Nitrate dosing

[ReeferPat]

Does anyone have experience dosing nitrates? Both nitrates and phosphates have been nearly undetectable in my system for some time on salifert tests. Things seem ok but colors for some of the corals are definitely a little muted. Rather than experiment with taking out the fuge or turning off the skimmer, I’ve heard it may be better to add nitrates. Basically the idea is heavy nutrient import along with heavy export. Any ideas?

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Does anyone have experience dosing nitrates? Both nitrates and phosphates have been nearly undetectable in my system for some time on salifert tests. Things seem ok but colors for some of the corals are definitely a little muted. Rather than experiment with taking out the fuge or turning off the skimmer, I’ve heard it may be better to add nitrates. Basically the idea is heavy nutrient import along with heavy export. Any ideas?

I have never dosed nitrate, but can tell you about low levels. My tank always ran at about 0.5 ppm NO3. My PO4 was usually 0.03 or less. All I ran was a skimmer in my sump.

About three months ago, I switched my frozen food to LRS Reef Frenzy. Gradually, my NO3 started to rise. It now stays between 7-10 ppm while my PO4 stays between 0.01-0.02 ppm. Everything in my tank always looked good, and I wasn't trying to raise my NO3, it just kind of happened.

If everything in your tank looks healthy, maybe try feeding more or switching the type of food you use.

 

[Cwentz758]

I’ve been dosing Nitrate to get mine detectable. Have used almost 2 bottles of Brightwell Neo Nitro to get a ready of 5ppm. I was disappointed in how much it took to raise it to 5ppm.

there’s a lab Grade Sodium Nitrate by Loudwolf recommended by Randy. I’ll find the post and link it here on how to use it, as it is much more concentrated.

 

[Cwentz758]

Here’s the thread. Look for his calculator link if you buy this and how much to dose.

Nitrates won’t budge

Been dosing Brightwell Neo nitro to raise Nitrates. So far I’ve dosed almost 250mL in 5 days into my 65g. My nitrates have not moved from 2 ppm or less. Using the Red Sea test kit and it’s new.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[ReeferPat]

Thanks both of you. Always learning in this hobby.

 

[Semper.Reefing]

I had a bad out break of Dino and after doing a regime from elegance corals my tank looked amazing and it was the first time I was in the 5-10ppm NO3. My nutrient dropped to almost undetectable and Dino’s came back. Anyways...I’m thinking about dosing now too. Did you end up deciding on a product to use?

 

[Cwentz758]

I was recommended by @Randy Holmes-Farley "LoudWolf" Sodium Nirate. found it on Etsy, amazon was sold out. Makesure you dont buy Nitrite like i did.

 

[andrewey]

If you want a cheaper price, go directly to LoudWolf's website. They have free shipping and you can buy many chemicals you might want to dose for nitrate, phosphate, or others. Their price on the website was cheaper than ebay and amazon.

 

[slojim]

I dose nitrate routinely, because I tend to have some phosphate and no nitrate otherwise. If you have neither, it might be easier to cut back on removal. Are you carbon dosing? you could reduce that amount and dose less.

 

[rhastareefer]

Long time user of Loudwolf's Sodium Nitrate. Been very happy for a couple years now with it. Just ordered some Sodium Phosphate as well, as my levels are nearing undetectable in that department as well now.

 

[Semper.Reefing]

Long time user of Loudwolf's Sodium Nitrate. Been very happy for a couple years now with it. Just ordered some Sodium Phosphate as well, as my levels are nearing undetectable in that department as well now.

If you don’t mind sharing, how much do you dose, how often and what do you try to keep your NO3 at? And what size system? I’m looking into this product

 

[rhastareefer]

If you don’t mind sharing, how much do you dose, how often and what do you try to keep your NO3 at? And what size system? I’m looking into this product

You're not going to get a good bearing by tryingt to mimmic someone else's dosing amount per gallon without more information. Every person dilutes the product to a different concentration (I do about 2oz / gallon and dose when it's needed which is determined via testing). I recommend Salifert. Test daily, dose half of what you think you need, then test again a couple hours after dosing to adjust. I also carbon dose as a system so again, that's going to make my dosing very different from yours. I have a 43 gallon system and at my dilution, about .75oz per day was enough to keep nitrates stable at whatever level I wanted. If I saw po4 increase, I'd raise no3 accordingly with a slightly increased dose and going back to daily testing. You get the idea... testing is key here as is with any additive. Every system is different, everyone's exporting in different ways.

 

[Reeffraff]

I am currently dealing with a bad experience after dosing LoudWolf's Sodium Nitrate.
I was running approx 0.25 ppm NO3 in an SPS dominant tank and was hoping to pull some richer colors out of many of the SPS that were growing just fine but had muted colors. I changed/added nothing else new during the period I was dosing. I took it slow and was only increasing by about 0.25 ppm NO3 per day. After 4 days I got up to 1 ppm NO3 and then started noticed some very bad reactions in several acros - STN, burnt tips, mesenterial filaments etc.
There is a train of thought that negative reactions such as this when raising nitrates are due to the PO4 bottoming out but my PO4 remained constant at 0.08 ppm.

I know there are a lot of folks that don't have an issue dosing nitrates but in reading through numerous threads, there are always a few people who describe an experience like mine. The frustrating part is I have yet to come across an acceptable reason as to why some tanks just don't seem to respond well. Like others, only the SPS seem to be affected. LPS and softies look great. Wish I could figure this one out.

