Bacto-Balance Nitrates

[RoanokeReef]

Morning all,
Been running Bacto-Balance for a couple months and it keeps my Phosphates around 0.06 - 0.08 and my Nitrates 1.0 - 3. Is there any issue with keeping Nitrates that low or would you recommend dosing Nitrates to keep them a little higher? My tank is just shy of a year and houses 3 fish, primary Acros with a few LPS / Zoas sprinkled in.

Maybe unrelated but I noticed my ALK went up from 8 to 11 about the same time Bacto-Balance dropped my Nitrates. Are these related? I also had a NYOS bucket (gone now) that had clumps in it from purchase that broke up so maybe that caused it. I only dose Bacto-Balance.

 

[Jamie814]

ALK went up from 8 to 11 about the same time Bacto-Balance dropped my Nitrates. Are these related?

Yes, bacteria use nitrate as an oxygen source and convert it to nitrogen gas, producing alkalinity in the process.

 

[rishma]

Morning all,
Been running Bacto-Balance for a couple months and it keeps my Phosphates around 0.06 - 0.08 and my Nitrates 1.0 - 3. Is there any issue with keeping Nitrates that low or would you recommend dosing Nitrates to keep them a little higher? My tank is just shy of a year and houses 3 fish, primary Acros with a few LPS / Zoas sprinkled in.

Maybe unrelated but I noticed my ALK went up from 8 to 11 about the same time Bacto-Balance dropped my Nitrates. Are these related? I also had a NYOS bucket (gone now) that had clumps in it from purchase that broke up so maybe that caused it. I only dose Bacto-Balance.

I am a bacto balance user also. I keep my phosphate around the same levels as you and been very pleased with it.

Regarding nitrates, I aim to keep mine around 5 ppm but I think 1-3 pom is fine, though 1 is a little low. The reason I aim higher is only to give myself a little buffer from going to zero. I like to make sure there is some nitrate detectable in my tank. Beyond that, I don’t think the level matters much…2, 5, 10, 15 ppm…all good I think.

Regarding zero nitrate , @Lou Ekus advised me not to worry too much about it and just observe the corals. There is a nitrogen source in the NP bacto balance and the corals may be getting what they need without measurable nitrate. To his credit, my corals looked great even though nitrate was zero; however, I was not comfortable leaving it at zero so I dosed nitrate to compensate.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’d personally aim for higher than 1 ppm nitrate.

 

[RoanokeReef]

I am a bacto balance user also. I keep my phosphate around the same levels as you and been very pleased with it.

Regarding nitrates, I aim to keep mine around 5 ppm but I think 1-3 pom is fine, though 1 is a little low. The reason I aim higher is only to give myself a little buffer from going to zero. I like to make sure there is some nitrate detectable in my tank. Beyond that, I don’t think the level matters much…2, 5, 10, 15 ppm…all good I think.

Regarding zero nitrate , @Lou Ekus advised me not to worry too much about it and just observe the corals. There is a nitrogen source in the NP bacto balance and the corals may be getting what they need without measurable nitrate. To his credit, my corals looked great even though nitrate was zero; however, I was not comfortable leaving it at zero so I dosed nitrate to compensate.

What product are you using to dose Nitrates? Does dosing increase Alk? I'd rather not increase that as its higher than I generally like to keep it at.

 

[rishma]

What product are you using to dose Nitrates? Does dosing increase Alk? I'd rather not increase that as its higher than I generally like to keep it at.

I have used multiple products to raise nitrate. My current favorite is ammonium bicarbonate as described by @Randy Holmes-Farley. If you are interested check this thread out.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/d...-nitrate-systems.987087/page-53#post-13053559
I have not observed any impact on alkalinity and I monitor pretty closely.

 

[RoanokeReef]

I have used multiple products to raise nitrate. My current favorite is ammonium bicarbonate as described by @Randy Holmes-Farley. If you are interested check this thread out.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/...-nitrate-systems.987087/page-53#post-13053559
I have not observed any impact on alkalinity and I monitor pretty closely.

I was reading that and maybe I'm misunderstanding but it looks like it may drop Phosphates also which I don't want to risk doing.

 

[Rmike545]

What product are you using to dose Nitrates? Does dosing increase Alk? I'd rather not increase that as its higher than I generally like to keep it at.

Yes, bacteria use nitrate as an oxygen source and convert it to nitrogen gas, producing alkalinity in the process.

Do any of you guys have a PH problem while using bacto balance it seems to drop my PH like crazy to the point that I stopped dosing

 

[rishma]

I was reading that and maybe I'm misunderstanding but it looks like it may drop Phosphates also which I don't want to risk doing.

Ah, that’s a recent observation some of us have made. Not definitive, but I think it is happening in my tank.

To be honest, it’s not directly dropping phosphate, but it may be increasing some biological process and that consumes phosphate. It’s anecdote at this point. Ammonia is much easier for cells to use than say, nitrate.

If you don’t want to mess with it, you can make or buy a nitrate solution. There are diy versions they are good. I have also used Brightwell NeoNitro if you want a commercial product.

 

[exnisstech]

Do any of you guys have a PH problem while using bacto balance it seems to drop my PH like crazy to the point that I stopped dosing

Sorry I never check pH

Maybe unrelated but I noticed my ALK went up from 8 to 11 about the same time Bacto-Balance dropped my Nitrates. Are these related? I also had a NYOS bucket (gone now) that had clumps in it from purchase that broke up so maybe that caused it. I only dose Bacto-Balance.

I haven't noticed any increase in alkalynity using BB but I'm also not dosing enough to drive N and P really low. I don't have a lot of demanding coral but dosing 10ml BB I still dose 10ml 2 part daily to maintain alk between 8-9 total volume 285g. I have quite a few large fish and feed heavily at least twice a day. NO3 stays around 10-15 and PO4 runs 0.3-0.6.

For dosing nitrates I just use food grade sodium nitrate. I have other tanks that I have to dose once in while. This is the one I've been using for a few years.

 

[rishma]

Do any of you guys have a PH problem while using bacto balance it seems to drop my PH like crazy to the point that I stopped dosing

It definitely impacts pH. I have done a few things to offset the impact but yes, a small dose is visible on my pH monitor. I really like how stable I am able to keep PO4 so it was worth some effort to mitigate the pH impact.

 

[RoanokeReef]

Do any of you guys have a PH problem while using bacto balance it seems to drop my PH like crazy to the point that I stopped dosing

I only see a small impact, but I also don't add it all at once. I have the DOS add it during light hours spreading out the dose.

 

[rishma]

I only see a small impact, but I also don't add it all at once. I have the DOS add it during light hours spreading out the dose.

Yes, spreading out the dose definitely helps.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I was reading that and maybe I'm misunderstanding but it looks like it may drop Phosphates also which I don't want to risk doing.

Any reduction of a growth limitation by dosing N will increase phosphate consumption.

 

[rishma]

Any reduction of a growth limitation by dosing N will increase phosphate consumption.

totally agree and great point. I have seen phosphate come down with nitrate dosing when nitrate was really low or zero. My observation with ammonia dosing is that it may happen even when nitrate is not really low.

Either way, good advice to watch phosphate when dosing a nitrogen source.