Ammonium dosing

[Miami Reef]

Hi all, please help me. Im dosing ammonia bicarbonate for past 2 months. Started very slowly. Tank is 325 litres. Im now up to 3 doses of 6ml of solution per day. Dosing at 10am - 2pm and 6pm - nitrates still at 0! Donnt really want to feed more as already overfeeding and its just feels like food wasting if i feed even more.... so im dosing 0.1ppm ammonia 3 times per day and NO3 still 0. Can i dose more? Tested ammonia and its at 0 also. Is it better to split them doses into smaller doses and not into 3 times 0.1ppm? Im at 18ml per day of solution so not sure whay its not lifting my NO3

What test kit are you using for NO3?

Are you sure you made the ammonia solution correctly (20 g per L)

If so, it’s time to increase the dose. What matters is the total amount of ammonia added each day. Spreading it out over time won’t change the overall nitrogen input.

I’d adjust to 0.2ppm ammonium 3x per day.

 

[Dal]

What test kit are you using for NO3?

Are you sure you made the ammonia solution correctly (20 g per L)

If so, it’s time to increase the dose. What matters is the total amount of ammonia added each day. Spreading it out over time won’t change the overall nitrogen input.

I’d adjust to 0.2ppm ammonium 3x per day.

Hi, thanks. Im using Hanna HR to test. Yes 20gr per 1000ml of rodi. So u saying i can even dose 0.2ppm of Ammonia 3 times a day? I just dont want to kill my fish lol

 

[Miami Reef]

Hi, thanks. Im using Hanna HR to test. Yes 20gr per 1000ml of rodi. So u saying i can even dose 0.2ppm of Ammonia 3 times a day? I just dont want to kill my fish lol

0.2 ppm ammonia is FAR from killing fish.

Most studies showed ammonia had to be over 8 ppm for a several hours to days to kill fish.

Your tank seems to have a very robust nitrogen demand. I highly doubt 0.2 ppm would last long in your tank, especially if you’ve been adding 0.1 3x daily for a month with no nitrate readings.

Do you have a lot of corals or algae in the tank? I’m curious where all this nitrogen is going. Do you have a deep sandbed or sulfur denitrator?

Are you carbon dosing?


It wouldn’t hurt to pick up a Salifert nitrate test to verify the Hanna readings.

 

[Dal]

0.2 ppm ammonia is FAR from killing fish.

Most studies showed ammonia had to be over 8 ppm for a several hours to days to kill fish.

Your tank seems to have a very robust nitrogen demand. I highly doubt 0.2 ppm would last long in your tank, especially if you’ve been adding 0.1 3x daily for a month with no nitrate readings.

Do you have a lot of corals or algae in the tank? I’m curious where all this nitrogen is going. Do you have a deep sandbed or sulfur denitrator?

Are you carbon dosing?


It wouldn’t hurt to pick up a Salifert nitrate test to verify the Hanna readings.

No sand bed, i have like 50 corals - some bigger LPS and about 20 frags of sps, last month Icp test showed 0 nitrates also. No algae anywhere. I do dose 1.5 ml a day of tropic marin Plus NP for phosphate which atm keeps at 0.01 (again that wad confirmed with Hanna and icp). Last week started to dose Acropower once a week. Thank you for replies honestly appreciate it, so u saying can safely add 0.2ppm 3 times a day? If so I'll change doser slowly

 

[Dal]

No sand bed, i have like 50 corals - some bigger LPS and about 20 frags of sps, last month Icp test showed 0 nitrates also. No algae anywhere. I do dose 1.5 ml a day of tropic marin Plus NP for phosphate which atm keeps at 0.01 (again that wad confirmed with Hanna and icp). Last week started to dose Acropower once a week. Thank you for replies honestly appreciate it, so u saying can safely add 0.2ppm 3 times a day? If so I'll change doser slowly

 

[Dal]

Pic of the tank, sps only small frags

 

[Miami Reef]

so u saying can safely add 0.2ppm 3 times a day? If so I'll change doser slowly

Based on the description of your tank, I believe adding 0.2 ppm a few times a day won’t lead to an ammonia build up.

Since you’re using a doser, you can spread the dose out much than 3x per day; that would be even better.

 

[Dal]

Based on the description of your tank, I believe adding 0.2 ppm a few times a day won’t lead to an ammonia build up.

Since you’re using a doser, you can spread the dose out much than 3x per day; that would be even better.

Thank you, just to confirm your saying 3 x 0.2ppm per day? If so - would it be any difference if i split into lets say 6 doses x 0.1ppm per day?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Nothing wrong with splitting up the doses.

 

[Dal]

Nothing wrong with splitting up the doses.

Thank you Randy, ill up the dose a bit (not into whole 0.2ppm) during couple weeks. Thank you

 

[Dal]

.

 

[Dal]

Nothing wrong with splitting up the doses.

Just last question, does anytknows how quick does cycle happens? I mean how quickly you can get NO3 to appear on a test kit once ammonia dosed? Is it hours - days - weeks?

 

[Miami Reef]

Just last question, does anytknows how quick does cycle happens? I mean how quickly you can get NO3 to appear on a test kit once ammonia dosed? Is it hours - days - weeks?

Instantly upon addition, bacteria and other organisms will go to work on it.

Within several hours I suspect most, if not all, would be metabolized.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Instantly upon addition, bacteria and other organisms will go to work on it.

Within several hours I suspect most, if not all, would be metabolized.

And just to add, that assumes nothing took it up first, leaving nothing to convert.

 

[Miami Reef]

Yes, exactly. You’ll only see nitrate readings once nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate, unless you’re directly dosing nitrate, of course.

If you’re not seeing any nitrate, it likely means algae, heterotrophic bacteria, corals, or other organisms are consuming ammonia before nitrifying bacteria can process it. Those same organisms can also consume any nitrate that was produced by nitrifyers.

To increase nitrate, you need a nitrogen surplus. In other words, OP needs to add enough ammonia, food, or other nitrogen sources to exceed what’s being consumed…only then will nitrate start to accumulate.

 

[Dal]

Yes, exactly. You’ll only see nitrate readings once nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate, unless you’re directly dosing nitrate, of course.

If you’re not seeing any nitrate, it likely means algae, heterotrophic bacteria, corals, or other organisms are consuming ammonia before nitrifying bacteria can process it. Those same organisms can also consume any nitrate that was produced by nitrifyers.

To increase nitrate, you need a nitrogen surplus. In other words, OP needs to add enough ammonia, food, or other nitrogen sources to exceed what’s being consumed…only then will nitrate start to accumulate.

So is it safe to raise ammonia dosing so much so i could start seeing NO3?

 

[Miami Reef]

So is it safe to raise ammonia dosing so much so i could start seeing NO3?

With the way you’re doing it, yes.

Feeding fish to raise nitrate first starts off as ammonia when they excrete the nitrogen from foods. Dosing ammonia mimics this natural process, especially when gradually increased overtime, like you’ve been doing.

 

[charleydavis]

No sand bed, i have like 50 corals - some bigger LPS and about 20 frags of sps, last month Icp test showed 0 nitrates also. No algae anywhere. I do dose 1.5 ml a day of tropic marin Plus NP for phosphate which atm keeps at 0.01 (again that wad confirmed with Hanna and icp). Last week started to dose Acropower once a week. Thank you for replies honestly appreciate it, so u saying can safely add 0.2ppm 3 times a day? If so I'll change doser slowly

Why are you using Ammonium Carbonate [(NH4)2 CO3] other than another salt such as NH4Cl?