DIY Ammonia Dosing Chart

[TriGa22]

I’m dosing 5mls in a 25 Lagoon and still have undetected nitrate on a Salifert Nitrate test. I’ve been dosing for 2 weeks and I dose one bolus dose in the afternoon. Moving up to week three is scaring me - I haven’t tested but the chart says I’m adding .3ppm ammonia all at once - talk me off the ledge? Is bolus fine because the literature says don’t add more than .1 in 24hr but the chart gives amounts to exceed that?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’m dosing 5mls in a 25 Lagoon and still have undetected nitrate on a Salifert Nitrate test. I’ve been dosing for 2 weeks and I dose one bolus dose in the afternoon. Moving up to week three is scaring me - I haven’t tested but the chart says I’m adding .3ppm ammonia all at once - talk me off the ledge? Is bolus fine because the literature says don’t add more than .1 in 24hr but the chart gives amounts to exceed that?

If you ramp up to more, I'd split the dose.

 

[Iinux]

Good morning all, had an outbreak of possibly some golden algae or dinos, the people ive shown it to on Mack's group were not 100%. So I started ammonia dosing to raise my Nitrates.

Well, today ran into an issue : my API test kit is showing 1PPM, but my seachem badge is showing .5. Not sure which I should follow, and or if i should dose prime or just do a water change. Nitrites are a strong 0, and Nitrates are starting to finally creep up at 7.3ppm and what ever was there(algae or dinos), are gone.

Fish are doing fine, still swimming/eating/and just in general acting normal.

Would kill for some advice.

 

[Reginald Reefer III]

Good morning all, had an outbreak of possibly some golden algae or dinos, the people ive shown it to on Mack's group were not 100%. So I started ammonia dosing to raise my Nitrates.

Well, today ran into an issue : my API test kit is showing 1PPM, but my seachem badge is showing .5. Not sure which I should follow, and or if i should dose prime or just do a water change. Nitrites are a strong 0, and Nitrates are starting to finally creep up at 7.3ppm and what ever was there(algae or dinos), are gone.

Fish are doing fine, still swimming/eating/and just in general acting normal.

Would kill for some advice.

1) No issue with Nitrite in saltwater aquariums. It's non-toxic compared to freshwater.
2) Are you dosing ammonium or ammonia? Big difference in those 2. You should be dosing something like ammonium chloride or ammonium bicarbonate.
3) 0.5-1ppm of Ammonia should be OK, but I wouldn't let it keep it creeping up if there is sudden upward movement.
4) How new is the tank? How much live rock? How many fish? Size of tank? Without a strong bacteria population and completed cycle, you will see ammonia begin to rise from fish poop, decaying organics, etc.

 

[EnterName]

Good morning all, had an outbreak of possibly some golden algae or dinos, the people ive shown it to on Mack's group were not 100%. So I started ammonia dosing to raise my Nitrates.

Well, today ran into an issue : my API test kit is showing 1PPM, but my seachem badge is showing .5. Not sure which I should follow, and or if i should dose prime or just do a water change. Nitrites are a strong 0, and Nitrates are starting to finally creep up at 7.3ppm and what ever was there(algae or dinos), are gone.

Fish are doing fine, still swimming/eating/and just in general acting normal.

Would kill for some advice.

Neither 0.5ppm nor 1ppm total ammonia would kill fish in a short amount of time and I could imagine it's a testing error.

I would be interested in how much you dosed of what exact solution and how large the tank is. If nitrates went up to 7.3 that means at least 2ppm ammonia have been nitrified since your last reading of 0ppm. That isn't too much and a well cycled tank would be able to do that within a day without issues.

 

[Iinux]

1) No issue with Nitrite in saltwater aquariums. It's non-toxic compared to freshwater.
2) Are you dosing ammonium or ammonia? Big difference in those 2. You should be dosing something like ammonium chloride or ammonium bicarbonate.
3) 0.5-1ppm of Ammonia should be OK, but I wouldn't let it keep it creeping up if there is sudden upward movement.
4) How new is the tank? How much live rock? How many fish? Size of tank? Without a strong bacteria population and completed cycle, you will see ammonia begin to rise from fish poop, decaying organics, etc.

Thank you for the response!

Tank was set up in June, so its newer, but ran through the whole fishless cycle.
I was using Ammonia from fritz's fishless cycle so I believe just ammonia. (https://fritzaquatics.com/products/fishless-fuel/) I did order a bag of ammonium bicarbonate, and will be swapping to this once this swing is over.

Tank size is 60 gallons, with 2 clowns and currently homing my buddy's baby yellow tang while he's rebuilding his system. Also have some snails and shrimp. As far as rock, it's filled with about 60 lbs, 5 of which was just recently taken out of my established tank to help with the algae/dino issue. I will say over night the badge has looked like it's gone down in color, but still right below that .5 on the seachem.

Wondering if i should dose some prime and let it keep breaking down, or do a water change, or just keep watching the fish and if they seem okay and it doesn't swing anymore up, keep the path and eventually swap to the ammonium bicarb.

 

[Fish Fan]

Would kill for some advice.

No need to go to such extremes

Well, today ran into an issue : my API test kit is showing 1PPM, but my seachem badge is showing .5. Not sure which I should follow, and or if i should dose prime or just do a water change.

This is nothing to be alarmed by. The API ammonia test kit reports total ammonia, and the Seachem badge reports only free, toxic ammonia. As mentioned above, 0.50 ppm ammonia isn't a huge concern, especially if your fish seem fine, but it's at the upper limit to where I'd start to worry about it if it gets higher.

I'd let this ride out

If the free ammonia does continue to rise above 0.50 ppm to 1.00 ppm or even higher, then you would want to mitigate that with water changes. Unfortunately, Seachem Prime has been independently tested, and testing has shown that it is not effective at binding or reducing ammonia as it claims.

 

[Iinux]

Neither 0.5ppm nor 1ppm total ammonia would kill fish in a short amount of time and I could imagine it's a testing error.

I would be interested in how much you dosed of what exact solution and how large the tank is. If nitrates went up to 7.3 that means at least 2ppm ammonia have been nitrified since your last reading of 0ppm. That isn't too much and a well cycled tank would be able to do that within a day without issues.

I have been dosing https://fritzaquatics.com/products/fishless-fuel/ for about a week, was dosing .5ml a day for my 60 gallon tank but have since STOPPED. I will use the ammonium bicarb.
The tank stayed 0PPM for a while, and then finally got above the hump, and now its at 1.0PPM after dosing over the week.

 

[Iinux]

No need to go to such extremes


This is nothing to be alarmed by. The API ammonia test kit reports total ammonia, and the Seachem badge reports only free, toxic ammonia. As mentioned above, 0.50 ppm ammonia isn't a huge concern, especially if your fish seem fine, but it's at the upper limit to where I'd start to worry about it if it gets higher.

I'd let this ride out

If the free ammonia does continue to rise above 0.50 ppm to 1.00 ppm or even higher, then you would want to mitigate that with water changes. Unfortunately, Seachem Prime has been independently tested, and testing has shown that it is not effective at binding or reducing ammonia as it claims.

Thank you for the response! :)

 

[EnterName]

Neither 0.5ppm nor 1ppm total ammonia would kill fish in a short amount of time and I could imagine it's a testing error.

I would be interested in how much you dosed of what exact solution and how large the tank is. If nitrates went up to 7.3 that means at least 2ppm ammonia have been nitrified since your last reading of 0ppm. That isn't too much and a well cycled tank would be able to do that within a day without issues.

I have been dosing https://fritzaquatics.com/products/fishless-fuel/ for about a week, was dosing .5ml a day for my 60 gallon tank but have since STOPPED. I will use the ammonium bicarb.
The tank stayed 0PPM for a while, and then finally got above the hump, and now its at 1.0PPM after dosing over the week.

That's something like 0.1ppm ammonia a day, I don't think that caused ammonia to rise to 0.5-1ppm over a few days. Fish Fan's response says it all

 

[EnterName]

Good morning all, had an outbreak of possibly some golden algae or dinos, the people ive shown it to on Mack's group were not 100%. So I started ammonia dosing to raise my Nitrates.

