DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

[fiji4118]

Gotta love chatGPT. I just ask some questions and requested the answers as if it were @Randy Holmes-Farley . It's initial response "Speaking as though I were Randy Holmes-Farley, a noted reef chemistry expert and contributor to Reef2Reef and Reef Central, here's a detailed, chemistry-grounded guide on dosing ammonia in a reef tank. It then proceeded to give me a detailed breakdown based on the parameters I input for my tank. I'm curious Randy if you have played with the engine at all and what you thought of the output?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Gotta love chatGPT. I just ask some questions and requested the answers as if it were @Randy Holmes-Farley . It's initial response "Speaking as though I were Randy Holmes-Farley, a noted reef chemistry expert and contributor to Reef2Reef and Reef Central, here's a detailed, chemistry-grounded guide on dosing ammonia in a reef tank. It then proceeded to give me a detailed breakdown based on the parameters I input for my tank. I'm curious Randy if you have played with the engine at all and what you thought of the output?

I never asked it to answer as if it were me. That’s an interesting way to go. lol

But it is well known to make math mistakes. I once asked it which had a higher pH between two solutions, and it got the pH values reasonably correct, but mistakenly said the one at pH 10 had a higher than the one at pH 14. lol

 

[fiji4118]

I never asked it to answer as if it were me. That’s an interesting way to go. lol

But it is well known to make math mistakes. I once asked it which had a higher pH between two solutions, and it got the pH values reasonably correct, but mistakenly said the one at pH 10 had a higher than the one at pH 14. lol

It does suck a bit at math. If your curious about the output I'd be happy to send it to you. Ultimately it told me that for my 9G well stocked with mostly SPS but some LPS and zoas I would be good dosing 1ml 3X daily to help with my ultra low nutrients. Dosing your recipe for ammonia bicarbonate.

 

[fiji4118]

FWIW, pretty cool to be someone that the AI recognizes and can provide output on! Not a lot of people in the world can claim that I suspect.

 

[Anxur]

@Randy Holmes-Farley

Is the osmosis water + ammonium bicarbonate solution stable, can be stored safely, and can be dosed with a dosing pump? Or does it deteriorate, decompose, or degrade?

 

[rishma]

I mix, store, and dose with dosing pump. I keep mine in a dosing container with the lid on. There is likely some loss of ammonia to the air. The higher the concentration the more loss I would expect. I have not tried to test after storage to see how much ammonia is lost but mine still smells like ammonia after nearly a year.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley

Is the osmosis water + ammonium bicarbonate solution stable, can be stored safely, and can be dosed with a dosing pump? Or does it deteriorate, decompose, or degrade?

Ammonia and CO2 can evaporate, but it is stable when closed.

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Hey, sorry for the questions I’m sure that’s been asked a bunch of times (it’s just a super long thread!)

I’m going to start dosing about 1-1.5ml of the ammonium bicarbonate solution to my 20 gallon tank.

1) I believe 1-1.5mL is a good starting point, but please direct me if I’m wrong

2) should I stop using carbon while I’m dosing the solution in order to raise my nitrates?

 

[Miami Reef]

Hey, sorry for the questions I’m sure that’s been asked a bunch of times (it’s just a super long thread!)

I’m going to start dosing about 1-1.5ml of the ammonium bicarbonate solution to my 20 gallon tank.

1) I believe 1-1.5mL is a good starting point, but please direct me if I’m wrong

2) should I stop using carbon while I’m dosing the solution in order to raise my nitrates?

You can start around 2.0 mL per day. Where’s the NO₃?

Carbon can stay. It doesn’t remove nitrate nor ammonia.

 

[Lou City Reefing]

Hey, sorry for the questions I’m sure that’s been asked a bunch of times (it’s just a super long thread!)

I’m going to start dosing about 1-1.5ml of the ammonium bicarbonate solution to my 20 gallon tank.

1) I believe 1-1.5mL is a good starting point, but please direct me if I’m wrong

2) should I stop using carbon while I’m dosing the solution in order to raise my nitrates?

You can start around 2.0 mL per day. Where’s the NO₃?

Carbon can stay. It doesn’t remove nitrate nor ammonia.

Last checked 7/30 it was at 0.9 via a Hanna Checker

 

[capt_alaver]

I'm currently mixing small amounts of NeoPhos + NeoNitro in RO water and using that as the top off water source for my 2.6g pico. It works VERY well. It's keeping both nutrients readily available and since both products are inorganic and inert, there are no issues with sitting in the reservoir.

If I were to replace the NeoNitro with Ammonium Bicarbonate instead, is it possible that there might be problems with it sitting in the reservoir? I'm trying to avoid having it or the PO4 precipitate out, grow unsightly bacterias or let off odors.

 

[Red_Beard]

Ammonium bicarbonate does not precipitate when stored alone. I have not stored it with phosphates though, so i can't speak to the combination.

 

[Miami Reef]

Ammonium, nitrate, and phosphate can all be mixed together with no precipitation or interactions with one another.

 

[BriDroid]

When I mixed trisodium phosphate with ammonium bicarbonate there was a white precipitation of some kind on the bottom of the container. When I mixed monosodium phosphate with ammonium bicarbonate, there is no precipitation. These were all food grade chemicals.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm currently mixing small amounts of NeoPhos + NeoNitro in RO water and using that as the top off water source for my 2.6g pico. It works VERY well. It's keeping both nutrients readily available and since both products are inorganic and inert, there are no issues with sitting in the reservoir.

If I were to replace the NeoNitro with Ammonium Bicarbonate instead, is it possible that there might be problems with it sitting in the reservoir? I'm trying to avoid having it or the PO4 precipitate out, grow unsightly bacterias or let off odors.

Just to be clear, while I assume you mean they do not react with each other, it is incorrect to say they are inert. They are not.

Ammonia can evaporate from solution if open to the air. The pH of the mix determines how fast, as well as how open it is to the air. Monosodium phosphate is a better choice than di or trisodium phosphate in that regard.

 

[rtparty]

When I mixed trisodium phosphate with ammonium bicarbonate there was a white precipitation of some kind on the bottom of the container. When I mixed monosodium phosphate with ammonium bicarbonate, there is no precipitation. These were all food grade chemicals.

My trisodium phosphate has little crystals that form on the bottom after a while. It’s just the trisodium phosphate in RO water

 

[thefeds]

English major here so chemistry is hard. could someone check my mixture solution? I tried following the guide. I have a 700mL vessel, and I mixed 1 teaspoon of Ammonium Chloride into it. I then dosed 10mL into my 25G Lagoon. testing today with Hanna Nitrate HR with new regents, and my reading came back with 1.0

 

[rafaelicibaci]

After a few days of dosing Ammonium Bicarbonate (thru ATO) my reeftank ammonia on hanna test increased from 0,05 (toxicity 0,00) to 0,07(toxicity 0,01). Is it normal or harmful to the fishes? 0,07 is 0,01 toxicity using Hanna calculation (0,07*8,8)/100

Tank parameters:
Nitrate Hanna 1.0
Phosphate 0,00

 

[Garf]

harmful to the fishes

No harmful effects have ever been detected at such low levels as far as I'm aware.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

After a few days of dosing Ammonium Bicarbonate (thru ATO) my reeftank ammonia on hanna test increased from 0,05 (toxicity 0,00) to 0,07(toxicity 0,01). Is it normal or harmful to the fishes? 0,07 is 0,01 toxicity using Hanna calculation (0,07*8,8)/100

Tank parameters:
Nitrate Hanna 1.0
Phosphate 0,00

That level is very, very low and is no concern.