Adding an Intentional Nitrate Factory to ULNS?

[ChaetoFarm_Kai]

My Acropora-focused waterbox 130 has an aquamaxx roller filter running at about 800gph, a slightly undersized eshopps S-120 skimmer, and a large refugium compartment growing chaeto. Despite my autofeeder dumping brightwell reef blizzard (which is extremely rich in phosphorus) 5 times a day and me doing zero water changes, my nitrate stays at 0ppm and my PO4 settles at 0.02-0.03ppm. Yes I know I could dial back my fuge but I’ve been growing chaeto for other purposes. I dose nitrate as well but I’ve been thinking, why don’t I just throw a submersible filter like this one with a big sponge in the sump and let it rot to create a nitrate factory, or possibly make a miniature, reactor-sized wet/dry filter to generate some nitrate instead of feeding NaNO3 through dosing pump forever. I know it seems somewhat counterproductive but has anyone ever heard of a concept like this.

 

[KrisReef]

IF you are going to use electricity why not dose nitrate so you have it in control instead of a random "nitrate factory" additions?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree that it seems a lot simpler and more controllable to dose more. I also am not sure if this device will work to raise nitrate effectively or have a desirable outcome, if it is removing ammonia that a coral wants and making it into nitrate that a coral may want less.