Starting Ammonium Bicarbonate Dosing Tonight

[14 foot reef]

I'm going to start dosing Ammonium Bicarbonate Tonight at a rate of 22.5ml every 6 hours for the 24 hour day period. Dosing 7days a week.
Solution mix was 40 grams per 1 Liter of RODI with 3 Liters mixed up and sealed dosed by Apex DOS - Just calibrated.

System is 1000 gallons, going to do some reading on max dosing ceiling. Per Randy's Ammonia dosing DIY page, in theory it's written that possibly 3 times that amount could be dosed.

I'll increase this slowly and watch my nitrates and see where my system seems doing well with my dosing.

My Perimeters are as follows for others knowledge.

Salinity 1.026
Ammonia - 0.00
Nitrite - 0.00
Nitrate - 6.1
Phosphate - .05
Alk - 9.38
Calcium - 478
Magnesium - 1323
pH - 8.0--8.2 at end of light cycle 10:00pm
Temp 76-77 F maintained by Chiller and heater

Comments welcome for advise from those dosing ammonia !!!

Happy Reefing

 

[PotatoPig]

I’ve been dosing this on and off as the demands of my tank change - keeps nitrates from bottoming out and no ill effects on any other inhabitants and much cheaper than any nitrate dosing product.

 

[rishma]

Watch your phosphates! Many of us have seen phosphates go down when we dose ammonium bicarbonate.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sounds good. Keep us updated!

 

[don_pips]

@Randy Holmes-Farley i have been dosing about 15 ml a day of ammonia bicarbonate solution mixed per your instruction and seen no change in nitrate shall I up it?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley i have been dosing about 15 ml a day of ammonia bicarbonate solution mixed per your instruction and seen no change in nitrate shall I up it?

Yes. It may or may not be needed, but it is a good plan to do so. Just be sure to spread out doses.

 

[Jake_v]

@Randy Holmes-Farley Roughly how long have you observed the nitrification process taking? I'm assuming 1ppm NH4+ will convert to roughly 3~4 ppm NO3, is that a correct assumption? I have been dosing nitrates for a while now and I started dosing ammonium bicarbonate today...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley Roughly how long have you observed the nitrification process taking? I'm assuming 1ppm NH4+ will convert to roughly 3~4 ppm NO3, is that a correct assumption? I have been dosing nitrates for a while now and I started dosing ammonium bicarbonate today...

The ratio is right and I’m sure it is done within hours. Many folks find consumption uses a lot of it.