What does everyone dose to raise nitrates?

[Dan7575]

One needs to know what the concentration is in that liquid.

Do you mean the 1 M solution mentioned above?

It is 62,000 mg/L.

If you add 1 mL of it to 70 gallons, the nitrate rises by ~0.2 ppm.

So dose 25 mL of your current 1 M solution to the tank and nitrate is boosted by 5 ppm.

Yes thanks, that's the one the 1 M solution.

It seems counterproductive dosing NOPOX and having to add nitrates back in. I just saw a similar thread
'is nitrate dosing effective', think i'll have a little read of it.

 

[Dan7575]

Dosing neo nitro here

Does that increase Nitrates?

 

[Mike konesky]

Does that increase Nitrates?

Yes. It's made by Brightwell Aquatics.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

IMO, there re products I'd use before Neonitro. Food grade sodium nitrate or calcium nitrate or even ammonia dosing.

Neonitro is expensive and carries no purity assurance.

 

[dieselkeeper]

I've been using Loudwolf sodium nitrate for awhile now. I mix 10 grams to 1 liter of RO water. I test nitrates weekly to see if consumption goes up or down. Just like Alk. If consumption goes down, that tells me there may be something up.

 

[exnisstech]

I've been using Loudwolf sodium nitrate for awhile now. I mix 10 grams to 1 liter of RO water. I test nitrates weekly to see if consumption goes up or down. Just like Alk. If consumption goes down, that tells me there may be something up.

I assume you dose daily and increase or decrease depending on test results? I just started dosing sodium nitrate 2 days ago as new sps frags are not coloring up. NO3 has been barely detectable for over a year and PO4 at 0.47 on recent test. LPS has been fine but switching this tank to SPS and they are not so happy.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Skip filter sock change

 

[dieselkeeper]

I assume you dose daily and increase or decrease depending on test results? I just started dosing sodium nitrate 2 days ago as new sps frags are not coloring up. NO3 has been barely detectable for over a year and PO4 at 0.47 on recent test. LPS has been fine but switching this tank to SPS and they are not so happy.

I use a doser. 70 ml a day, nitrates at 0.9 ppm. I would like it higher. Working on that. I keep phosphates below 0.1 ppm. Calcium reactor to keep my alk stable. Been doing this way for years. Seems to work for me.

 

[Yamaha1634]

Little hijack here ...

I have a Frogspawn coral on the verge of death in my 50g. I've always tested nitrate with API and got 0 but didn't trust it too much and assumed i had some...

After speaking to my LFS they said maybe high phosphates which i wasn't currently testing so I started adding Rowaphos which helped my other corals but the forgspawn is still looking grim. Left it for just over a week and it kept looking worse so 3 days ago i started dosing red sea AB+ at 8.4ml per day.

So I ordered nitrate and phosphate tests from red sea which came today.

Phosphates 0.04
Nitrates 0.00

This has to be the reason for the decline in the coral!

I'm currently using no mechanical filtration, no floss or socks, skimmer has been off for the past 3 days, I'm dosing AB+ daily, feeding heavily... 2 cubes of frozen a day plus 1tsp of rounds once a week... but can't get the nitrates up!

Any advice for a quick raise in nitrates without adding phosphates or any other unwanted bits??

 

[wculver]

I have a reefer 170 and struggle to any reading on my nitrate testing. My phosphates are usually in the .04 range. I'm happy with that. I don't run carbon and just pulled chemi pure. What can I dose to get some sort of nitrate? I've tried increasing my feeding but with the limited inhabitants... it's not working.

Increased feed for coral and fish doesn't seem to move my nitrates either. I actually dose with potassium nitrate usually a couple times a week and always first with a test to see where I am.

 

[Dan7575]

I've been using Loudwolf sodium nitrate for awhile now. I mix 10 grams to 1 liter of RO water. I test nitrates weekly to see if consumption goes up or down. Just like Alk. If consumption goes down, that tells me there may be something up.

How much are you dosing per day and how much does it raise NO3?

 

[jmatt]

Skip filter sock change

I'm here to ask that same question: Could a low nitrate issue simply be solved with less "cleaning" of the water?

If someone had a bag of ceramic bioballs in the sump to increase the bacteria population but then found that nitrates were too low, could the situation be resolved simply by removing the bioballs or less frequent sock cleaning? Kind of a less is more solution?

That'd be easier than adding yet another dosing step to the weekly maintenance regime.

 

[dieselkeeper]

How much are you dosing per day and how much does it raise NO3?

I have 210 gal tank with SPS and LPS corals. Every tank will be different depending on consumption. Start dosing a small amount and slowly increase to your target nitrate.

 

[Dan7575]

I'm here to ask that same question: Could a low nitrate issue simply be solved with less "cleaning" of the water?

If someone had a bag of ceramic bioballs in the sump to increase the bacteria population but then found that nitrates were too low, could the situation be resolved simply by removing the bioballs or less frequent sock cleaning? Kind of a less is more solution?

That'd be easier than adding yet another dosing step to the weekly maintenance regime.

I assume that would also raise phos as well

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Dosing nitrate or amino acids is cheap and easy, but in the scenarios above feeding more will also boost nitrate without pushing phosphate too high.