DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley one more question, and I’m sure you’ve answered it somewhat in another article or thread - at what ppm does livestock start to be effected by the ammonium (inverts/fish)? Is anything single digits pretty much still safe?

I know I can just find a dosing pump that runs way slow at max speed, but I want to have an idea of how much room I can play with in concentration in 1L being accidentally dosed in a day.

I don’t know exactly where problems arise, but I’m confident a few tenths of a ppm is no concern.

This has more:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/ammonia-is-our-friend.1062/

 

[rishma]

I think this weekend I am going to set up the ammonium bicarbonate on a dosing pump. The LPS corals really seem to like it.

I do notice that my tank stand smells like ammonia when I open the door. I think this is from the very small amount left on/in the tip of the syringe from when I dose.

So my question is, should I submerged the tip of the dosing line into the water?! I normally dose things above the water line.

I suppose it’s possible the tiny bit of ammonia coming off the end of the dosing tube in the air won’t be detectable in a large room.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I think this weekend I am going to set up the ammonium bicarbonate on a dosing pump. The LPS corals really seem to like it.

I do notice that my tank stand smells like ammonia when I open the door. I think this is from the very small amount left on/in the tip of the syringe from when I dose.

So my question is, should I submerged the tip of the dosing line into the water?! I normally dose things above the water line.

I suppose it’s possible the tiny bit of ammonia coming off the end of the dosing tube in the air won’t be detectable in a large room.

Submerged tip is ok. Nothing bad will happen.

 

[buruskeee]

I think this weekend I am going to set up the ammonium bicarbonate on a dosing pump. The LPS corals really seem to like it.

I do notice that my tank stand smells like ammonia when I open the door. I think this is from the very small amount left on/in the tip of the syringe from when I dose.

So my question is, should I submerged the tip of the dosing line into the water?! I normally dose things above the water line.

I suppose it’s possible the tiny bit of ammonia coming off the end of the dosing tube in the air won’t be detectable in a large room.

I have my solution 3x diluted. It’s a very strong but faint smell and irritates my eyes when mixing, but I have my line suspended and I can’t smell anything in my sump. I’m dosing 40ml to get 0.1ppm in my tank. I’ve been a few days and have upped it to 80ml already. My 1L solution will last me just over 10 days now, which is about what my AFR lasts me anyways, so I may keep this dosage unless I need to dose more, which I’m ok doubling the strength of my solution - which would still be just over half of Randy’s initial posts’ instructions.

I think this is the best way for me to keep peace of mind with over dosing on a stuck pump head.

 

[rishma]

I have my solution 3x diluted. It’s a very strong but faint smell and irritates my eyes when mixing, but I have my line suspended and I can’t smell anything in my sump. I’m dosing 40ml to get 0.1ppm in my tank. I’ve been a few days and have upped it to 80ml already. My 1L solution will last me just over 10 days now, which is about what my AFR lasts me anyways, so I may keep this dosage unless I need to dose more, which I’m ok doubling the strength of my solution - which would still be just over half of Randy’s initial posts’ instructions.

I think this is the best way for me to keep peace of mind with over dosing on a stuck pump head.

This is smart. I am going to dilute my solution. I have a (probably irrational) fear of over dosing it. Diluting it would make me feel better, and though if I leave the dosing pump running I think I’m in trouble either way.

If I left any of the doing pumps running, the tank is in trouble, but this is the one I worry about? Irrational

 

[buruskeee]

If I left any of the doing pumps running, the tank is in trouble, but this is the one I worry about? Irrational

Mine is enough for 20 days at current dosage. Total ppm is 2.0ppm if the full amount made it into my tank somehow. I’d recommend making enough for 2ppm at a time to start too. Full recipe makes just over 7ppm total to dose. Not sure if that’s lethal or not but I feel a lot better about 2 lol.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If folks have smell issues, either a lower concentration or adding vinegar to the dosing solution may help.

 

[reefsanz]

30mL a day in what size tank?

Sorry for not answering before, it's 550 real liters of water.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Sorry for not answering before, it's 550 real liters of water.

Real vs fake liters?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

fake liters?

I hate those. lol

 

[reefsanz]

Real vs fake liters?

real

 

[reefsanz]

I hate those. lol

@Randy Holmes-Farley hasn't commented for a while and every day I am more proud of the aquarium and your ammonium formula. I am currently on 40ml to keep it at 6ppm measured with Hanna high range every 3 days and it doesn't change. What does change for me is the phosphate that tends to go to 0 I'm adding monopotassium phosphorus and I see the aquarium in its splendor and the pilips of the acroporas are longer than ever, super happy and thank you very much again

 

[rishma]

@Randy Holmes-Farley hasn't commented for a while and every day I am more proud of the aquarium and your ammonium formula. I am currently on 40ml to keep it at 6ppm measured with Hanna high range every 3 days and it doesn't change. What does change for me is the phosphate that tends to go to 0 I'm adding monopotassium phosphorus and I see the aquarium in its splendor and the pilips of the acroporas are longer than ever, super happy and thank you very much again

great anecdote, than you for sharing. I need to test my nitrates tomorrow. I know I had 4-5 ppm last weekend when I started dosing every day. My nitrate has been good lately so I didn’t need to dose ammonia. I started doing ammonium nitrate just as an experiment. I am only dosing enough to add about 0.5ppm nitrate. The LPS respond positively. They’ve looked very happy and seem more fluffy when I dose. I haven’t increased the dose because I’ve been too lazy to test nitrate.

