Need a Nitrate dosing solution for a long vacation

[GuppyHJD]

My tank has been running 5+ years. I am currently dosing BRS 2-Part (ALK, and Calc). The tank can run itself for a 2-3 week vacation with autofeeder, ATO, dosing ALk, Calc, skimmer overflow into a 5g bucket. For the last 6 months I have had to manually dose 7ml a day of NeoNitrate to keep the Nitrate between 12-15. Phosphates are .09-0.10. In hoping to take a vacation later this year, I am looking into how to maintain the nitrates while I am gone.

Should I put NeoNitrate in a doser? Maybe dilute with RODI and then multiple the run time of the doser?
Is there a reliable DIY nitrate solution that I should consider? Maybe something like Calcium Nitrate but will that interfere with the Calcium Chloride already being dosed?

My current 7ml per day seems like not a huge draw but I want to be able to hold a level.

Thank you

 

[slingfox]

The new trendy thing for nitrate dosing is DIY ammonia + Urea. There are several threads on this board with instructions on how to do so. I dose ammonia + Urea to keep my nitrate from going to zero. The more simple approach is ammonia dosing only so that is the easier place to start.

 

[EnterName]

@slingfox is right, ammonia dosing is considered to be better.
The thing is: Nitrate needs to be reduced back to ammonia before organisms can make use of it. This requires energy and certain trace elements to form enzymes.

I would dose a small amount every hour or so and you won't really need to worry about nitrate levels. Even if nitrate goes down to 0ppm you know that there is at least x ppm ammonia available in your system every hour.

Natural reefs usually have nitrate levels below most test kit's detection limits, which means testing 0ppm doesn't necessarily mean there is an actual nitrogen limitation, especially since there are various other nitrogen sources (amino acids, particulate food, urea, etc.)

I've been running a 0ppm nitrate system for multiple years and still saw decent growth and happy corals. I just recently started dosing more ammonia than usual to reach nitrate levels above 1ppm and haven't noticed any benefits yet. (Which doesn't mean that there aren't any or that having low nitrate is better, just that both can work)

You can find Randy's recipe here:

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Here’s a nitrate recipe:

DIY Nitrate Dosing Recipe

Here’s a quick guide of the DIY nitrate recipes we commonly use for reef tanks. Sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate are the most common materials used. It’s crucial to ensure that these compounds are food-grade or have a purity rating. Sourcing pure chemicals is more economical than purchasing...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[GuppyHJD]

Here’s a nitrate recipe:

DIY Nitrate Dosing Recipe

Here’s a quick guide of the DIY nitrate recipes we commonly use for reef tanks. Sodium nitrate and calcium nitrate are the most common materials used. It’s crucial to ensure that these compounds are food-grade or have a purity rating. Sourcing pure chemicals is more economical than purchasing...

www.reef2reef.com

Thank you

 

[Chuck_e]

My tank has been running 5+ years. I am currently dosing BRS 2-Part (ALK, and Calc). The tank can run itself for a 2-3 week vacation with autofeeder, ATO, dosing ALk, Calc, skimmer overflow into a 5g bucket. For the last 6 months I have had to manually dose 7ml a day of NeoNitrate to keep the Nitrate between 12-15. Phosphates are .09-0.10. In hoping to take a vacation later this year, I am looking into how to maintain the nitrates while I am gone.

Should I put NeoNitrate in a doser? Maybe dilute with RODI and then multiple the run time of the doser?
Is there a reliable DIY nitrate solution that I should consider? Maybe something like Calcium Nitrate but will that interfere with the Calcium Chloride already being dosed?

My current 7ml per day seems like not a huge draw but I want to be able to hold a level.

Thank you

I use a doser for NeoNitrate, works just fine without any additional flushing or dilution. Personally, I wouldn't make a major change in formula before going away - if things go south you won't be able to react. Even if everything works fine, you'll be worried about it while you're away. Same goes for adding equipment - set it up and run it well before you leave so that you are confident it's working the way you want it to. Then, enjoy your vacation!

 

[BriDroid]

I wouldn't jump to ammonia/urea dosing if you are getting ready to take a vacation. I have found that it is much more difficult to dose ammonia/urea and get a stable NO3 number. It seems that there is a lot of adjusting the mixture up and down for me. I actually got tired of it and went back to just dosing a sodium nitrate/sodium phosphate monobasic mixture on one dosing head. I used online calculators to figure out how much based on my usage. I'm holding at 2ppm NO3 and 0.04ppm PO4 with this method and my tank is very happy. Also way cheaper than NeoNitro and NeoPhos!

 

[EnterName]

@Chuck_e and @BriDroid have a point. If you are gone for a few weeks, it will probably be less stressful for you to keep using the same product (or an equivalent). This way nothing changes while you are gone.

I personally would still recommend switching to ammonia after your return.

Enjoy the vacation!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I use a doser for NeoNitrate, works just fine without any additional flushing or dilution. Personally, I wouldn't make a major change in formula before going away - if things go south you won't be able to react. Even if everything works fine, you'll be worried about it while you're away. Same goes for adding equipment - set it up and run it well before you leave so that you are confident it's working the way you want it to. Then, enjoy your vacation!

One possibility is to not put very much more in the dosing reservoir than is expected to be dosed over the vacation, which limits any overdose issue.

 

[GuppyHJD]

One possibility is to not put very much more in the dosing reservoir than is expected to be dosed over the vacation, which limits any overdose issue.

that is exactly what I am thinking - since I am hand dosing 7ml daily now. My thought is to mix 126ml RODI plus 126 ml NeoNitrate, which would cover 16 days plus 2 days, so not possible to overdose by a serious amount. I will set the doser to put 14ml of solution into the tank every morning.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sounds perfect. With nitrate, even if you dosed it all the first day it wouldn’t be a huge problem. Ammonia dosing is a bigger risk in that regard.