Well, today ran into an issue : my API test kit is showing 1PPM, but my seachem badge is showing .5. Not sure which I should follow, and or if i should dose prime or just do a water change. Nitrites are a strong 0, and Nitrates are starting to finally creep up at 7.3ppm and what ever was there(algae or dinos), are gone.

Fish are doing fine, still swimming/eating/and just in general acting normal.

Would kill for some advice.

1) No issue with Nitrite in saltwater aquariums. It's non-toxic compared to freshwater.
2) Are you dosing ammonium or ammonia? Big difference in those 2. You should be dosing something like ammonium chloride or ammonium bicarbonate.
3) 0.5-1ppm of Ammonia should be OK, but I wouldn't let it keep it creeping up if there is sudden upward movement.
4) How new is the tank? How much live rock? How many fish? Size of tank? Without a strong bacteria population and completed cycle, you will see ammonia begin to rise from fish poop, decaying organics, etc.

What's wrong with ammonium hydroxide (ammonia solution), assuming you can ensure purity and are not using some cheap cleaning product?

Shelf life might be reduced, ok... But the chemical itself should be fine.

 

[Iinux]

That's something like 0.1ppm ammonia a day, I don't think that caused ammonia to rise to 0.5-1ppm over a few days. Fish Fan's response says it all

Thank you.
I’ve also been heavily feeding, I’ve cut back on everything and stopped dosing will ride it out :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Good morning all, had an outbreak of possibly some golden algae or dinos, the people ive shown it to on Mack's group were not 100%. So I started ammonia dosing to raise my Nitrates.

Well, today ran into an issue : my API test kit is showing 1PPM, but my seachem badge is showing .5. Not sure which I should follow, and or if i should dose prime or just do a water change. Nitrites are a strong 0, and Nitrates are starting to finally creep up at 7.3ppm and what ever was there(algae or dinos), are gone.

Fish are doing fine, still swimming/eating/and just in general acting normal.

Would kill for some advice.

How much ammonia did you dose?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What's wrong with ammonium hydroxide (ammonia solution), assuming you can ensure purity and are not using some cheap cleaning product?

Shelf life might be reduced, ok... But the chemical itself should be fine.

I agree. But purity might be harder to assure at low cost.

 

[Iinux]

How much ammonia did you dose?

I started with .5ML but after the 2nd day I still did not see any ammonia, so from there on I dosed 1ML. Once I saw the ammonia I stopped dosing, and here we are.

I am going to wait for the ammonia to drop to zero, and then i will begin again with the ammonia bicarb.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How much does that 0.5 mL translate to in ppm for your tank?

Most folks dosing ammonia never see any. That said, few bother measuring it either.

 

[Iinux]

How much does that 0.5 mL translate to in ppm for your tank?

Most folks dosing ammonia never see any. That said, few bother measuring it either.

Sorry on the delay, thats the reason i kept dosing, didnt pick up anything until all of a sudden it was 1ppm on api and one color up on the seachem.

Either way, all is good now, ammonia is back to 0, nitrites stayed 0, and nitrates are sitting at 8.4!
Fish have been absolutely fine, corals are actually opening up more, snails and shrimp are loving life, and rocks are clean of what ever golden algae or dinos i had!

when nitrates start to drop, i will be more surgical now that i have ammonia bicarb.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Glad it’s working out. :)

 

[AB Reef]

Introduction:
Many reef tanks have an incredible nitrate demand, and despite the additional fish and coral food, still struggle to make an impact on the nitrate level. This can subject corals, anemones, coralline, macro/microalgae, and clams to nutrient starvation. Any photosynthetic organism requires an external nitrogen source because they cannot synthesize it on their own. While using a DIY nitrate dosing recipe is a fine plan to increase nitrate, corals and photosynthetic organisms prefer and will readily assimilate ammonia. In order for an organism to utilize nitrate, they must first internally convert it into ammonia; this takes more work and is less bioavailable. When given the choice, these organisms will choose ammonia over nitrate.

