Zero Nitrates

[PointerReefs]

Hey again ya’ll.

I’ve ran into an issue with my 150g, 0 nitrates constantly with the Hannah and NT Labs test kit. Phosphate around 0.05-0.1 not too worried about the phosphate as I don’t have any algae issues and coral does seem to be happy for the most part but I’m worried the nitrates not registering is going to lead to a decline eventually.. I had maybe 2-4ppm nitrate before I added a Chaeto refugium on a low light short photo period of 4 hours every other night. But then it zeroed out so I tried feeding heavier, skimming drier, removing the Chaeto all together, but it’s still at 0.. the next step I’m considering is reducing the bio media in my sump, currently there’s maybe 10lbs of rock and 4 polyp labs genesis rock which are rated for like 350g each so I’m sort of worried anaerobic bacteria might be too strong and breaking down my nitrates before they can register.. considering removing 2/4 bricks.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd consider feeding more or dosing ammonium bicarbonate (my preference, and what I do) or sodium or calcium nitrate. All are food grade from Amazon.

My concern is dino risk at bottomed out nutrients.

 

[PointerReefs]

Yeah.. I’m going to have to do something soon if it doesn’t change. I’m feeding 1 cube of mysis shrimp daily, sheet of nori, 20ml of AB+ reef energy 40ml live phyto and 1-2 times a week I’ll spot feed a little benereef powder to the LPS, trying to avoid dosing nitrate but it’s certainly going that direction.. maybe I can up my feeding to 2 cubes of mysis and see if it changes. If not I’ll just pull the trigger and dose nitrate.. have a spare pump laying around I believe

 

[PointerReefs]

Ah also, (as of today) I’m switching to 10% water changes vs 20% as my nutrients stay relatively low.

 

[exnisstech]

I would look onto ammonium dosing as Randy mentioned. I have two tanks that I have to dose when I see 0. No need for a dosing pump unless you really want. I just calculate the amount needed and dump it in.

 

[PointerReefs]

I am looking into ammonia bicarbonate dosing right now… also the product Neonitro from Brightwell. Not sure if there’s a reason to dose nitrate vs. Ammonia, but I’m seeing neonitro is supposedly Alkalinity Neutral as when dosing Ammonia I’ll need to account for Ca and Alk being affected more?

 

[exnisstech]

Good read on ammonium dosing.

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

And a nice dosing chart by the late Miami Reef

DIY Ammonia Dosing Chart

Introduction: Many reef tanks have an incredible nitrate demand, and despite the additional fish and coral food, still struggle to make an impact on the nitrate level. This can subject corals, anemones, coralline, macro/microalgae, and clams to nutrient starvation. Any photosynthetic organism...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I am looking into ammonia bicarbonate dosing right now… also the product Neonitro from Brightwell. Not sure if there’s a reason to dose nitrate vs. Ammonia, but I’m seeing neonitro is supposedly Alkalinity Neutral as when dosing Ammonia I’ll need to account for Ca and Alk being affected more?

Dosing nitrate (as sodium or calcium nitrate, food grade from Amazon) allows substantial boosts instantly. Like 5 or 10 ppm. I’ve done that.

Ammonium is preferred by corals, but should be dosed slowly. I dose ammonium bicarbonate daily by dosing pump.

 

[GoAskAlice]

Great info @Randy Holmes-Farley and @exnisstech. Been following along. Considering dosing ammonium bicarbonate in my system.

 

[PointerReefs]

I am looking into ammonia bicarbonate dosing right now… also the product Neonitro from Brightwell. Not sure if there’s a reason to dose nitrate vs. Ammonia, but I’m seeing neonitro is supposedly Alkalinity Neutral as when dosing Ammonia I’ll need to account for Ca and Alk being affected more?

Dosing nitrate (as sodium or calcium nitrate, food grade from Amazon) allows substantial boosts instantly. Like 5 or 10 ppm. I’ve done that.