 

[rhastareefer]

The key is balance between carbon/nitrate/phosphate in my experience. Redfield ratio is helpful but I find Triton's Modified Redfield ratio to be closer to what a reef actually likes. These corals adapt extremely well to adverse conditions so if your reef operates well at super low nutrients, may not be what your tank wants when you increase but that would be a fairly touchy system (every one is different)

@Reeffraff what product are you using to dose nitrate?

 

[Reeffraff]

@Reeffraff what product are you using to dose nitrate?

LoudWolf's Sodium Nitrate. I know people have reported issues with Spectracide KNO3, but it looks like the issues I am seeing are similar to those folks.

From what I understand about the Redfield ratio is that the 106C:16N:1P is observed commonly in oceanic phytoplankton and dissolved organic nutrient pools. So I am curious as to how this is determined in the reef tank, especially the carbon part as I don't know of a way to measure organic carbon pools in a reef tank?

 

[rhastareefer]

LoudWolf's Sodium Nitrate. I know people have reported issues with Spectracide KNO3, but it looks like the issues I am seeing are similar to those folks.

From what I understand about the Redfield ratio is that the 106C:16N:1P is observed commonly in oceanic phytoplankton and dissolved organic nutrient pools. So I am curious as to how this is determined in the reef tank, especially the carbon part as I don't know of a way to measure organic carbon pools in a reef tank?

Loudwolf is what I use as well. Great stuff.

For your second question, I'll refer you to Triton's article:

https://www.triton-lab.de/fileadmin/user_upload/support-uploads/TRITON_RATIOS/Triton_Tech_Paper_-_TRITON_Ratios_1.2.pdf

I'm not aware of a way to test carbon, I simply observe my nutrient levels (keeping them balanced of course) and dose more or less TE+ depending on the level (for my little 34 gal display, that's like 1 to 2 ml if I'm at around N=15 and P=.05; or when I overdose something (their sodium phosphate monobasic is orders of magnitude more concentrated than their Sodium Nitrate, I screwed up and balanced no3 accordingly) so now I'm dosing about 4ml TE+ with N=40 and P=2.0 and everything is happy/thriving). Carbon dosing can be a powerful tool, just gotta pay close attention to how much it's affecting your nutrient levels vs how much you WANT it to).

Reason I started dosing po4 is i couldn't get readings above .02 and weird algaes started popping up plus corals were fading. Both are improving now despite the overdose. Balance is key.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am currently dealing with a bad experience after dosing LoudWolf's Sodium Nitrate.
I was running approx 0.25 ppm NO3 in an SPS dominant tank and was hoping to pull some richer colors out of many of the SPS that were growing just fine but had muted colors. I changed/added nothing else new during the period I was dosing. I took it slow and was only increasing by about 0.25 ppm NO3 per day. After 4 days I got up to 1 ppm NO3 and then started noticed some very bad reactions in several acros - STN, burnt tips, mesenterial filaments etc.
There is a train of thought that negative reactions such as this when raising nitrates are due to the PO4 bottoming out but my PO4 remained constant at 0.08 ppm.

I know there are a lot of folks that don't have an issue dosing nitrates but in reading through numerous threads, there are always a few people who describe an experience like mine. The frustrating part is I have yet to come across an acceptable reason as to why some tanks just don't seem to respond well. Like others, only the SPS seem to be affected. LPS and softies look great. Wish I could figure this one out.

I'm not really seeing any direct explanation for the issues you report. I really do not believe that raising nitrate to 1 ppm is likely to directly cause coral problems.

Assuming it is not just coincidence, I think a more likely explanation is that you indirectly allowed some organism or many organisms to grow faster, consuming and using up something else important, such as a trace element like manganese.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

LoudWolf's Sodium Nitrate. I know people have reported issues with Spectracide KNO3, but it looks like the issues I am seeing are similar to those folks.

From what I understand about the Redfield ratio is that the 106C:16N:1P is observed commonly in oceanic phytoplankton and dissolved organic nutrient pools. So I am curious as to how this is determined in the reef tank, especially the carbon part as I don't know of a way to measure organic carbon pools in a reef tank?

IMO, the Redfield Ratio is not important to a coral. Corals do not need dissolved organic carbon.

Appropriate levels of N and P are important, regardless of whether it fits the Redfield ratio or not.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The key is balance between carbon/nitrate/phosphate in my experience. Redfield ratio is helpful but I find Triton's Modified Redfield ratio to be closer to what a reef actually likes. These corals adapt extremely well to adverse conditions so if your reef operates well at super low nutrients, may not be what your tank wants when you increase but that would be a fairly touchy system (every one is different)

@Reeffraff what product are you using to dose nitrate?

Why do you think organic carbon is important to a coral?

 

[SifuMemphis]

I’ve been dosing Nitrate to get mine detectable. Have used almost 2 bottles of Brightwell Neo Nitro to get a ready of 5ppm. I was disappointed in how much it took to raise it to 5ppm.

there’s a lab Grade Sodium Nitrate by Loudwolf recommended by Randy. I’ll find the post and link it here on how to use it, as it is much more concentrated.

Dude 100% man. 150g tank, dosing Nitrate AND phosphate via brightwell, and it's not moving. I am 3/4 through the bottle and still don't see nitrates rising / phosphate.

I don't know if it's my tank, or if brightwells concentration is just low