ATI Nutrition N vs Seachem Flourish Nitrogen

[The Opinionated Reefer]

My tank always seems low on nitrates so I am trying to dose nitrate to get it up to around 2ppm and maintain it there. Currently, I am dosing ATI Nutrition N but I am way above the dose that the calculator tells me to dose and still only have a nitrate reading of 0.5ppm. I don't think this stuff is very potent at all. In the past, I have dosed Seachem Flourish Nitrogen and at a similar dosage to what I am dosing now and my nitrates shot up to 16ppm. So Seachem Flourish Nitrogen is obviously much more potent than the ATI nitrate supplement which would seem to make it much more cost-effective. However, Seachem Flourish Nitrogen is not made for reef tanks and I am wondering if anybody knows if they both contain more or less the same ingredients or if the Seachem Flourish Nitrogen is much more likely to cause problems or algae growth since its really meant for planted freshwater tanks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My recommendation is food grade sodium nitrate. I see no reason to dose the urea in Seachem's product, and it is of unknown purity.

 

[taricha]

Currently, I am dosing ATI Nutrition N but I am way above the dose that the calculator tells me to dose and still only have a nitrate reading of 0.5ppm. I don't think this stuff is very potent at all. In the past, I have dosed Seachem Flourish Nitrogen and at a similar dosage to what I am dosing now and my nitrates shot up to 16ppm. So Seachem Flourish Nitrogen is obviously much more potent than the ATI nitrate supplement which would seem to make it much more cost-effective. However, Seachem Flourish Nitrogen is not made for reef tanks and I am wondering if anybody knows if they both contain more or less the same ingredients or if the Seachem Flourish Nitrogen is much more likely to cause problems or algae growth since its really meant for planted freshwater tanks.

Like Randy said Seachem flourish N is half NO3/Urea by nitrogen. Its dosing recommendations are written for planted tanks so, probably adds significant amounts, and the NO3 is immediately measurable.
ATI Nutrition N says absolutely nothing about what forms the N is...
"Supplements essentials pro with organic compounds and nutrients" if it's mostly aminos etc, then it may get consumed in large part before it ever makes it to testable NO3. Also since the dosing recommendations are written for reef tanks, I imagine it's less N input than a planted tank product.

simplest way to keep an NO3 target is to dose NO3, as recommended above.
Other N forms should get you there as well, but the path is less clear.