Dosing ammonium chloride and dropping alkalinity.

[KGV]

A lot of talk about ammonium chloride dosing these days. Some state that their alk dropped, presumably because the corals grow faster. But isn’t ammonium chloride a weak acid that will always suppress alkalinity? @Randy Holmes-Farley?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

A lot of talk about ammonium chloride dosing these days. Some state that their alk dropped, presumably because the corals grow faster. But isn’t ammonium chloride a weak acid that will always suppress alkalinity? @Randy Holmes-Farley?

Yes, ammonium chloride reduces alk. If that is a concern, use ammonium bicarbonate as described here:

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...

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