise my nitrates via nitrification.

Are there any drawbacks to this? Is it safe for my corals? My main concern is raising my ammonia too quickly or harming my inverts/anemones.

Has anyone used this to raise nitrates and what was your experience?

If 4 drops per 1 US gallon = 2ppm, what is the safest route to adding? Is there a conversion to determine how much nitrates will be produced from the 2ppm of ammonia (not that I would raise it to 2ppm lol)

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

There is a thread that Randy made about ammonia dosing, so look for that (I'll try to find and link it after this post).

BUT, do not trust the Dr. Tims drop size to be consistent!!! Measure with a syringe instead!!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

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

 

[Spare time]

Why not just stick with heavy feeding?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

^^^ This too.

 

[mr.lordacan]

There is a thread that Randy made about ammonia dosing, so look for that (I'll try to find and link it after this post).

BUT, do not trust the Dr. Tims drop size to be consistent!!! Measure with a syringe instead!!

Thank you! Good call, I’ll use a syringe. And thanks for the thread recommendation! I’ll be sure to give it a read tomorrow!

Why not just stick with heavy feeding?

My GHA outbreak was related to my dry rock leaching phosphates. Took about 10 months of non-stop phosgaurd, manual removal, and filter sock changeouts to bring phosphates down to 0.1ppm (started at 0.65ppm). All the extra feeding is causing me to still use phosgaurd, just considerably less. I’d like to raise my nitrates without adding additional sources for phosphates.

 

[Idech]

I wouldn’t do this with fish in the tank. 2 ppm ammonia is not going to go well. And from my experience, if you follow the instructions on Dr Tim’s bottle, you get 2-4 times more ammonia than what it says.

Why don’t you buy some Neonitro ?

 

[Spare time]

Thank you! Good call, I’ll use a syringe. And thanks for the thread recommendation! I’ll be sure to give it a read tomorrow!


My GHA outbreak was related to my dry rock leaching phosphates. Took about 10 months of non-stop phosgaurd, manual removal, and filter sock changeouts to bring phosphates down to 0.1ppm (started at 0.65ppm). All the extra feeding is causing me to still use phosgaurd, just considerably less. I’d like to raise my nitrates without adding additional sources for phosphates.

You can use amino acidsw for a phosphate free coral food. But yes the ammonium chloride works too

 

[mr.lordacan]

I wouldn’t do this with fish in the tank. 2 ppm ammonia is not going to go well. And from my experience, if you follow the instructions on Dr Tim’s bottle, you get 2-4 times more ammonia than what it says.

Why don’t you buy some Neonitro ?

Yep, definitely wouldn’t raise it to 2ppm, but wondering what’s a safe value (if I went with 0.2 for example)

I could just buy the neonitro, but have heard coral can uptake ammonia, and plus i figure I could get my moneys worth out of the bottle sitting on my shelf!

 

[mr.lordacan]

You can use amino acidsw for a phosphate free coral food. But yes the ammonium chloride works too

Yep, currently I add 4-5mL AB+ per day

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I wouldn’t do this with fish in the tank. 2 ppm ammonia is not going to go well. And from my experience, if you follow the instructions on Dr Tim’s bottle, you get 2-4 times more ammonia than what it says.

Why don’t you buy some Neonitro ?

Dosing ammonia appears to work fine and has advantages over nitrate dosing.

Of course one does not dose 2 ppm at a time.

Finally, if one does want to dose nitrate, I recommend good grade sodium or calcium nitrate, not neonitrate which is more expensive and lacks any purity or composition assurance.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yep, definitely wouldn’t raise it to 2ppm, but wondering what’s a safe value (if I went with 0.2 for example)

I could just buy the neonitro, but have heard coral can uptake ammonia, and plus i figure I could get my moneys worth out of the bottle sitting on my shelf!

We discuss dosing in the thread.

 

[mr.lordacan]

We discuss dosing in the thread.

Thanks Randy, I’ll be looking at this today! Question - you mention quality assurance and that makes sense, you don’t want something with impurities. Would you consider something like Dr Tim’s ammonium chloride to be safe as a dosing source, or should I be looking for a better quality product?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Randy, I’ll be looking at this today! Question - you mention quality assurance and that makes sense, you don’t want something with impurities. Would you consider something like Dr Tim’s ammonium chloride to be safe as a dosing source, or should I be looking for a better quality product?

It is likely fine but I do not know that it has any purity guarantee.

 

[mr.lordacan]

It is likely fine but I do not know that it has any purity guarantee.

Thanks Randy, really appreciate the input. I guess that’s to be expected in hobby grade products.

It seems like activated carbon doesn’t bind ammonia in water, so maybe adding it ahead of my carbon would be a best bet to limit any potential impurities (AIO setup).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Randy, really appreciate the input. I guess that’s to be expected in hobby grade products.

It seems like activated carbon doesn’t bind ammonia in water, so maybe adding it ahead of my carbon would be a best bet to limit any potential impurities (AIO setup).

That may or may not help, but I dont see any downside to it.

 

[Len Randal]

Hi All,

I have a 40G reef that has recently come out of a GHA outbreak. One big change is my nitrates have dropped dramatically. For the better part of 1.5 years my nitrates have sat at 20ppm. About 1 month ago they dropped to non-detect (Salifert).

With heavy and frequent feeding, my nitrates are now at 2.5ppm.

I would like to cut back on the feeding, long term I’m not sure if I should be feeding as much as I am.

I was considering dosing nitrates but realized I have a bottle of Dr.Tim’s ammonium chloride from when I cycled my tank. I was thinking I could use this to help raise my nitrates via nitrification.

Are there any drawbacks to this? Is it safe for my corals? My main concern is raising my ammonia too quickly or harming my inverts/anemones.

Has anyone used this to raise nitrates and what was your experience?

If 4 drops per 1 US gallon = 2ppm, what is the safest route to adding? Is there a conversion to determine how much nitrates will be produced from the 2ppm of ammonia (not that I would raise it to 2ppm lol)

Thanks Randy, really appreciate the input. I guess that’s to be expected in hobby grade products.

It seems like activated carbon doesn’t bind ammonia in water, so maybe adding it ahead of my carbon would be a best bet to limit any potential impurities (AIO setup).

Well I could put my 2 cents worth in if you would like me to?? You could read my rather long post on the subject of ammonium chloride to feed Macro-algae and corals in Reef aquariums?? Corals out on a REAL CORAL REEF , and macro and micro-algaes would much rather have ammonium than nitrate. Nitrate as it says in the post can not be used easily because it can not be oxidized further , it must be reduced first before it can be oxidized by zooanthelle micro-algae that use via photosynthesis in the coral to produce starch (a carbohydrate) to give the corals energy for life processes. And we do not use carbon , as it removes trace elements that are also needed by most corals. We use a solution of ammonium chloride at the rate of 1 ml per 100 gallons of a 30 gram per liter H2O solution per day.. With great success .!!!!

 

[Len Randal]

Why not just stick with heavy feeding?

Heavy feeding can almost always lead to High organophosphates! You might want to read my rather long thread on this subject (ammonium chloride and organophosphates)>

 

[mr.lordacan]

So far so good. I’m only dosing enough to raise ammonia to 0.05ppm once per day. Figured I’d start slow (been ~8 days). I may raise it to 0.1ppm at some point, right now just tracking my nitrate levels to see how the tank responds.

 

[Spare time]

Heavy feeding can almost always lead to High organophosphates! You might want to read my rather long thread on this subject (ammonium chloride and organophosphates)>

Just add something to remove phosphate if feeding heavily?