I do notice my phosphate is running lower than usual and I wonder if it’s due to adding ammonia. I didn’t expect this because I have nitrate in the system, but perhaps the ammonia is more easily consumed my the bacteria and that is what is pulling the phosphate lower? It could be any number of other reasons too. Phosphate has stayed above my min of 0.05 so I haven’t worried about it.

My daughter told me tonight the tank looks better than ever :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley hasn't commented for a while and every day I am more proud of the aquarium and your ammonium formula. I am currently on 40ml to keep it at 6ppm measured with Hanna high range every 3 days and it doesn't change. What does change for me is the phosphate that tends to go to 0 I'm adding monopotassium phosphorus and I see the aquarium in its splendor and the pilips of the acroporas are longer than ever, super happy and thank you very much again

I’m very glad it is working for you. :)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

great anecdote, than you for sharing. I need to test my nitrates tomorrow. I know I had 4-5 ppm last weekend when I started dosing every day. My nitrate has been good lately so I didn’t need to dose ammonia. I started doing ammonium nitrate just as an experiment. I am only dosing enough to add about 0.5ppm nitrate. The LPS respond positively. They’ve looked very happy and seem more fluffy when I dose. I haven’t increased the dose because I’ve been too lazy to test nitrate.

I do notice my phosphate is running lower than usual and I wonder if it’s due to adding ammonia. I didn’t expect this because I have nitrate in the system, but perhaps the ammonia is more easily consumed my the bacteria and that is what is pulling the phosphate lower? It could be any number of other reasons too. Phosphate has stayed above my min of 0.05 so I haven’t worried about it.

My daughter told me tonight the tank looks better than ever :)

Glad to hear that too. As you suggest, it may be that the ease of ammonia metabolism increases N consumption and growth overall.

 

[dtv0893]

interesting, my tank nitrate level is not low, but not high either (below like 3-5ppm), but i need to feed a lot to maintain that level of nitrate. So i assume that it’s fine to dose ammonia and reduce feeding. My pH level is from 8.0 (low at night) - 8.3 (peak at day). My question is: Will dosing with amonium bicarbonate (recipe 2) increase my pH level and keep it stable?

 

[spsick]

I am also experiencing a constant battle with phosphates bottoming out in conjunction with dosing ammonium bicarbonate. No seeing a big jump in consumption of 2 part (I’m at 120ml each/day on 140gal).

Currently dosing 36ml/day total ammonium bicarbonate solution to maintain around 9ppm nitrate, and having to dose 20-30ml neophos/day to keep phos above 0ppb on my hanna. In addition to increased feeding. I’m not a fan of this artificial propping up of nutrients but the alternative wasn’t great of just having 0 nitrate and .03ppm phos.

About half of my Acropora really seem to love this system but some corals clearly do not and did better when I wasn’t dosing ammonia.

 

[rishma]

interesting, my tank nitrate level is not low, but not high either (below like 3-5ppm), but i need to feed a lot to maintain that level of nitrate. So i assume that it’s fine to dose ammonia and reduce feeding. My pH level is from 8.0 (low at night) - 8.3 (peak at day). My question is: Will dosing with amonium bicarbonate (recipe 2) increase my pH level and keep it stable?

I don’t notice any impact on pH.

 

[Troylee]

That might just be timing variability. I’d keep watching it.

It’s not… I’ve been playing this ammonia the last 2 weeks.. the further I drive my dose up the more my phosphates drop! I’m having to dose phosphate now to keep it detectable on top of my nitrates dropping from a steady 7-10 to 3 with 60ml daily of ammonia bicarbonate lol..

 

[rishma]

It’s not… I’ve been playing this ammonia the last 2 weeks.. the further I drive my dose up the more my phosphates drop! I’m having to dose phosphate now to keep it detectable on top of my nitrates dropping from a steady 7-10 to 3 with 60ml daily of ammonia bicarbonate lol..

Interesting! I checked phosphate this morning and it was 0.08. Perfect! It has been running around 0.06 but got a new fish and I have been feeding heavy. I was was glad to see it come up a little. Nitrate was around 8 ppm, slightly higher than usual, again heavy feeding the last few days.

I dosed a little ammonium today and fed the fish as usual. I checked tonight and phosphate was 0.05, that’s my lower limit….so guess what? Corals get fed some Benepets and reef roids tonight and they’ll love it.

I have not been struggling with zero nitrate recently so I’m not using the ammonium to boost nitrate at the moment. I am just doing a little as an experiment. All other things being equal, it does seem to push the phosphate down.