Sodium Nitrate mix too strong?

[PhantomHalo]

I used the planted tank calculator and it’s saying I need 550 grams to raise my tank ~.25ppm using 1000ml of fresh water mix. Is this correct? That seems like a lot. It’s a 350 gal system by the way. I am using 99.95% pure sodium nitrate. I want it strong so I’m not dosing 300ml at a time, but also don’t want to put 1ml in and crash my tank. Lol Thanks for any help!

 

[Jonify]

Sorry, not understanding the question. What problem are you trying to solve in your reef tank?

 

[PhantomHalo]

I’m trying to raise my NO3 up to 5-10ppm. I dose about 30-35ml a day and am getting 2-3ppm tops in the tank 24hrs after a dosing. I have been using neonitro to accomplish this. However, I’m out now and decided to get sodium nitrate to put on a doser. So I’m just making sure what I am mixing up is correct.

 

[Jonify]

Could you just put Neo Nitro on a doser? You're already running acceptable levels. 2.5 is probably the max you want to run. Could you just dump Neo into a doser and keep that up for you? I've noticed, once I get my nitrates up to about 2.5, they stay there. Getting them up above 0 is a beast, but once you do, it tends to stay. Could you just peg the level you have no with Neo on a doser?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I used the planted tank calculator and it’s saying I need 550 grams to raise my tank ~.25ppm using 1000ml of fresh water mix. Is this correct? That seems like a lot. It’s a 350 gal system by the way. I am using 99.95% pure sodium nitrate. I want it strong so I’m not dosing 300ml at a time, but also don’t want to put 1ml in and crash my tank. Lol Thanks for any help!

You are using that calculator incorrectly.

Look at the last line. it says 1 mL raises it by 0.25 ppm. You made a thousand times that (1000 mL) with the 550 grams.

Also, that is too concentrated. It may not all dissolve. Back off substantially on the concentration to, say, 100 g/ 1000 mL.

 

[piranhaman00]

Make the solution 100,000pppm (100g/1000mL). I usually make a 300,000ppm solution but you need to heat the water while mixing to get it into solution.

 

[PhantomHalo]

Could you just put Neo Nitro on a doser? You're already running acceptable levels. 2.5 is probably the max you want to run. Could you just dump Neo into a doser and keep that up for you? I've noticed, once I get my nitrates up to about 2.5, they stay there. Getting them up above 0 is a beast, but once you do, it tends to stay. Could you just peg the level you have no with Neo on a doser?

Neo nitro is more expensive and really would like to get my NO3 above 5. My acros are not coloring up and have lost quite a bit of color at those levels.

 

[PhantomHalo]

You are using that calculator incorrectly.

Look at the last line. it says 1 mL raises it by 0.25 ppm. You made a thousand times that (1000 mL) with the 550 grams.

Also, that is too concentrated. It may not all dissolve. Back off substantially on the concentration to, say, 100 g/ 1000 mL.

Correct. I was going for a smaller dose to make my dosing container last longer. I work overseas for months at a time and can’t have my wife make a new mix. I did get it to dissolve. Just took a bit of stirring. Lol So if I’m understanding right 2ml will raise my tank NO3 by .5ppm? I can put another 500ml of fresh water in my dosing container to dilute it some. However, I didn’t want to dose 80ml a day either to meet demand. Do you think it’s too much?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Correct. I was going for a smaller dose to make my dosing container last longer. I work overseas for months at a time and can’t have my wife make a new mix. I did get it to dissolve. Just took a bit of stirring. Lol So if I’m understanding right 2ml will raise my tank NO3 by .5ppm? I can put another 500ml of fresh water in my dosing container to dilute it some. However, I didn’t want to dose 80ml a day either to meet demand. Do you think it’s too much?

That's certainly fine to dose any volume you want if it dissolved and stays dissolved.

I was responding to this sentence, which suggested that you were going to dose all of the 550 grams:

"I used the planted tank calculator and it’s saying I need 550 grams to raise my tank ~.25ppm using 1000ml of fresh water mix. Is this correct? That seems like a lot."

 

[PhantomHalo]

That's certainly fine to dose any volume you want if it dissolved and stays dissolved.

I was responding to this sentence, which suggested that you were going to dose all of the 550 grams:

"I used the planted tank calculator and it’s saying I need 550 grams to raise my tank ~.25ppm using 1000ml of fresh water mix. Is this correct? That seems like a lot."

Oh I gotcha! Haha no, I’ve already had two mass extinction events in my tank. Don’t need a third. Just wanted to dose 4-5ml at a time is all. That is very concentrated though. Next batch I make will be lower. To be clear though, 1ml will increase my tank .25ppm at that mix correct? I can’t test the mix itself because it’s far too potent for any kit I have.