DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I might not mix limewater/kalkwasser with ammonia since the high pH will make it much more likely to entree the air and smell/evaporate, though that may be ok in a mostly closed system.

Unstirred ammonia in water will stay fully mixed.

 

[Vested]

I might not mix limewater/kalkwasser with ammonia since the high pH will make it much more likely to entree the air and smell/evaporate, though that may be ok in a mostly closed system.

Unstirred ammonia in water will stay fully mixed.

Is smell the only concern? Will the c02 in ammonium bicarbonate specifically effect the potency/ph?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is smell the only concern? Will the c02 in ammonium bicarbonate specifically effect the potency/ph?

The bicarbonate impacts the pH but not the potency. If it is open to the air at high pay, some ammonia will be list to the air.

I once neglected the di on my ro/di, and ammonia came through. The kalkwasser I made from it stank of ammonia.

 

[Vested]

The bicarbonate impacts the pH but not the potency. If it is open to the air at high pay, some ammonia will be list to the air.

I once neglected the di on my ro/di, and ammonia came through. The kalkwasser I made from it stank of ammonia.

Hmm ok thank you! Curious to try it and see how bad the smell is, as long as it wont effect the kalkwasser itself at all. I dont want to use ammonium chloride because of the alk effect would be annoying.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I’m curious as to if there should be a direct/indirect correlation with phosphate consumption or reduction while dosing ammonium chloride, or reducing sodium nitrate? On week three of dosing, I have now reduced my sodium nitrate dosing by half as I am working my way to replacing that entirely with ac. My Alk consumption has been increasing this week but isn’t all the way back up to what it was prior to beginning dosing ac (I’ve been bumping my carx back up every other day this week to maintain 8-9 dkh) Phosphate, via the Hanna ulr phosphate checker has dropped dramatically this week and I’ve had to bump up my sodium phosphate dibasic quite a bit to keep it from bottoming out. There were two small patches of gha that were removed earlier in the week but should have been insignificant in the grand scheme of things. My phosphate dosing has been fairly consistent over the last few years so this was kind of a shock to me.

 

[drawman]

@Randy Holmes-Farley love this thread I have a couple of questions for you.

You mentioned adding ammonia to an ATO. Could bacteria build up in the container and convert it to nitrite and nitrate or would this not be appreciable in a container with RO water? Would the ammonia evaporate or would this also not be relevant on that time scale? I guess my only other concern would be the smell but maybe this isn't a problem either. I would think the low repeated doses over the day through an ATO would be ideal.

I'm also having pretty low pH in my apartment I wonder would the doses of ammonium chloride have a significant impact on pH? Obviously this varies with the amount you dose but if I start at 0.1mg/L?

@Miami Reef how is the dosing going and how have your results been? How are you currently dosing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley love this thread I have a couple of questions for you.

You mentioned adding ammonia to an ATO. Could bacteria build up in the container and convert it to nitrite and nitrate or would this not be appreciable in a container with RO water? Would the ammonia evaporate or would this also not be relevant on that time scale? I guess my only other concern would be the smell but maybe this isn't a problem either. I would think the low repeated doses over the day through an ATO would be ideal.

I'm also having pretty low pH in my apartment I wonder would the doses of ammonium chloride have a significant impact on pH? Obviously this varies with the amount you dose but if I start at 0.1mg/L?

@Miami Reef how is the dosing going and how have your results been? How are you currently dosing?

I don’t think ro/di will grow much bacteria with just ammonia in it. Occasional cleaning might be worthwhile.

If you cover it, evaporation will be minimal.

It will slightly deplete alk and have slight pH lowering effect.

 

[drawman]

I don’t think ro/di will grow much bacteria with just ammonia in it. Occasional cleaning might be worthwhile.

If you cover it, evaporation will be minimal.

It will slightly deplete alk and have slight pH lowering effect.

Thank you sir!

I'm guessing the answer is no but would I be able to add both trisodium phosphate and ammonium chloride to the ATO? I'm guessing this would be more likely to grow bacteria but is it still okay?

 

[PeterErc]

I might not mix limewater/kalkwasser with ammonia since the high pH will make it much more likely to entree the air and smell/evaporate, though that may be ok in a mostly closed system.

Unstirred ammonia in water will stay fully mixed.

I

Yes in vinegar. In high pH solutions it will smell and slowly lose ammonia.

How about an ATO with limewater and vinegar? I imagine the same results.

Out of curiosity, in a closed top off system, could the skimmer fresh air intake be drawn through the ATO. Then the ammonia gas off be inject via skimmer to keep the Mrs, from smacking the cat with a broom?

