How to check diy no3 potency?

West1 · Nov 10, 2023

My no3 & po4 bottomed out about a week ago and my buddy had some leftover diy no3.

Is there a way I can dilute DI and add the no3 then test w/Red Sea no3 Pro test kit to see how potent it is?

He made it so it’s 10ml of no3 for 1ppm in a 125gl system. I’ve been adding 40ml twice a day for the past 2 days and I’m still getting .25-.5 ppm. I’ll start to add 60ml to see if I can get it to 10ppm within 4 days.

Same with po4. Something I can do to check it’s potency.

Tyvm!

Macdaddynick1 · Nov 10, 2023

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

I use this to diy dry no3 per my tank size. Not sure if itd be helpful to you

West1 · Nov 11, 2023

Macdaddynick1 said:
James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

I use this to diy dry no3 per my tank size. Not sure if itd be helpful to you

Not really but thank you.
I’m trying to figure out how strong my no3 is.
Am I dosing diluted no3 or is something sucking it up asap.

gbroadbridge · Nov 11, 2023

West1 said:
Not really but thank you.
I’m trying to figure out how strong my no3 is.
Am I dosing diluted no3 or is something sucking it up asap.

Could be either.

What is in the DIY?

piranhaman00 · Nov 11, 2023

West1 said:
My no3 & po4 bottomed out about a week ago and my buddy had some leftover diy no3.

Is there a way I can dilute DI and add the no3 then test w/Red Sea no3 Pro test kit to see how potent it is?

He made it so it’s 10ml of no3 for 1ppm in a 125gl system. I’ve been adding 40ml twice a day for the past 2 days and I’m still getting .25-.5 ppm. I’ll start to add 60ml to see if I can get it to 10ppm within 4 days.

Same with po4. Something I can do to check it’s potency.

Tyvm!

If he made it correct , the solution is 47,312.5 ppm NO3.

What size tank do you have? How are you testing nitrate?

piranhaman00 · Nov 11, 2023

If you have a way to measure accurately (Hannah nitrate, 1mL pipettr, graduated cylinder) you can dose 1mL into 1L of tank water. Subtract the pre spike from the spike solutions. The difference can be used to calculate the spike solution accurately.

taricha · Nov 11, 2023

Dilute with saltwater, not Di water so that the test will function as it normally does in saltwater.
Pull a liter (or gallon) of tank water, test it, then add enough NO3 stock to the liter of water to raise the NO3 to 10ppm or whatever, and re-test.

I'm really doubtful that a concentrated NO3 stock lost its NO3 somehow. If it fails, I'd guess the test kit has gone bad.

jda · Nov 11, 2023

Unless you have Hannah checkers or some other sort of non-color test kits, I would just trust the math and dose it. Can you really tell the difference between 6 and 14 on the Hannah no3 test kit anyway?

There is bacteria in your tank that can start to use that no3 as soon as you add it. Tank measurements are not really indicative of what you added.

West1 · Nov 11, 2023

It was made out of Loudwolf trisodium nitrate. I asked my buddy and he doesn’t understand why I’m using so much as he used it in his 125gl. He thinks my chaeto could be consuming the additives but I don’t see my chaeto growing quick and I’ve reduced my fuge light to 3hrs per night before my p&n bottomed out.

I went one week without dosing phyto and the following week my p&n bottomed out. Been having trouble w/bottoming out p&n for just over a week.

I have a redsea 525xl and I do have a lab grade, adjustable pipette.

piranhaman00 · Nov 12, 2023

West1 said:
It was made out of Loudwolf trisodium nitrate. I asked my buddy and he doesn’t understand why I’m using so much as he used it in his 125gl. He thinks my chaeto could be consuming the additives but I don’t see my chaeto growing quick and I’ve reduced my fuge light to 3hrs per night before my p&n bottomed out.

I went one week without dosing phyto and the following week my p&n bottomed out. Been having trouble w/bottoming out p&n for just over a week.

I have a redsea 525xl and I do have a lab grade, adjustable pipette.

If you take my advice you can calculate it really easily

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 12, 2023

FWIW, there’s no reason to measure it, if you are using a reasonable product at a reasonable dose per day (say, 2 ppm nitrate). Just keep raising the dose until you get a desirable level in the tank 24 h later.

But if you want, just try to measure tank nitrate 20 min after dosing.

exnisstech · Nov 12, 2023

As stated just use a specified amount of salt water and calculate the dosage by the test results (provided the results are accurate)
Also I don't think it's an issue to dose nitrates up quickly. I use food grade sodium nitrate and have raised nitrate as much as 10 ppm in a single dose with no issues.
FWIW I prefer Hanna high range nitrate checker. It's just easier for me to use vs color charts.

West1 · Nov 12, 2023

exnisstech said:
As stated just use a specified amount of salt water and calculate the dosage by the test results (provided the results are accurate)
Also I don't think it's an issue to dose nitrates up quickly. I use food grade sodium nitrate and have raised nitrate as much as 10 ppm in a single dose with no issues.
FWIW I prefer Hanna high range nitrate checker. It's just easier for me to use vs color charts.

That’s good to know! tips of acros are starting to recede and I thought 2ppm was the most I could raise per day! Going to raise to 5ppm right now, then keep testing daily.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 12, 2023

West1 said:
That’s good to know! tips of acros are starting to recede and I thought 2ppm was the most I could raise per day! Going to raise to 5ppm right now, then keep testing daily.

Sounds good. My 2 ppm is just a suggested starting point.

exnisstech · Nov 12, 2023

West1 said:
That’s good to know! tips of acros are starting to recede and I thought 2ppm was the most I could raise per day! Going to raise to 5ppm right now, then keep testing daily.

The tank I have to dose at times has a bunch of acro frags/mini colonies and they never seem bothered. I just finished bringing nitrates up this morning as they tested 0.

West1 · Nov 12, 2023

Does the diy Loudwolf mix expire?
I Doser 100ml of the older mix and my no3 went up .25. I’m wondering if I should just make smaller amounts instead of using the entire bottle?

Also, is there a difference in the plantedtank calculations from the potassium nitrate vs the Loudwolf sodium nitrate?

gbroadbridge · Nov 12, 2023

West1 said:
Does the diy Loudwolf mix expire?
I Doser 100ml of the older mix and my no3 went up .25. I’m wondering if I should just make smaller amounts instead of using the entire bottle?

Also, is there a difference in the plantedtank calculations from the potassium nitrate vs the Loudwolf sodium nitrate?

It doesn't expire

West1 · Nov 12, 2023

gbroadbridge said:
It doesn't expire

Thank you, I assumed it didn’t but seeing my no3 didn’t go up, I thought it might expire. I guess something is really scarfing down the no3.
I tried about 12 different areas in the tank under the microscope and couldn’t ID ostreopsis, small cell A. Or the non spinning Dino’s. I definitely see the tips of acros showing signs of some type of algae/dino and an hour or so after lights out, they are gone.

gbroadbridge · Nov 12, 2023

West1 said:
Thank you, I assumed it didn’t but seeing my no3 didn’t go up, I thought it might expire. I guess something is really scarfing down the no3.
I tried about 12 different areas in the tank under the microscope and couldn’t ID ostreopsis, small cell A. Or the non spinning Dino’s. I definitely see the tips of acros showing signs of some type of algae/dino and an hour or so after lights out, they are gone.

Do you have a photo under white light?