ESV's Bionic Nitrate - Dosing Question

[RaymondL]

Reaching out there for help in clarifying the proper dosing instructions: bottle says 1.0ml per 20gallons raises Nitrates by 1ppm.

Then there's a clause that says: Do not increase dose by more than 1ml per 20 gallons daily within a 5 day time period.

If I want to increase the Nitrates by 5ppm, would I have to dose 1.0ml increments each every 5 days? Unless, I'm misinterpreting the instructions, but that's what I"m reading.

Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'd start at dosing 2 ppm per day, ignoring any text not to, and after a few days, see if you get detectable nitrate 24 h later and whether you need to up the dose to get to your target level.

Remember you will also slowly be raising calcium and alk using this product.

 

[RaymondL]

I'd start at dosing 2 ppm per day, ignoring any text not to, and after a few days, see if you get detectable nitrate 24 h later and whether you need to up the dose to get to your target level.

Remember you will also slowly be raising calcium and alk using this product.

Thank you Randy - I'll have to see how much this product raises Ca/dkh - hopefully not too much.

I found it odd why ESV states on the bottle not to dose more than 1ppm per 5 day period. Seems a bit extreme.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thank you Randy - I'll have to see how much this product raises Ca/dkh - hopefully not too much.

I found it odd why ESV states on the bottle not to dose more than 1ppm per 5 day period. Seems a bit extreme.

For every 50 ppm of nitrate added (and consumed), the alk will rise by 2.3 dKH and calcium by 16 ppm. That's not an issue if accounted for, except in tanks with very low alk demand (less than, say, that 2.3 dKH spread over 2-3 weeks that it might take to add 50 ppm of nitrate).