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

@Randy Holmes-Farley On top of my previous question yesterday, is there a dosage amount that would approach cautionary? I’m assuming as long as ammonia is being processed and nitrate levels are still rising that all is good and that if/when nitrate no longer rises when upping ammonia that it might be time to pull back? Just curious is all. I’ll be bumping my ammonia chloride dosing up to 0.4 ppm today as I cut back my sodium nitrate by half the other day and nitrate is dropping off.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hmm ok thank you! Curious to try it and see how bad the smell is, as long as it wont effect the kalkwasser itself at all. I dont want to use ammonium chloride because of the alk effect would be annoying.

The more you dilute it, the less it will smell and the less chance for evaporation.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

@Randy Holmes-Farley On top of my previous question yesterday, is there a dosage amount that would approach cautionary? I’m assuming as long as ammonia is being processed and nitrate levels are still rising that all is good and that if/when nitrate no longer rises when upping ammonia that it might be time to pull back? Just curious is all. I’ll be bumping my ammonia chloride dosing up to 0.4 ppm today as I cut back my sodium nitrate by half the other day and nitrate is dropping off.

I wouldn't dose more than 0.3 ppm total ammonia at a time without measuring ammonia a bit later to see where it stands.

 

[Vested]

The more you dilute it, the less it will smell and the less chance for evaporation.

Ended up just setting it up on a brs doser, dosing 30 seconds every hour 24/7 right now. Going to slowly up that till I see nitrate rising, havent seen anything negative so far. Hoping it especially helps my maxima clam and chaeto grow faster as I think the macro algae is limited with nitrate in my tank.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I wouldn't dose more than 0.3 ppm total ammonia at a time without measuring ammonia a bit later to see where it stands.

Thank you. Originally I was dosing 0.1 ppm twice daily. As there were no ill effects noted after the first week i put it on a doser that spreads it out over 24 hours. I did bump it up to 0.4 ppm daily, but again, on a doser spread out over 24 hours. I’m not really worried about it now, but I’m thinking I might end up dosing near 0.8 ppm per day by the time I ween off of sodium nitrate completely…. If the current trend continues and dosing is linear. I’ll have a better grasp on it in a couple more days of dosing 0.4 ppm ac daily.

 

[Cscultho]

I don't have any test kits beyond temp and salinity. I figure this is a precalculated .5 ppm dose per Dr Tims ammonium chloride. I put the drop in a drawn off portion of tank water, add half then wait 30 mins add other half

Not really measuring other than subjective evaluation of color, extension, hopefully add mass rates for lps and sps. Using light ammonia + extra feeding and water changes to try and drive coral growth rates. Will hold and reevaluate in 2 moss

One drop sure goes a long ways in a pico reef that's for sure

Are you using the Dr Tim's Aquatic Ammonium Chloride? I want to jump on the bandwagon and see if it moves the needle on my 0 nitrates.

 

[brandon429]

Yes thats the one, I think my corals are liking it. I dose it daily pretty much

 

[ncjeepguy75]

So I jumped on the bandwagon to dose ammonia…I started 4 days ago…in the four days my corals are way more open and extended and my clam is loving it…

I gave a 125 gallon with sump mixed reef.

I dose 3 ml ammonia (3% ammonium hydroxide solution) by splitting it up over the day while lights are on.

So far my nitrates are dropping and phosphates holding steady…nitrates started at 8.4 and are down to 7.8…phosphates at .08…I am also noticing a slight decrease (.5 dkh) in alkalinity which tells me the corals are using it more which hopefully means more growth.

I am not seeing any detrimental effects so far. I am hoping this is just what my tank needs!

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

So I jumped on the bandwagon to dose ammonia…I started 4 days ago…in the four days my corals are way more open and extended and my clam is loving it…

I gave a 125 gallon with sump mixed reef.

I dose 3 ml ammonia (3% ammonium hydroxide solution) by splitting it up over the day while lights are on.

So far my nitrates are dropping and phosphates holding steady…nitrates started at 8.4 and are down to 7.8…phosphates at .08…I am also noticing a slight decrease (.5 dkh) in alkalinity which tells me the corals are using it more which hopefully means more growth.

I am not seeing any detrimental effects so far. I am hoping this is just what my tank needs!

Interesting that your nitrates went down. I’m curious if that’s just temporary.

 

[drawman]

So I jumped on the bandwagon to dose ammonia…I started 4 days ago…in the four days my corals are way more open and extended and my clam is loving it…

I gave a 125 gallon with sump mixed reef.

I dose 3 ml ammonia (3% ammonium hydroxide solution) by splitting it up over the day while lights are on.

So far my nitrates are dropping and phosphates holding steady…nitrates started at 8.4 and are down to 7.8…phosphates at .08…I am also noticing a slight decrease (.5 dkh) in alkalinity which tells me the corals are using it more which hopefully means more growth.

I am not seeing any detrimental effects so far. I am hoping this is just what my tank needs!

Interesting that your nitrates went down. I’m curious if that’s just temporary.

Was thinking the same. Were you previously dosing nitrates by chance?

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

I have been sitting at near 0 nitrates again, and have a bottle of dr tims on hand. Strongly considering it.