Nitrate dosing

[Tuan’s Reef]

Hey all,

I'm trying to up my nitrate slowly from zero or near zero levels. Been using API for nitrate test but its really hard to read at low levels. I picked up Nyos nitrate test kit yesterday and have done repeated tests with API and Nyos and getting same results. 0 reading. This was the result from using Nopox at manuf recommended dosing. i have stopped dosing nopox for a while now and have just recently added a refugium with chaeto. This is all on a IM Nuvo 20G. The chaeto is in the 2nd chamber of my AIO so there isn't a whole lot of space and size back there to be that effective at removing nitrate? I only put in a golf ball size a week ago and its nearly 3-5 times that now, lush and green. I would prefer to keep my chaeto in place for PH balance when main tank lights are out. Its on a reverse lighting schedule. I'm really liking this setup as my PH low is now 8.0 from previous 7.8.

Now, I am dosing Brightwell NeoNitro to boost my Nitrate to above 0. i'm guessing 14-15 gallon volume of water at most . Dosed 1ml for .5 ppm concentration for the last few days but its still undectable. Whats the max concentration i can safely increase?

 

[Cory]

If it were me i wouldnt be worried about 5ppm no3 increase in one day. The only concern is impurities imo.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree that if the level is really less than 1 ppm, I see little concern in adding however much it takes to get to a few ppm, but I cannot be sure how pure the Brightwell product is, so I'd take it slowly.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

I wouldn’t rely on the Nyos test kit for low range. The Red Sea nitrate is much more accurate in the lower range. I was mistakenly dozing nitrates because my Nyos kit was reading zero when in fact I was much higher. I would get Red Sea or another reliable brand before dosing more.