Opinion(s) needed - Best way to raise nitrate?

[CasperOe]

Agree. This is what I dose and how I arrived at my calculations. It is an immediate way to raise nitrate and is my primary method for fighting dinos when my nutrients are out of whack.

Two minds are better than one! what the heck, I'm gonna get some of my wish-version of Amazon here in the UK!

 

[CasperOe]

If you want to experiment with dosing ammonia instead of sodium or calcium nitrate (both also recommended), here is a DIY thread:

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

i personally would not dose an ammonia source that was intended for cycling (or any other purpose) unless it listed a purity.

Cheers Randy! Will have a good read through this in the morning, it's getting rather late here in Glasgow now! Appreciate your feedback as well!

 

[am3gross]

I have used both, the nitrate solution and the aminos. My preferred method is aminos and preferred choice is Acropower. I dose the Acropower when the pumps go off for feeding, so it has a little dwell time for the corals in the main display to enjoy.

The nitrates I have hooked up with a dose pump and I use it only when the nitrates get close to 0. I have it figured out where 15ml of the solution will raise the nitrate level .03. I just keep that dos off till I need it. I have not needed the nitrates since I started dosing the Acropower

 

[CasperOe]

I have used both, the nitrate solution and the aminos. My preferred method is aminos and preferred choice is Acropower. I dose the Acropower when the pumps go off for feeding, so it has a little dwell time for the corals in the main display to enjoy.

The nitrates I have hooked up with a dose pump and I use it only when the nitrates get close to 0. I have it figured out where 15ml of the solution will raise the nitrate level .03. I just keep that dos off till I need it. I have not needed the nitrates since I started dosing the Acropower

I already have nitrates hooked up to a dosing pump, i am trying out the new Reef Factory X1 dosing pump currently dosing NeoNitro Acropower I have never used, but similar Aminos are on the shelf so I may have to work out what works better for me. Nitrate dosing, aminos or a combination.

Thank you for your input! The community really pulls out the big guns tonight!

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hi Reefers!

I am running my 135 gallon lightly stocked (for now!) reef tank according the Triton method with a large, well lit refugium, a skimmer and thats it for filtration.

I am in a completely new situation in my reef keeping journey - I am reading consistently 0 PPM nitrate (Hanna HR)- with phosphate consistently being in the range I am aiming for of 0.03-0.08 (tested with Hanna HI774 / RF Smart Tester).

Q: Now; what will be my best options for increasing my nitrates without affecting phosphate (too much)?

Luckily, I have a few options:

1. Feed more!
2. Reduce lighting period / Light power in refugium
3. Switch off skimmer for XX hours during the night
4. Dose nitrate up

... or something else; or a combination?

I would love to hear your experiences and advice

I should say that I see no indication that the tank is not thriving, but I would like to at least have detectable levels.

Cheers - and happy new year!

DIY Food grade Sodium Nitrate solution

You know exactly what is in it .
You know exactly the strength of the solution and thus the dosage.
You can automate using a dosing pump.

If you feel like a more advanced method, you can also dose ammonia (ammonium chloride).

edit: I see I'm already late to the party.

 

[CasperOe]

DIY Food grade Sodium Nitrate solution

You know exactly what is in it .
You know exactly the strength of the solution and thus the dosage.
You can automate using a dosing pump.

If you feel like a more advanced method, you can also dose ammonia (ammonium nitrate).

Yeah, it does seem the way to go doesn't it? It's in my Amazon basket! I have a pump dosing NeoNitrate just now. Once that's out I will give this a spin!

It's like you've made it as a reefer when you have to dose Nitrate Five years battle has been replaced with a new one..

 

[RIC13]

If you want to experiment with dosing ammonia instead of sodium or calcium nitrate (both also recommended), here is a DIY thread:

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

i personally would not dose an ammonia source that was intended for cycling (or any other purpose) unless it listed a purity.

Tell me more. Why is that?

 

[vitaliyphoto]

I’d say frozen foods. I had good luck adjusting phosphate to nitrate ratio using Mysis shrimp. I also used nitrate solutions for planted tanks but feel better reap the benefits of feeding the fish more.

 

[PeterErc]

If you want to experiment with dosing ammonia instead of sodium or calcium nitrate (both also recommended), here is a DIY thread:

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

i personally would not dose an ammonia source that was intended for cycling (or any other purpose) unless it listed a purity.

I get a better response from corals dosing ammonia than nitrate. Was dosing 40ml a day on a 150g total volume. Cut it down to 20ml as nitrate creeped up. Dosed TSP to bring phosphate up so it doesn’t bottom out.

