Ammonium chloride solution for dosing

[Gp!]

I just ordered 99.9% ammonium chloride and I am planning to use dosing pumps to keep my rock tubs cycling instead of using fish until I get the display set up and decide on qt. Goal is to get coralline on all the dry rocks and maybe full of pods first.

Any recommendations on concentration I should mix with rodi? I'm using 4 x 55 gallon tubs and roughly 400 lbs of pukani. 2L dosing jugs. And how much should I dose? 2ppm per day?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It can take months to get coralline growing well, but cycling with ammonia/ammonium chloride is still a fine plan.

I'd dose once to 2 ppm, then not dose again until it disappears. Then dose 2 ppm again and see how long it takes to disappear.

 

[Gp!]

It can take months to get coralline growing well, but cycling with ammonia/ammonium chloride is still a fine plan.

I'd dose once to 2 ppm, then not dose again until it disappears. Then dose 2 ppm again and see how long it takes to disappear.

Months is fine. I went through the Dr Tim's cycle and the tubs are processing the ammonia overnight now. Trying to talk to someone at arc reef to see if it is possible to get their orange coralline strain but I can't get anyone on the phone or a response by email for weeks. Just looking to keep everything going now so a transfer to the display is smooth and I don't end up with a nasty look in the living room once I move everything over

 

[Gp!]

So ammonium chloride arrived. Kind of disappointed because it is advertised as 99.9% but the labelling is only 99%. This is the product https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07B8PXKDY?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title I guess you get what you pay for.

But anyways. I haven't calculated dosing quantities in a lot of years. Would appreciate an assist if anyone is in a generous mood How much ammonium chloride to rodi should I use for an easily measured dose per gallon?

 

[Bayareareefer18]

I am currently about 5 weeks into my cycle. I used ammonia. Just in the waiting stage for nitrite to drop which seems to be taking forever. Ammonia is processed very quickly.

Entire system volume is about 80 gallons. I dosed 2 bottles of purple helix and I can already see purple specks here and there on my rocks. My diatom bloom went away and see the purple specks. I have green specks also but unsure if that's coraline or some other type of algae

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So ammonium chloride arrived. Kind of disappointed because it is advertised as 99.9% but the labelling is only 99%. This is the product https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07B8PXKDY?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title I guess you get what you pay for.

But anyways. I haven't calculated dosing quantities in a lot of years. Would appreciate an assist if anyone is in a generous mood How much ammonium chloride to rodi should I use for an easily measured dose per gallon?

Do you have a scale?

 

[Gp!]

Do you have a scale?

I have a scale. Gempro 250. Online description says 50 g capacity, 0.001 resolution. I normally use it in grain weight which is .02

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ammonium chloride is 32% ammonia by weight.

If you want to dose 2 mg/L (~2 ppm) then you need to dose 6.3 mg/L.

In 100 gallons (379 L), then would be 379 x 6.3 = 2.4 grams of ammonium chloride.

 

[Gp!]

Thank you! Being such a small quantity do you think it would be fine to dose in solid form or should I go ahead and mix with rodi first?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

On dry dead rock, it doesn’t matter. On live rock I’d add slowly somehow. Either slowly adding solids or dissolving first.

 

[esse]

On dry dead rock, it doesn’t matter. On live rock I’d add slowly somehow. Either slowly adding solids or dissolving first.

I'm also interested in dosing ammonium to supplement nitrogen, as my nitrates have bottomed out & phosphates are reading at 0.12.

If I mix up a solution of ammonium chloride salt with RODI water, could I expect the solution to be more stable than ammonium hydroxide? I want to use a doser, but I'm concerned with the solution evaporating.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm also interested in dosing ammonium to supplement nitrogen, as my nitrates have bottomed out & phosphates are reading at 0.12.

If I mix up a solution of ammonium chloride salt with RODI water, could I expect the solution to be more stable than ammonium hydroxide? I want to use a doser, but I'm concerned with the solution evaporating.

You will be less likely to lose ammonia to the air using ammonium chloride.