Ammonium is preferred by corals, but should be dosed slowly. I dose ammonium bicarbonate daily by dosing pump.

Awesome. Thanks for the info. Going to do some more reading on the two routes. I’m all for whatever is best for my coral. As long as I can grasp the concept of what I’m doing haha.

 

[PointerReefs]

I am looking into ammonia bicarbonate dosing right now… also the product Neonitro from Brightwell. Not sure if there’s a reason to dose nitrate vs. Ammonia, but I’m seeing neonitro is supposedly Alkalinity Neutral as when dosing Ammonia I’ll need to account for Ca and Alk being affected more?

Dosing nitrate (as sodium or calcium nitrate, food grade from Amazon) allows substantial boosts instantly. Like 5 or 10 ppm. I’ve done that.

Ammonium is preferred by corals, but should be dosed slowly. I dose ammonium bicarbonate daily by dosing pump.

So after reading your thread that was linked to ammonia dosing, not sure if I’ve understood this correctly but it sounds like when dosing the ammonium bicarbonate my corals will be readily consuming that vs Nitrate itself and only when I am adding more ammonia than they can consume will it stay in the water column long enough for my bacteria to process it into nitrate? Which I’m unsure if when using this process am I looking to register nitrate or am I running a ULNS where the ammonia is the source?

 

[allof fish]

Hey again ya’ll.

I’ve ran into an issue with my 150g, 0 nitrates constantly with the Hannah and NT Labs test kit. Phosphate around 0.05-0.1 not too worried about the phosphate as I don’t have any algae issues and coral does seem to be happy for the most part but I’m worried the nitrates not registering is going to lead to a decline eventually.. I had maybe 2-4ppm nitrate before I added a Chaeto refugium on a low light short photo period of 4 hours every other night. But then it zeroed out so I tried feeding heavier, skimming drier, removing the Chaeto all together, but it’s still at 0.. the next step I’m considering is reducing the bio media in my sump, currently there’s maybe 10lbs of rock and 4 polyp labs genesis rock which are rated for like 350g each so I’m sort of worried anaerobic bacteria might be too strong and breaking down my nitrates before they can register.. considering removing 2/4 bricks.

My current tank is almost 9 months old and for most of its life I’ve struggled with same issue. Nitrates would drop super low under 5. I would dose neonitrate to around 8-10 then either coral or algae would suck it up. Have struggled with algae issues as any new tank does but recently have been feeding very heavy and also have skimmer turn off 3 hours every night. So far working well last 2 tests nitrate 5 and 10 and phosphate.04 .09. Increased feeding more and more to raise it. Stopped dosing nitrates so should balance that out. I would recommend just feed very heavy and if you can turn skimmer off that can help or remove refugium.

 

[PointerReefs]

Hey again ya’ll.

I’ve ran into an issue with my 150g, 0 nitrates constantly with the Hannah and NT Labs test kit. Phosphate around 0.05-0.1 not too worried about the phosphate as I don’t have any algae issues and coral does seem to be happy for the most part but I’m worried the nitrates not registering is going to lead to a decline eventually.. I had maybe 2-4ppm nitrate before I added a Chaeto refugium on a low light short photo period of 4 hours every other night. But then it zeroed out so I tried feeding heavier, skimming drier, removing the Chaeto all together, but it’s still at 0.. the next step I’m considering is reducing the bio media in my sump, currently there’s maybe 10lbs of rock and 4 polyp labs genesis rock which are rated for like 350g each so I’m sort of worried anaerobic bacteria might be too strong and breaking down my nitrates before they can register.. considering removing 2/4 bricks.

My current tank is almost 9 months old and for most of its life I’ve struggled with same issue. Nitrates would drop super low under 5. I would dose neonitrate to around 8-10 then either coral or algae would suck it up. Have struggled with algae issues as any new tank does but recently have been feeding very heavy and also have skimmer turn off 3 hours every night. So far working well last 2 tests nitrate 5 and 10 and phosphate.04 .09. Increased feeding more and more to raise it. Stopped dosing nitrates so should balance that out. I would recommend just feed very heavy and if you can turn skimmer off that can help or remove refugium.

