Dosing Nitrate for Dino's

Scooter90254 · Mar 21, 2019

Let me start by saying I spent my first 10 years in this hobby trying to get rid of Nitrates.

And now I guess I'm to the point where I'm going to purposely put some in. Someone has to see the humor in that.

Dumb question. How do I dose Nitrates? I've tried feeding heavy but my tank seems to eat the food up and I can't stomach adding more junk to the tank.

What product works best. What number should I be targeting to get rid of the dinos?

Right now my tank registers a zero. Nyos.

JoshKReef · Mar 21, 2019

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
It is fine to dose nitrate. I'd dose to 2 ppm, and do that as often as needed to get a level of 2 ppm to show on a kit.

This calculator shows how much is needed of certain additives:

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

I'd use food grade sodium or potassium nitrate (I prefer sodium). Both are available online.

Stole this from another post for you. My LFS sells a nitrate solution to dose, but I can't find it online.

Scottybgood · Mar 21, 2019

Scooter90254 said:
What product works best. What number should I be targeting to get rid of the dinos?

I mixed up a batch of Spectracide Stump Remover (KNO3 - can find many "recipes" in the forums here). You can also use products like Brightwell NeoNitro. I use Brightwell NeoPhos to dose Phosphorus to keep my levels detectable. During my Dino battle I dosed directly once or more daily, now I just spike my ATO water with both to maintain.

Scooter90254 · Mar 22, 2019

Yeah I'm looking for an out of the bottle solution. I look into the Brightwell stuff. I'm only dosing a 60 gallon system so cost shouldn't really be an issue.

Kalibur2 · Mar 22, 2019

I’m using neo nitro which I got from brs

Idoc · Mar 22, 2019

Same dino issue here...

I used Loudwolf Sodium Nitrate. Mix in some RODI water and dose it. Simple and cheap. I dosed for about 3 weeks until my system "settled" and found its equilibrium around 10ppm and now is staying at that level with normal feedings... same thing happened for my phosphates.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/222604...hkRGvspOGL-Kl6kukEO3XAUgxmgXBwOsaAkD1EALw_wcB

Chris Villalobos · Mar 22, 2019

Scooter90254 said:
Let me start by saying I spent my first 10 years in this hobby trying to get rid of Nitrates.

And now I guess I'm to the point where I'm going to purposely put some in. Someone has to see the humor in that.

Dumb question. How do I dose Nitrates? I've tried feeding heavy but my tank seems to eat the food up and I can't stomach adding more junk to the tank.

What product works best. What number should I be targeting to get rid of the dinos?

Right now my tank registers a zero. Nyos.

What are your NO3 and PO4 export methods and can you reduce them. For example reduce the lighting on your Chaeto if you use it.

Scooter90254 · Mar 22, 2019

Just a bunch of rock at this point. My chaeto died off awhile back. I do run an over sized skimmer that I could shut down for awhile.

Chris Villalobos · Mar 22, 2019

Scooter90254 said:
Just a bunch of rock at this point. My chaeto died off awhile back. I do run an over sized skimmer that I could shut down for awhile.

Yeah I have the same problem. I cannot keep chaeto alive very well without dosing NO3 and PO4. Skimmers are interesting because they should reduce organics, but they only remove so much. I believe 70% of organics stay in the tank because they cannot be skimmed.

If you do buy NO3 to dose make sure it's not also adding NH3. Some products made for planted tanks add more that just NO3.

Chris Villalobos · Mar 22, 2019

Could you also tell us about your:
PO4 levels
Coral Mass
Amount of food you add
Tank size and Sump size

I guess you have a large amount of organic nitrates in your tank. First thing I'd do is stop using "coral foods". You probably don't need them if you have a Dino problem.