Keep No3... more fish, less carbon dosing, or amonium ?

[Patx]

Hello,
my No3 are often down or "stable because"
I try to keep it between 5-15ppm.

I've added more fish than I've ever had. but it's still not enough.
So i just feed more pellet.

I have an automatic feeder that pours 0.5gram of sinking pellet to the point where most of the time...the fish ignore it
I also manually feed 1x/day about 1x1inch of a scallop/selcon/vitachem mix (the fish eat it all)

- I change my filter socks 1x/week.

I have another tank "refugium/holding tank" connected with lots of Xenia and cheato that I keep at a baseball size.

~15gallons

I dose:
+0.04ppm of Kh2po4 /day
my Po4 varies from 0.05 to 0.1

- 2ml of bacto balance.

-10% water changes per week.

I feel like adding unconsumed pellets will in the long run add unnecessary pollution. (what do you think?)

if I ever cut the pellet dose I have to reduce the consumption of No3 or dose some.

The choices i see:
-reduce the dose of bacto-balance (but I like it because it adds a bit of trace elements).
-reduce the light intensity in the refuge
(how much do the Xenia consume? Are they ?)
- add more fish
- dose amonium
- do nothing.

55gallons total system.
24x24x18 tank (~40 gallons)

1-royal gramma
1- yellow wrass
1- tail spot blenny
1- diamond goby
1-clown
2-firefish

Thk

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It is fairly cheap and easy to dose N and P when needed.

I’d stop bactobalance and add trace elements in other ways.

 

[Patx]

Hello,
to take it easy, I decided to:

-reduce the % of light in the refugium.
-add 3 pajama cardinal.
-reduce my pellet additions by 1/2.
(a kind of compromise to see the evolution)

I'm waiting to see the impact on the No3.
(but i think the result will be equally balanced)

I kept bacto-balance.
however, I could reduce it by 1/2, but I prefer to take it one step at a time.

in the meantime! the No3 have reached 2ppm so I have to add my Kno3 mix (the shortfall seems to be about 1ppm per week).
that will do the trick for now. (I know about the K :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes: )

my question is, if I need to add say 2 or 3ppm of No3/week.
if I use ammonium bicarbonate (20grams/L solution) in a 55Gallon system.
can we estimate how much ml it will take to keep the +2-3ppm No3/week or we don't know until we try it ?

im in canada so no calcium nitrate etc...
(i just have my old batch of Kno3).

i could also just go with a reef no3+ product.
but that would be too simple and not fun. :grinning-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Adding 0.1 ppm ammonia is adding the same amount of N as adding 0.36 ppm nitrate.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/diy-ammonia-dosing-for-low-nitrate-systems.987087/

 

[Patx]

oh i must have gone over it.
Thk!
:face-with-spiral-eyes:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Those exact words are probably not there. I linked it to show the recipes. :)

 

[Patx]

Not exactly but...
[it is safe to add 0.1 ppm ammonia (equivalent to 0.36 ppm nitrate) ]
:beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

Happy reefing.

 

[Patx]

Can i use "amonium carbonate" instead of bicarbonate ?
Thk.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Can i use "amonium carbonate" instead of bicarbonate ?
Thk.

Is there a reason you want to? I believe ammonium bicarbonate is the best choice.

 

[Patx]

Harder to find...
But i just find some. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:
Thk
Canada is complicated.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Harder to find...
But i just find some. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:
Thk
Canada is complicated.

Sounds good. Happy reefing!

 

[Patx]

hi, with my dosing pumps, I try to keep some sort of maximum in the containers (which will not create a total apocalypse) in case there is a problem with the pumps.

100% safe is not always possible.
but I try to make allowances according to the case.

I suppose the answer will be "a theoretical estimate" but I try to find what would be a non-apocalyptic dose in a volume of 55 US gallons.?

I dose in a very stirred place in the sump.

thk. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You are referring to dosing of ammonium bicarbonate?

A problematic dose depends on how fast you dose.

Dosed all at once, more than 5 ppm total ammonia is a significant problem and more than 10 ppm may kill fish.

Dosed evenly over 24 h, it may be hard to know how much is too much since it depends on how fast your nitrifiers function. 5 ppm in a day might be ok. 2 ppm certainly is.

 

[Patx]

Just checking for max dose "if" dosing pump stuck on.

amonium bicarbonate, yes.

Dosed all at once, more than 5 ppm total ammonia is a significant problem and more than 10 ppm may kill fish.

Perfect,
I "maybe" will dilute stock solution.
Thk !

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If you use a pump that is slow and dose continuously or close to it, then being stuck on is not a concern.

 

[Patx]

Continuous dose really impossible (cheap doser )

Was to start safely dosing 0.1ppm/day... and see how No3 react in a week. Could end at 0.3-0.5ppm/day (have to try first)

My Apocalyptic calcul...
(55gallons tank) about 200L
200ml stock solution dump in ~40min.
Max amonium ~4,3ppm

I could dilute stock solution in half. Dose 2x more ml.
And be safe.... right ? :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes: