shogun1964
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I heard that you need some nitrates to keep your corals healthy. How do you properly add the right amout and what do you use.
How to increase nitrates
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DLuce510
A.D.I.D.A.A.
Me personally, I use Nitrogen Flourish. Its not that i dont trust other stuf like stump remover but nitrogen flourish is made for aquariums. Depending on your system, I found my 120 needed about 20 mls to start and then about five to seven mls a day to keep it around 2 ppm. It is been an immense help and couldn't have a successful acropora system without it.
DLuce510
A.D.I.D.A.A.
I typically tend to stay away from turning off my skimmer, due to the lack of oxygenation. I also tend to stay away from feeding a whole bunch of food because other elements often come in with the fish food like lithium which can pollute your system. The nitrogen flourish is pure potassium and nitrate
WesleyC
Active Member
I use actual potassium nitrate. But for dozing, first you have to have a mechanism, such as the "poor man denitrator", to accurate control how much nitrate you can eliminate. Think about how we prepare our saltwater. First we use RO/DI water, basically just normal water stripping out everything. Then you add back in whatever you want.
Salty1962
Wrasse and SPS Lover
Read this thread, We really got into the subject.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/potassium-nitrate-spectracide-stump-remover-dosing-steps
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/potassium-nitrate-spectracide-stump-remover-dosing-steps
WesleyC
Active Member
REEF2REEF Saltwater and Reef Aquarium Forum - Error
The requested page could not be found.
Try NilocG kn03 (Potassium Nitrate), it's completely pure FW planted fert, made in small quantities 3rd party tested. And it's like $3 for a pound of it. It's extremely clean.
Stump Remover has a chemical smell to it, NilocG does not.
mcarroll
10K Club member
A Nitrate Dosing Calculator For Better Tank Health (And Better Coral Color!)
Good thread.
My Spectracide has no odor.
For anyone taking the DIY route, make sure you're looking at the correct product. Most "stump removers" are not potassium nitrate and probably do have odors.
Spectracide Stump Remover Granules is the only one I know of that's pure (99.9%) KNO3.
Thankfully it seems to be widely available.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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It's likely an OK product to use, but I don't care to add things which claim secret ingredients (the complexed ammonia) since I do not trust every reef hobby company, and in this case, the secret ingredient won't show on a nitrate kit, so trial and error might be the only way to determine how much to add.
I absolutely agree with every point. I think it really is due to the filtration we have these days on our systems. They are now so efficient it is possible to have a system that is too "clean". I rather add just a little PNO3 once in a while than making changes to my filtration or feeding habits.
A Nitrate Dosing Calculator For Better Tank Health (And Better Coral Color!)
Good thread.
My Spectracide has no odor.
For anyone taking the DIY route, make sure you're looking at the correct product. Most "stump removers" are not potassium nitrate and probably do have odors.
Spectracide Stump Remover Granules is the only one I know of that's pure (99.9%) KNO3.
Spectracide® Stump Remover Granules
This is what I use, been using it for more that a year. I've had Triton and ICP-Analysis both test my water and nothing unusual. My corals partly depend on this for better color and growth. I have found that neither feeding huge amounts of food that gets wasted and/or cutting back on skimmer/filter socks/chaeto resulted in any noticeable difference other than increased alage, cyano, dinos, and aiptasia.
TimothyTran
Community Member
Y’all actually trying to increase nitrates? Lol I’m trying to get rid of them...
Crazy right!? Yes, I have a problem with keeping NO3 detectable. I'm certain it's due to my filtration measures and methods. Large skimmer, filter socks, MarinePure Blocks X3, Chaeto refugium (large w/grow light), water changes, Pukani rock, high flow, and all the micro faun/flora that consume waste. NO3 <1ppm results in pale corals in only a few days.
I got some of the nilocg.
At what rate are you mixing and dosing?
I have a roughly 100 gallon system twv. The two times I have tried stump remover it has caused some bleaching.
mcarroll
10K Club member
It's possible for nitrates to cause bleaching, but it's not seen too often in tanks. I haven't seen it happen at all, personally.
Is it possible that there were any other contributing factors like algae treatments or nutrient reduction tools like GFO or carbon dosing being used or something else?
If you were to try again, check out A Nitrate Dosing Calculator For Better Tank Health (And Better Coral Color!). It might be interesting even if you don't try DIY again.
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