Why dose ammonia and what does it do?
Dosing ammonia can accomplish two goals: it increases nitrogen availability, and it can also be used as an indirect nitrate additive. Photosynthetic creatures can still use and benefit from nitrate, and having detectable levels is important to ensure nitrogen is constantly available. Nitrifying bacteria will convert excess ammonia into nitrate. While there is little risk of proper ammonia dosing to accumulate in cycled reef tanks, it also means ammonia will always be in short supply. For this reason, a detectable level of nitrate is recommended.

Ammonium chloride or ammonia bicarbonate?
Ammonium chloride and ammonium bicarbonate are the two common ammonium compounds used in reefkeeping. I prefer ammonium bicarbonate because it has no effect on the alkalinity of the aquarium, whereas ammonium chloride steadily depletes it: every 50 ppm of nitrate equivalents added through ammonium chloride will decrease the alkalinity by 2.3 dKH. It has an acidifying effect. Both are readily available online. It's highly recommended and inexpensive to source food-grade and high purity sources.


Ammonia Recipes:
The original recipes were taken from the DIY ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems thread by @Randy Holmes-Farley. I've only conveniently organized the chart and dosing regimen.



Ammonium bicarbonate: most ideal for alkalinity stability. However, it is prone to evaporation and losing potency from air exposure. Keep the solution as tightly sealed as possible, away from chronic air exposure.

Recipe:
20 g ammonium bicarbonate in 1 L of freshwater.

-------------------------------------

Ammonium chloride: While the solution is more shelf stable, it will steadily decrease the alkalinity over time, so additional alkalinity compensation may be warranted in tanks receiving substantial ammonium chloride dosing.

Recipe:
13.5 g ammonium chloride in 1 L of freshwater



Both of these solutions have the same concentration: 4300 mg/L (4.3 mg/mL) ammonia, equivalent to 15,700 mg/l nitrate. 2.3 mL of this solution added to 100 L raises ammonia by 0.10 ppm (nitrate equivalent to 0.36 ppm).


Utilice pruebas de nitratos para guiar la dosis.
Se recomienda utilizar los niveles de nitrato como indicador para ajustar la dosificación de amoníaco, ya que la medición directa del amoníaco no es muy precisa para alcanzar los niveles bajos y seguros que buscamos.

1. Si el nitrato está disminuyendo por debajo de su objetivo ideal, hay escasez de nitrógeno (déficit) y se justifica una mayor dosificación de amonio.

2. Si el nitrato se mantiene estable en torno a su objetivo ideal, la dosis está manteniendo la demanda de nitrógeno, que es el objetivo final.

3. Si el nivel de nitrato aumenta por encima del objetivo, hay un excedente y la dosis debe reducirse o suspenderse.

Saber cómo avanzar con el gráfico:
Comience la gráfica desde la primera semana y determine si es necesario aumentar la dosis al final de la semana. Si el nitrato es indetectable y no ha aumentado en 3 o 4 días después de la administración de la dosis, pase a la semana siguiente.

Consejo profesional:
El amonio se puede mezclar con nitrato e incluso con fosfato en la misma solución. No existen interacciones entre ellos.

¿Por qué estamos dosificando amonio en lugar de amoníaco propiamente dicho?
No podemos dosificar fácilmente amoníaco puro, ya que se presenta en estado gaseoso a temperatura y presión ambiente normales. El amonio es un sustituto adecuado porque parte de él se convierte naturalmente en amoníaco en el agua de mar según el pH, de forma similar a como las fuentes de alcalinidad de bicarbonato y carbonato varían entre sí a pesar de dosificar solo una de ellas.

Aditar amonio incrementa fosfato ?

 

[EnterName]

Introduction:
Many reef tanks have an incredible nitrate demand, and despite the additional fish and coral food, still struggle to make an impact on the nitrate level. This can subject corals, anemones, coralline, macro/microalgae, and clams to nutrient starvation. Any photosynthetic organism requires an external nitrogen source because they cannot synthesize it on their own. While using a DIY nitrate dosing recipe is a fine plan to increase nitrate, corals and photosynthetic organisms prefer and will readily assimilate ammonia. In order for an organism to utilize nitrate, they must first internally convert it into ammonia; this takes more work and is less bioavailable. When given the choice, these organisms will choose ammonia over nitrate.

