DIY ammonia dosing for low N systems

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

See the thread here:

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Dan_P]

See the thread here:

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

Cool!

I think ammonium carbonate is in smelling salts too. It has quite a kick :)

 

[dkline]

Randy. I am using 4.75 tsp to 1 liter of ammonium bicarbonate for a stock solution. How long does this last for shelf life? Initially it smelled of ammonia but after a few days it no longer has a smell. Does that mean it is no longer useful? I have about 210 gallons of total water so I only need about 20ml at a time so it will take a while to work thru the liter. Wondering how long it lasts or if I should be making a much smaller amount at a time.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Randy. I am using 4.75 tsp to 1 liter of ammonium bicarbonate for a stock solution. How long does this last for shelf life? Initially it smelled of ammonia but after a few days it no longer has a smell. Does that mean it is no longer useful? I have about 210 gallons of total water so I only need about 20ml at a time so it will take a while to work thru the liter. Wondering how long it lasts or if I should be making a much smaller amount at a time.

If it is sealed it will last forever. I am not sure how long it takes to escape from any given container. Keeping it as best closed as possible is a good plan.

I keep mine for weeks in a glass milk jug with a hole drilled through the cap for the dosing tubing, though I have not verified its potency vs time.

 

[dkline]

Thank you for your response Randy.

 

[ReefED!]

Never thought I’d have to resort to this but despite feeding heavily I have chronically low nitrates but anywhere from .03 to .07 phosphates

Looks like I need to dose ammonia