 

[SliceGolfer]

I use a solution of Calcium Nitrate or Ammonium Bicarbonate depending on the scenario. Mix your own using Loudwolf or food grade from Amazon, your wallet will thank you. You can make bottles of your own solution for the cost of one prepackaged bottled solution.

 

[CasperOe]

I use a solution of Calcium Nitrate or Ammonium Bicarbonate depending on the scenario. Mix your own using Loudwolf or food grade from Amazon, your wallet will thank you. You can make bottles of your own solution for the cost of one prepackaged bottled solution.

Looks like I'll be heading down the DIY path Thanks, appreciate your comment - and all the other ones as well!

 

[DanyL]

I’m using lab grade Sodium Nitrate and lab grade TSP.

No real reason to use lab grade though, it was just the only available option in stock locally when purchasing.

I join others claiming that it’s a solid, accurate and easily controllable method to manage nutrients, and even at lab grade prices it was far cheaper than going with reef branded products.

I also would like to add that no matter how you increase your nitrates it’d definitely impact your phosphates as well, simply because if bacteria were limited by the lack of nitrates - they will now start to reproduce rapidly, depleting all three CNP, so you’ll need to watch you P as you go.

 

[CasperOe]

I’m using lab grade Sodium Nitrate and lab grade TSP.

No real reason to use lab grade though, it was just the only available option in stock locally when purchasing.

I join others claiming that it’s a solid, accurate and easily controllable method to manage nutrients, and even at lab grade prices it was far cheaper than going with reef branded products.

I also would like to add that no matter how you increase your nitrates it’d definitely impact your phosphates as well, simply because if bacteria were limited by the lack of nitrates - they will now start to reproduce rapidly, depleting all three CNP, so you’ll need to watch you P as you go.

Thank you, that's valuable information I have food grade stuff arriving today so I will start slowly once I'm out of NeoNitro.

Will update here how I get on I am running continuous phosphate testing so it will be interesting to see how it's affected for sure.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Tell me more. Why is that?

Why is what?

 

[Miami Reef]

Why is what?

I think he wanted to know why you wouldn’t use ammonia intended for cycling (without listed purity).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think he wanted to know why you wouldn’t use ammonia intended for cycling (without listed purity).

Oh, that’s easy.

No listed purity is a concern for any reef product, but even if you trust the company to select a suitably pure material for its intended purpose, a cycling product is used for a short time in the absence of delicate organisms, and if you then use it for an unintended purpose, like dosing every day forever, it may not be suitably pure for that use.

 

[crazyfishmom]

That's a good one- and one I did not consider! Here's a silly question; Red Sea's AB+? Amino?

Gosh - I feel so stupid asking that and should probably just google it instead and save myself the shame!

Dosing aminos can sometimes have the same effect as carbon dosing so if you find that your levels are not coming up this may have something to do with it.

 

[TWYOUNG]

As many have stated dosing a specific measured amount of nitrate is the most easily controlled and regulated method. Since I was dosing tons at one point I also went to mixing my own and using this calculator for sodium nitrate.

 

[Superlightman]

As long as you corals look good and not pale, why would you ad nitrate? It is not necessary and it is not the best source of nitrogen according Hans Werner von Tropic Marin, he write about this in the forum, with a research you could probably find his post.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

As long as you corals look good and not pale, why would you ad nitrate? It is not necessary and it is not the best source of nitrogen according Hans Werner von Tropic Marin, he write about this in the forum, with a research you could probably find his post.

What do you believe are the downsides?

Here are some reasons that it may be desirable:

1. It is a cheap and easy once a day dosing compared to dosing ammonia. Ammonia dosing may or may not be better. Evidence that ammonia dosing is better is mostly based on the idea that corals use more energy to metabolize ammonia, but whether that means there is any detectable difference in health or growth of the coral between the two is still not demonstrated, IMO. That said, I do provide ammonia dosing recipes for those who want to try it. It just requires a but more effort to dose ammonia since it must be spread out.

2. Ensuring there is detectable nitrate ensures there is enough usable N for organisms. There may also be enough without any detectable nitrate, but there also may not be. Regardless of what you dose (ammonia, nitrate, amino acids, etc.), I think that having detectable nitrate provides some comfort level that N is available enough.

3. In trying to prevent or reduce dinos, especially when there is some new rock around that is not fully colonized with other organisms, can be helped by increasing the available N, and folks have shown that dosing nitrate is one successful way to accomplish this goal.

4. Nitrate (or ammonia) dosing is less likely to lead to cyano or other bacterial issues than is amino acid dosing.