I had the same issue on my nano before I upgraded as well. The issue i’m worried with if i feed heavier than I am is i’ll end up with like .30 phosphate, i removed my refugium already and dialed the skimmer back to basically not even skimming but keeping it on more or less for my co2 scrubber because it keeps my ph above 8. Can try and increase feeding i suppose and maybe the increased nitrate might balance out my phosphates. What was the issue with neonitro? Was never stable?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So after reading your thread that was linked to ammonia dosing, not sure if I’ve understood this correctly but it sounds like when dosing the ammonium bicarbonate my corals will be readily consuming that vs Nitrate itself and only when I am adding more ammonia than they can consume will it stay in the water column long enough for my bacteria to process it into nitrate? Which I’m unsure if when using this process am I looking to register nitrate or am I running a ULNS where the ammonia is the source?

I’d either add enough so that nitrate rises a bit, dose nitrate to give a boost then continue ammonia, or just dose ammonia based on close observation of corals. :)

 

[PointerReefs]

So after reading your thread that was linked to ammonia dosing, not sure if I’ve understood this correctly but it sounds like when dosing the ammonium bicarbonate my corals will be readily consuming that vs Nitrate itself and only when I am adding more ammonia than they can consume will it stay in the water column long enough for my bacteria to process it into nitrate? Which I’m unsure if when using this process am I looking to register nitrate or am I running a ULNS where the ammonia is the source?

I’d either add enough so that nitrate rises a bit, dose nitrate to give a boost then continue ammonia, or just dose ammonia based on close observation of corals. :)

That’s sort of what I’m thinking right now as well, thank you for the direction. Your post provided me with a lot of great info. I’ve been hooked on the topic ever since :) ordered some neonitro and will try and get to around 5ppm slowly not sure how much I should raise daily yet.. but I’m thinking over the course of a week or two.. as I look more into the ammonium bicarbonate, I found some food grade powder on amazon like you had mentioned pretty inexpensive, found an old Versa pump and reservoir I can hook up for it. Hoping things will go well.. just getting into Acropora/montipora/Goniopora lately so I’m trying to dial it in. Getting my first set of ICP results from tropic Marin in a few days.. however I signed up for Tritons MYTE program of ICP/trace elements to help me out. But I digress. Looking forward to seeing the results from neonitro/ammonium bicarbonate

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

With neonitro, or my preference, food grade sodium nitrate, you can boost all at once to 5 or 10 ppm nitrate.

 

[Hairyteeth]

I’ve been going through the same things with my 150 for the last 2 months I think, I’ve been dosing neo nitro in to raise mine up…..and think I will Continue dose nitrates or ammonia going forward

 

[PointerReefs]

I’ve been going through the same things with my 150 for the last 2 months I think, I’ve been dosing neo nitro in to raise mine up…..and think I will Continue dose nitrates or ammonia going forward

What kind of volume of the neonitro have you been going through? Do you dose it manually or have it on a pump?

 

[PointerReefs]

With neonitro, or my preference, food grade sodium nitrate, you can boost all at once to 5 or 10 ppm nitrate.

Ahh okay thanks. I shouldn’t be too worried that going from 0-5ppm of nitrate will stress my goni’s/acros? My tank has a lot of frags right now but nothing is too huge except maybe my Trachy, lobo and symphyllia. Was watching a podcast earlier talking about the ammonium dosing and it said maybe for a newer tank it wouldn’t be the route to go. Thoughts?

 

[Hairyteeth]

What kind of volume of the neonitro have you been going through? Do you dose it manually or have it on a pump?

I’ve been testing and manually dosing in the
Morning before work,
I started with 8-10ml at first and was getting 0-.1 nitrates max, I switched to about 50ml a day, 10ml of Ab+ and 1ml of phosphates
My high phosphates dropped and tanked after the third big dose of nitrates