Calculating sodium nitrate dosage

[BigJohnny]

Hey Randy,

Can you help me determine how much of this by weight I need to dose 1ppm nitrate in 105g?

Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Here's a calculator.

Pick the entry for potassium nitrate, and multiply the answer by 0.84 to get the dose needed (so 0.84 grams instead of 1.0 grams).

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm

 

[BigJohnny]

Here's a calculator.

Pick the entry for potassium nitrate, and multiply the answer by 0.84 to get the dose needed (so 0.84 grams instead of 1.0 grams).

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm

That is all that's needed for converting from potassium nitrate to sodium nitrate (at my bottles purity level)?

Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes. Weight based, anyway. Volume based dosing will be a best guess since fluffiness varies.

 

[BigJohnny]

Yes. Weight based, anyway. Volume based dosing will be a best guess since fluffiness varies.

Understood! You are THE man. Thanks Randy.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks.

Good luck.

 

[joeyhatch11]

Thanks.

Good luck.

Tank Volume: 190 gallons

1 Tablespoon
Amount of water to mix with: 473 ml (16oz of rodi water)
Dosed at 30ml a day, says its adding .97ppm of nitrates is that correct? Is that too much to dose? I've been adding 15ml a day for the past 6 days and testing every other day with a ReaSea Nitrate test kit and it keeps coming back at 0. Im running a refugium with a HUGE rotating ball of cheato and a skimmer rated for up to 180g. Currently only have 4 fish in the tank and feed very light. But my corals are doing exceptionally well with both growth and color. Some pieces I can measure growth on a weekly basis they are doing so well. Thoughts?

 

[BigJohnny]

Tank Volume: 190 gallons

1 Tablespoon
Amount of water to mix with: 473 ml (16oz of rodi water)
Dosed at 30ml a day, says its adding .97ppm of nitrates is that correct? Is that too much to dose? I've been adding 15ml a day for the past 6 days and testing every other day with a ReaSea Nitrate test kit and it keeps coming back at 0. Im running a refugium with a HUGE rotating ball of cheato and a skimmer rated for up to 180g. Currently only have 4 fish in the tank and feed very light. But my corals are doing exceptionally well with both growth and color. Some pieces I can measure growth on a weekly basis they are doing so well. Thoughts?

Don't change what works.

 

[joeyhatch11]

Don't change what works.

I understand LOL but I trying to register some levels of nitrates at this point.

 

[BigJohnny]

I understand LOL but I trying to register some levels of nitrates at this point.

OK. Then try dosing 1.5ppm per day or something, just take it slow and monitor your phosphates to make sure they aren't plummeting.

But I would also just buy some fish. The only reason I considered nitrate dosing was to hold my tank over until all my fish finish qt. 4 fish in a 180 with a big skimmer and refugium is super low bioload.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

1 ppm per day is certainly not too much to dose if nitrate is not accumulating.

Nitrate from the N in foods may be adding quite a bit more than that.

 

[joeyhatch11]

OK. Then try dosing 1.5ppm per day or something, just take it slow and monitor your phosphates to make sure they aren't plummeting.

But I would also just buy some fish. The only reason I considered nitrate dosing was to hold my tank over until all my fish finish qt. 4 fish in a 180 with a big skimmer and refugium is super low bioload.

I introduced a Powder Brown tang and with in 7 days lost 13 fish. Im letting the tank sit with the fish that are in it until at least the end of December before adding anything new.

 

[BigJohnny]

I introduced a Powder Brown tang and with in 7 days lost 13 fish. Im letting the tank sit with the fish that are in it until at least the end of December before adding anything new.

Oh snap, you know the ich/velvet is still in your display and if you dont remove ALL fish (even those seemingly unaffected) there's no point in waiting to add livestock, the parasite will still be there when you do. Just an FYI. Fallow doesn't work unless the tank is completely fishless. Sorry for your losses, that must've sucked.

 

[joeyhatch11]

Oh snap, you know the ich/velvet is still in your display and if you dont remove ALL fish (even those seemingly unaffected) there's no point in waiting to add livestock, the parasite will still be there when you do. Just an FYI. Fallow doesn't work unless the tank is completely fishless. Sorry for your losses, that must've sucked.

I was devastated. Phosphate climbed quickly as well over the course of 10 days from .025-.1 and I lost my maxima clam as well. Unfortunately I dont have a way of getting the 4 remaining fish out of the system. So when I do add additional fish in the future it will be a few wrasse, 2 pairs of clowns and maybe 1-2 more.

 

[Reefahholic]

Here's a calculator.

Pick the entry for potassium nitrate, and multiply the answer by 0.84 to get the dose needed (so 0.84 grams instead of 1.0 grams).

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/calculator.htm

Randy... can you verify this is accurate. I’m not sure I understood you correctly.

So looking at the picture for my 75/G tank I’m trying to add 1 ppm of NaNO3 when I dose.

So do I multiply the 231 (which is the amount to add) by 0.84... Is that what you’re referring to as the answer Randy?

231 x 0.84 = 194.04 ??

 

[Blammomike]

Randy... can you verify this is accurate. I’m not sure I understood you correctly.

So looking at the picture for my 75/G tank I’m trying to add 1 ppm of NaNO3 when I dose.

So do I multiply the 231 (which is the amount to add) by 0.84... Is that what you’re referring to as the answer Randy?

231 x 0.84 = 194.04 ??

Did you figure this out? i was woundering the same thing. whats the answer that is multiplied?

 

[Reefahholic]

Did you figure this out? i was woundering the same thing. whats the answer that is multiplied?

The answer is there in the picture. I go by the calculator now. You just weigh it in grams on a good scale, but I prefer to use level teaspoons or tablespoons. Level as in scrape the top smooth with a butter knife or whatever you have laying around that's clean.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Did you figure this out? i was woundering the same thing. whats the answer that is multiplied?

The multiplication is only needed for the nerdy chemists among you.

it corrects for the fact that sodium nitrate is a little more potent than the potassium nitrate in the calculator (because sodium weighs less than potassium, so nitrate is a little larger fraction of the solid material).

But in reality, it makes no difference since you will start with some random dose (say, 1 ppm) and then adjust to what is doing best on your tank. If you start with 2 ppm, that's fine too. So precise dosing is not important.

But to be nerdy, the amount added to the aquarium is 84% of the calculated amount. So you multiply the amount of final solution to dose to the tank by 0.84, and thus get a slightly lower amount to actually add to the tank.

 

[Blammomike]

The multiplication is only needed for the nerdy chemists among you.

it corrects for the fact that sodium nitrate is a little more potent than the potassium nitrate in the calculator (because sodium weighs less than potassium, so nitrate is a little larger fraction of the solid material).

But in reality, it makes no difference since you will start with some random dose (say, 1 ppm) and then adjust to what is doing best on your tank. If you start with 2 ppm, that's fine too. So precise dosing is not important.

But to be nerdy, the amount added to the aquarium is 84% of the calculated amount. So you multiply the amount of final solution to dose to the tank by 0.84, and thus get a slightly lower amount to actually add to the tank.

One more quick question. When I use the calculator do I add the volume I choose let's day 1000ml and grams together or do I add have the water than the Soudium nitrate, that top off to 1000ml?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

One more quick question. When I use the calculator do I add the volume I choose let's day 1000ml and grams together or do I add have the water than the Soudium nitrate, that top off to 1000ml?

That difference won't matter if you are taking about 25 g or less in a liter. Other factors, such as the actual water volume will be larger "errors", and exact dosing is not at all important.