DIY elements dosing?

[ReeferBud]

I recently started dosing NaNO3 to maintain my nitrates at a target of 3ppm. I bought food grade NaNO3 on loudwolf.com, which was pretty inexpensive and got me thinking... what other elements or compounds could i dose myself?

I have a large tank, so most additives and systems like KZ or triton are just too expensive for me. But if I could replicate a similar concept and dose NO3, PO4 (both currently at zero) and other things like potassium, iodine and iron, it may be pretty attractive.

Does anyone have experience doing this? Would be great to hear people's thoughts as to whether this would make sense.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Certainly, potassium (potassium chloride), phosphate (sodium phosphate), iron (Fergon tablets, ferrous gluconate) and silicate (sodium silicate solution) are easy DIY and many people do it. I did both iron and silicate, and never needed supplemental potassium.

I'm not convinced iodine dosing is useful, and wouldn't normally pick Lugols anyway, but it is a DIY that some folks use.

 

[ReeferBud]

Thanks Randy. I'll look into those.

Curious about silicate. What do you dose that for?

You said you did dose as in past tense. If so, why did you stop?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Randy. I'll look into those.

Curious about silicate. What do you dose that for?

You said you did dose as in past tense. If so, why did you stop?

Stopped because I took the tank down after 20 years.

I dosed it primarily for sponges and possibly snails.

I discuss it here:

Feature Article: Silica In Reef Aquariums ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2003/feature.htm

 

[ReeferBud]

Thanks Randy.

Would ferric chloride work instead of fergon tablets? I was only able to find fergon tablets as a dietary supplement and they seemed to have a bunch of other ingredients. Not sure if that would be a concern.

 

[Ranjib]

Silicate dosing won’t result in Dino bloom ? Just curious ,

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks Randy.

Would ferric chloride work instead of fergon tablets? I was only able to find fergon tablets as a dietary supplement and they seemed to have a bunch of other ingredients. Not sure if that would be a concern.

That's the product I meant, and I picked it because the other ingredients did not seem a concern. Just let them settle out.

The gluconate will be more soluble in the aquarium than inorganic salts such as ferrous sulfate, and the ferrous salts (Fe++) are typically more soluble than the ferric ones (Fe+++) in seawater.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Silicate dosing won’t result in Dino bloom ? Just curious ,

It shifted what was growing on my glass from green to golden brown for a few days, and was less obtrusive than the green.

The article above shows pictures of the effect.

 

[ReeferBud]

@Randy Holmes-Farley I've been dosing NaNO3 and Na3PO4 for a couple of weeks and I'm having some mixed results.

I've been able to perfectly dial in NO3 at 5ppm and think I have this under control.

With PO4, however, I'm not able to get a reading above 0ppm on my Hanna checker. I disolved 4.4g of NA3PO4 in 500 ml of water and have been dosing 10 ml daily for about a week with no change in PO4. Per my calculations, 4.4g in 500 ml should result in a 0.03ppm increase in PO4 in 500 gals. Did I get this wrong?

I notice a precipitate in the bottom of the container where I dissolved the Na3PO4 (see below). Is this to be expected? Should I shake the container and draw the 10 ml of the cloudy solution or just the clear part?

Interested in any ideas of what may be the causing PO4 to be staying at oppm.

Once I get N and P under control, I'll move on to K and Fe.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It should have fully dissolved, but I can't tell if what remains is just a light fluffy potential impurity, or a large fraction of what you used.

What product did you start with? Maybe there's some additive in it?

 

[ReeferBud]

It is pretty light and fluffy. When shaken, it just makes the solution cloudy and the settles in a few minutes.

I bought food grade Na3PO4 from loudwolf.
https://www.loudwolf.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=197

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Maybe there was a bit of contaminating calcium or magnesium, either in the water you used or in the product. That would precipitate as a calcium phosphate or magnesium hydroxide solid. I'd just ignore it.

 

[ReeferBud]

Thanks Randy!

I think you're right. I just dumped the old solution and made a new one and didn't observe any precipitate this time.

I'm still puzzled why my PO4 won't increase, even though I'm dosing. I'm starting to doubt whether my Hanna checker has gone bad...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Lots of consumption, including binding to rock and sand...