Why dose ammonia and what does it do?
Dosing ammonia can accomplish two goals: it increases nitrogen availability, and it can also be used as an indirect nitrate additive. Photosynthetic creatures can still use and benefit from nitrate, and having detectable levels is important to ensure nitrogen is constantly available. Nitrifying bacteria will convert excess ammonia into nitrate. While there is little risk of proper ammonia dosing to accumulate in cycled reef tanks, it also means ammonia will always be in short supply. For this reason, a detectable level of nitrate is recommended.

Ammonium chloride or ammonia bicarbonate?
Ammonium chloride and ammonium bicarbonate are the two common ammonium compounds used in reefkeeping. I prefer ammonium bicarbonate because it has no effect on the alkalinity of the aquarium, whereas ammonium chloride steadily depletes it: every 50 ppm of nitrate equivalents added through ammonium chloride will decrease the alkalinity by 2.3 dKH. It has an acidifying effect. Both are readily available online. It's highly recommended and inexpensive to source food-grade and high purity sources.


Ammonia Recipes:
The original recipes were taken from the DIY ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems thread by @Randy Holmes-Farley. I've only conveniently organized the chart and dosing regimen.



Ammonium bicarbonate: most ideal for alkalinity stability. However, it is prone to evaporation and losing potency from air exposure. Keep the solution as tightly sealed as possible, away from chronic air exposure.

Recipe:
20 g ammonium bicarbonate in 1 L of freshwater.

-------------------------------------

Ammonium chloride: While the solution is more shelf stable, it will steadily decrease the alkalinity over time, so additional alkalinity compensation may be warranted in tanks receiving substantial ammonium chloride dosing.

Recipe:
13.5 g ammonium chloride in 1 L of freshwater



Both of these solutions have the same concentration: 4300 mg/L (4.3 mg/mL) ammonia, equivalent to 15,700 mg/l nitrate. 2.3 mL of this solution added to 100 L raises ammonia by 0.10 ppm (nitrate equivalent to 0.36 ppm).


Utilice pruebas de nitratos para guiar la dosis.
Se recomienda utilizar los niveles de nitrato como indicador para ajustar la dosificación de amoníaco, ya que la medición directa del amoníaco no es muy precisa para alcanzar los niveles bajos y seguros que buscamos.

1. Si el nitrato está disminuyendo por debajo de su objetivo ideal, hay escasez de nitrógeno (déficit) y se justifica una mayor dosificación de amonio.

2. Si el nitrato se mantiene estable en torno a su objetivo ideal, la dosis está manteniendo la demanda de nitrógeno, que es el objetivo final.

3. Si el nivel de nitrato aumenta por encima del objetivo, hay un excedente y la dosis debe reducirse o suspenderse.

Saber cómo avanzar con el gráfico:
Comience la gráfica desde la primera semana y determine si es necesario aumentar la dosis al final de la semana. Si el nitrato es indetectable y no ha aumentado en 3 o 4 días después de la administración de la dosis, pase a la semana siguiente.

Consejo profesional:
El amonio se puede mezclar con nitrato e incluso con fosfato en la misma solución. No existen interacciones entre ellos.

¿Por qué estamos dosificando amonio en lugar de amoníaco propiamente dicho?
No podemos dosificar fácilmente amoníaco puro, ya que se presenta en estado gaseoso a temperatura y presión ambiente normales. El amonio es un sustituto adecuado porque parte de él se convierte naturalmente en amoníaco en el agua de mar según el pH, de forma similar a como las fuentes de alcalinidad de bicarbonato y carbonato varían entre sí a pesar de dosificar solo una de ellas.

Aditar amonio incrementa fosfato ?

Neither ammonium chloride nor ammonium bicarbonate contain phosphate (besides potential impurities). I have not heard that impurities in ammonium chloride or ammonium bicarbonate caused a detectable increase in phosphate levels.

If you need to increase phosphate you can use a DIY phosphate solution instead: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-phosphate-dosing-recipe.1109919/

If you have too much phosphate granular ferric oxide (GFO) will help.