Is nitrate dosing effective

[Roli's Reef Ranch]

My nitrates run low and are often around 1ppm, but I’d prefer to be in the 5-10 range. I will periodically dose my tank with a sodium nitrate solution to raise it when it’s getting close to 0. I saw where one reputable user on the forum said that dosing nitrate does not provide nitrate in a easily usable form for corals.
Is there a difference between nitrate from fish waste and nitrates that were directly dosed when it comes to coral metabolism?

Works for me. Better than battling Dinos and Cyano in my experience, or putting so much food in that your fish don't eat it all and waiting for it to rot into nutrients. I've always battled low nutrients until I started dosing NO3/PO4 since I run bare bottom and don't get all the benefits of a sand NO3/PO4 factory.

 

[Gtinnel]

Works for me. Better than battling Dinos and Cyano in my experience, or putting so much food in that your fish don't eat it all and waiting for it to rot into nutrients. I've always battled low nutrients until I started dosing NO3/PO4 since I run bare bottom and don't get all the benefits of a sand NO3/PO4 factory.

Ironically since making this thread I now have the opposite problem and my nutrients have been running too high for the last few months. I’m getting ready to hook up a refugium to try and lower them and then carbon dose if that’s not enough.

 

[6272862829]

Sorry to wake up this old thread. But what about magnesium nitrate. It only increases magnesium by 1ppm for every 10 ppm of nitrates.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sorry to wake up this old thread. But what about magnesium nitrate. It only increases magnesium by 1ppm for every 10 ppm of nitrates.

Is there some reason to want to use it?

I recommend ammonium bicarbonate or chloride, or sodium or calcium nitrate, all food grade and inexpensive from places such as Amazon.