Does anyone dose ammonia and/or how would one try?

[Chaz D]

Out of curiosity, what does a Seneye register for ammonia after a typical "heavy" feeding? Could one safely adjust their dosage based upon that, if not dosing evenly throughout a 24hr period?

 

[ingchr1]

I'm not sure that you could correlate feeding and ammonia with the Seneye. I'd imagine the food to ammonia transition occurs slowly over time and the ammonia would be consumed as well to not see a change in tank levels.

The only time I have seen a change in my Seneye ammonia reading is when I have added NH4Cl. That change has lasted one to one and a half hours.

I feed about an 1/4 cube a day equivalent of LRS nano and Spirulina to a 40 gallon tank with four fish and a dozen corals. I also feed Oyster Fest daily, Reef Roids and Phyto twice a week.

 

[Righteous]

My nitrate levels seems to always lag behind my phosphates significantly, so I’ve been dosing Triton “NH alpha”, which they say is “aligned with ammonia”. It may just be ammonium nitrate, but it works great, and a small amount goes a long way. (Red Sea total ammonia tests 1ppm with a single drop). Coral health is improved, and nitrates settle around 1-2ppm.

I went with Triton because I’m more comfortable with the purity, and because with the NDOC test I seem to get pretty decent dosing guidelines.

For reference, I’m dosing 0.2ml per week in a 100gallon. They do caution it’s easy to overdose, and I do think an NDOC test is valuable to run before anyone tries dosing it.

 

[Marc2952]

I started dosing ammonia instead of nitrates about 2 weeks ago since i went fallow and have had nothing but good stuff to say. Nitrate consumption tend to increase alk from what i have seen in my tank. The moment i started to add 1 drop of ammonia per day my alk consumption has increased from 8ml to 14ml. Idk whats the reason but i guess the acros do infact prefer to consume the tiny bits of ammonia instead of nitrates. Another plus is that that ammonia will turn to nitrate regardless so overall things stabilize more. And btw i havd always struggled with nutriets bottoming out, even as im adding one cube of mysis daily on my fallow tank the phosphates and nitrates always drop to 0 thats the reason i decided to start dosing ammonia.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

. Another plus is that that ammonia will turn to nitrate regardless so overall things stabilize more.

Not sure what that means. If organisms are using the ammonia, then it won't be converted into nitrate.

The increased alk consumption may simply be the expected change from dosing an alkalinity adding source (nitrate) to dosing an alkalinity neutral source (ammonia), rather than being due to increase in coral growth.

 

[blasterman]

Mysis shrimp are mostly water and per volume one of the poorest raw nutrients you can add to a tank. Frozen brine shrimp are better. Beef heart cubes when ground up seem to have the highest protein density along with actual fish meat in my experience. If you want to drive nutrients up in the water column grind up some beef heart. Your nitrate levels will quickly respond.

 

[Marc2952]

Not sure what that means. If organisms are using the ammonia, then it won't be converted into nitrate.

The increased alk consumption may simply be the expected change from dosing an alkalinity adding source (nitrate) to dosing an alkalinity neutral source (ammonia), rather than being due to increase in coral growth.

I have noticed that my nitrates have increased without the need to dose any nitrates directly. I dont know if its possible for the corals to consume all the ammonia in the water though. Yes perhaps its simply the lack of adding nitrates that the alk consumption has "increased" it has made it easier for me to dose alk and calcium equally though since i had to constantly adjust the doser when adding nitrates and phosphates.

 

[Marc2952]

Mysis shrimp are mostly water and per volume one of the poorest raw nutrients you can add to a tank. Frozen brine shrimp are better. Beef heart cubes when ground up seem to have the highest protein density along with actual fish meat in my experience. If you want to drive nutrients up in the water column grind up some beef heart. Your nitrate levels will quickly respond.

Forgot to say i was also adding phyto but not daily, should i switch to something with more protein like rods food or reef frenzy?

 

[Dr. Jim]

I've read @jda 's, @Lasse 's and @Randy Holmes-Farley 's recommendations for making stock solutions for NH4Cl,, but can anybody give me a recommendation for a stock solution for ammonium hydroxide?

And, what would be a good, conservative, starting dose for daily dosing (which I would divide into 24 doses)?

Thank you.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've read @jda 's, @Lasse 's and @Randy Holmes-Farley 's recommendations for making stock solutions for NH4Cl,, but can anybody give me a recommendation for a stock solution for ammonium hydroxide?

And, what would be a good, conservative, starting dose for daily dosing (which I would divide into 24 doses)?

Thank you.

You have a solution of it already?

It doesn't generally exist as a solid.

