DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

[BetteMidler]

Wouldn't it raise S too much?

I was hoping @Randy Holmes-Farley would of elaborated a bit more, as they do make food/lab grade ammonium sulfate. Probably a good idea to eliminate any possibility of aluminum or other metals in the spray grade salt form.

I have it to mix with well water when applying herbicides on my acreage. The 51lb bags mixes great with 300g farm tanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Wouldn't it raise S too much?

It’s not preferred to the materials I posted, but sulfate is quite high to begin with so a concerning rise would take a while. . I don’t see a reason to use it, however.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I really can’t see a reason for most folks to not pick ammonium bicarbonate. Cheap, no ion issues, readily available.

 

[rtparty]

I really can’t see a reason for most folks to not pick ammonium bicarbonate. Cheap, no ion issues, readily available.

Might be best to edit the OP and recipes to only include bicarbonate. Giving the general public too many options can be a negative

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

Might be best to edit the OP and recipes to only include bicarbonate. Giving the general public too many options can be a negative

There’s only two options in the op! Hahaha

 

[Necrodaemus]

nitrate is up at 50-100, I just want to lower it to a maximum of 1.
I saw this post thinking it was a way to lower nitrate
Did I misinterpret your post?
Is there a way that is close to effectively lowering nitrate? By dosing chemicals/others to make a nitrate-reducing solution

This method is for Nitrogen limited systems where NO3 is near bottomed out all the time.

I really can’t see a reason for most folks to not pick ammonium bicarbonate. Cheap, no ion issues, readily available.

this is what I went with as to reduce any impact on pH.

 

[reefsanz]

Hi @Randy Holmes-Farley , a question, if, for example, I want to raise it to 15 nitrate, would there be a problem with the ammonia if the ammonium increased too much?
or would it not be noticed?

 

[crappie]

I really can’t see a reason for most folks to not pick ammonium bicarbonate. Cheap, no ion issues, readily available.

So I’m not having much luck raising my Nitrate level to readable numbers using my Hanna checker and dosing 10ml/day of the ammonium bicarbonate method.
Maybe someone can check my numbers?
I have a 40g breeder with no sump.
My solution is 1L rodi to 20g ammonium bicarbonate.
I’m going to increase to 20ml day for a week and recheck to see if it makes a difference. Is 20ml a day too much? It will be spread out in 5 ml increments using a dosing pump. I will post a pic of the AB I bought online.

 

[reefsanz]

Hi @Randy Holmes-Farley , a question, if, for example, I want to raise it to 15 nitrate, would there be a problem with the ammonia if the ammonium increased too much?
or would it not be noticed?

@Randy Holmes-Farley ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley ?

If ammonia increased too much, yes it would be toxic. But if you keep ramping up slowly it is very unlikely to rise to problem levels.

 

[reefsanz]

If ammonia increased too much, yes it would be toxic. But if you keep ramping up slowly it is very unlikely to rise to problem levels.

Thank you very much for the clarification Randy.

 

[Z Burn's Reefing]

I am just getting ready to do my first dose of ammonium bicarbonate. My tank is 18 months old and nitrate has been consistently undetectable. My phosphate hovers around 0.05-0.09. Do I need to be prepared to add more reef roids or feed fish more when I start dosing the ammonia to prevent phosphate from bottoming out? I am a little worried about that...thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am just getting ready to do my first dose of ammonium bicarbonate. My tank is 18 months old and nitrate has been consistently undetectable. My phosphate hovers around 0.05-0.09. Do I need to be prepared to add more reef roids or feed fish more when I start dosing the ammonia to prevent phosphate from bottoming out? I am a little worried about that...thanks!

Prepared is good, but it may take a while.

 

[bradreef]

I am just getting ready to do my first dose of ammonium bicarbonate. My tank is 18 months old and nitrate has been consistently undetectable. My phosphate hovers around 0.05-0.09. Do I need to be prepared to add more reef roids or feed fish more when I start dosing the ammonia to prevent phosphate from bottoming out? I am a little worried about that...thanks!

I have dosed for a while with very little effect on phosphate. I'm in Sandy and know a few others here that dose as well.

 

[Bob The Reefer]

I'm currently battling chronically low Nitrates and I'm thinking of ammonia dosing - just ordered some food grade ammonium bicarbonate.

If I read the 1st page of this thread correctly then I'm looking at 20g bicarbonate in 1l RODI water as stock solution and then 2.3ml of that per 100l tank volume to introduce 0.1mg/l ammonia.

Tank is roughly 320l so I need 7.36ml for 0.1mg/l rise.

Would 2 doses of 7.36ml twice a day be a good start point?

I'd like to get to 3-5ppm nitrate from the current undetectable (high range checker) level, what is my daily dose going to end up looking like or is it an iterative process (trial and error ;-))?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm currently battling chronically low Nitrates and I'm thinking of ammonia dosing - just ordered some food grade ammonium bicarbonate.

If I read the 1st page of this thread correctly then I'm looking at 20g bicarbonate in 1l RODI water as stock solution and then 2.3ml of that per 100l tank volume to introduce 0.1mg/l ammonia.

Tank is roughly 320l so I need 7.36ml for 0.1mg/l rise.

Would 2 doses of 7.36ml twice a day be a good start point?

I'd like to get to 3-5ppm nitrate from the current undetectable (high range checker) level, what is my daily dose going to end up looking like or is it an iterative process (trial and error ;-))?

Yes, that sounds good. You’ll probably need to up the dose after a bit.

 

[Bob The Reefer]

Yes, that sounds good. You’ll probably need to up the dose after a bit.

Thanks Randy

 

[JulesH]

I have consistently low nitrogen availability, so I am going to try dosing NH4 HCO3. I will post how I get on.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have consistently low nitrogen availability, so I am going to try dosing NH4 HCO3. I will post how I get on.

Sounds good. Keep us updated!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks Randy

You're welcome.

Good luck and happy reefing!