 

[Dr. Jim]

You have a solution of it already?

It doesn't generally exist as a solid.

No, I am planning on ordering a solution. I should have asked "how to dilute it" to make a stock solution; and, how much to dose?

 

[Dr. Jim]

As you have pointed out, this is not a newbie conversation. Considering that most macro & coral will have N ratios > 30:1 and that most corals & macros prefer ammonia over nitrate.

Hi @Subsea ..... I might as well bring you back to this conversation to see if you would not mind commenting on my questions:
1) I'm looking for suggestions as to how to dilute the product that you displayed to make a stock solution.
2) How do you dose it (and what do you think is a safe amount to add daily).
3) How is dosing ammonium hydroxide working out for you?
Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd like to see the concentration not ever rise above 0.1 ppm ammonia. Preferably lower.

I'd suggest spreading out the dosing with a dosing pump, and maybe dose 0.2-0.5 ppm through the course of a day, but I might start lower to be sure there wasn't an unexpected issue.

 

[Subsea]

Hi @Subsea ..... I might as well bring you back to this conversation to see if you would not mind commenting on my questions:
1) I'm looking for suggestions as to how to dilute the product that you displayed to make a stock solution.
2) How do you dose it (and what do you think is a safe amount to add daily).
3) How is dosing ammonium hydroxide working out for you?
Thanks!

I suggest you follow @Randy Holmes-Farley protocol.

When I dosed ammonia, it was a batch dose administered in a high flow area. I dosed 20 ml in a 120G display with 40G refugium. Often, within a few minutes of dosing ammonia, I observed an increase in feeding tentacles.

I no longer dose ammonia as my feeding of live mussels supplies necessary nitrogen. It’s a tool that I would use again.

 

[Dr. Jim]

I suggest you follow @Randy Holmes-Farley protocol.

When I dosed ammonia, it was a batch dose administered in a high flow area. I dosed 20 ml in a 120G display with 40G refugium. Often, within a few minutes of dosing ammonia, I observed an increase in feeding tentacles.

I no longer dose ammonia as my feeding of live mussels supplies necessary nitrogen. It’s a tool that I would use again.

Thank you for the info. Did you dose 20 ml "straight" from the bottle, or did you have a diluted solution. (I'm referring to the Ammonium hydroxide that you showed from Amazon).

 

[Jon_W79]

If someone is dosing ammonium to try to increase coral color and/or growth, I think it might be a good idea to only dose ammonium when the lights are on, and maybe one or two hours before. If that works, I don't think as much ammonium would need to be dosed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If someone is dosing ammonium to try to increase coral color and/or growth, I think it might be a good idea to only dose ammonium when the lights are on, and maybe one or two hours before. If that works, I don't think as much ammonium would need to be dosed.

I'm not disputing it, but why do you think this?

 

[Jon_W79]

I'm not disputing it, but why do you think this?

I think the corals would benefit from an increase in ammonia levels much more when the lights are on, because that is when most of the growth happens. They would still likely have ammonia when the lights are off, but I don't think it would be as beneficial when the lights are off.

 

[Dr. Jim]

I found a bottle of ammonium hydroxide from the supermarket but it doesn't tell the strength. From a little research I'm finding that most household solutions are 3%. (I'm hoping this is a safe guess!). I'd like to ask for someone to confirm my math:

3% = 30mg/ml. Tank vol = 150 L I want to dose 0.2 mg/L per day.

So, 150L x 0.2 = 30 mg. So, I need to dose 1 ml (divided) per day.

If this is correct, then I will dilute it so I can dose 1 ml every hour (for 24hrs/day):
1 ml div. by 24 = 0.0416 ml/dose. If I dilute it 1:23, then I could dose 1 ml 24 times a day to get 0.02 mg/L. (1 div by 0.0416 = 24; therefore, 1:23 dilution).

Is all this correct? Thank you!

 

[jda]

This is beyond unhelpful Jim, but I add 1-2 mls of straight ammonium into a 24g fuge when I have small clams. There is chaeto in there, some rogue Z&P, peppermint shrimp and some small fish that I am growing larger. I use the 10% janitorial strength stuff that I got at ACE Hardware. This 24g fuge is attached to a 80g sump, 240g display and 60g frag tank... so lots of water volume. It has about a 300 gph heading into the fuge, so good turnover. I try and add it every day, but it gets hard. If I miss a day, I go with 2mls. Anecdotally, nothing seems to mind. I also feed the heck out of those fish and shrimp and leave plenty of flakes and pellets laying around for them to eat later... so imagine that there is some natural ammona[a,um] too.

You can dose it through the ATO, but you need a tight lid or it will gas.