Ammonium Chloride... super Success!

[Len Randal]

Message for Randy Holmes: On the subject of Ammonium Chloride.. Have you had a chance to read my rather lengthy article on REEF Central in the Reef chemistry forums?? 369Augold, If you could , please let me know what you think about it?? Thanks, Len Randel, Marine World in Hot springs Arkansas

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Message for Randy Holmes: On the subject of Ammonium Chloride.. Have you had a chance to read my rather lengthy article on REEF Central in the Reef chemistry forums?? 369Augold, If you could , please let me know what you think about it?? Thanks, Len Randel, Marine World in Hot springs Arkansas

Do you have a link to it?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

OK, I looked it over.

Ammonium Chloride and oxidizer (KMnO4), to grow corals, less water changes, and very low organo-phosphates:

The following was only slightly discussed back in I think 2015, while what was then discussed mostly was to help grow corals. However, now after years of not being able to keep organo- phosphate down and not being able to keep it down consistently without starving fish, smothering green...

forums.reefcentral.com

I have a couple of comments:

1. I'm not a fan of permanganate dosing, and the fact that some corals closed up when the dose is high is why: it reacts with and damages any tissue it comes in contact with. IMO, it is better to use a confined oxidizer, such as ozone followed by GAC.

2. This sentence is a little confusing:

"Ammonium vs. AMMONIA??? Several people have inquired , if it is Ammonia that I'm writing about to use in a reef tank.... Answer: NO!!!. It is AMMONIUM that is non-Toxic at a common Reef aquarium pH of 8.3. Ammonia can occur, but at a totally different pH!!! Non-toxic Ammonium and very toxic Ammonia are pH dependent, so just keep the pH at 8.3 and all will be well. Call me at Marine World, Hot Springs ,AR if I can be of any further help......"

Regardless of whether you dose ammonia or ammonium, the exact amount of the more toxic form, NH3, is only a factor of the pH and the total ammonia concentration (ammonia plus ammonium). At pH 8.3, there will be a pretty decent fraction of the total ammonia as NH3 (about 10%), so one cannot dose willy nilly and not get tox concerns.

The fraction of free ammonia (NH3) present in seawater as a function of pH over the range of most interest to reef aquarists.

You want to keep the total ammonia concentration from rising too much, which is why I suggest spreading out the dosing over many dosing periods when dosing ammonium:

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

from it:


Dosing

Don't be overly afraid of dosing ammonia due to toxicity, but one cannot dose substantial amounts all at once. IMO, it is safe to add 0.1 ppm ammonia (equivalent to 0.36 ppm nitrate) at once to any reef tank, and one can likely add more, if it mixes in well. Don't dose it right onto a fish, but dosing 2-3x that amount at once is also likely OK. Of course, using a dosing pump to spread out the dosing is fine and may be preferable, but be sure to guard against dosing pumps out of control (e.g., stuck on). Stock solutions can be increased or decreased in potency to match pumping needs. The ammonia could also be put into an ato since exact daily dosing is not required.

To add 0.1 mg/L ammonia to an aquarium, you would need to add 2.3 mL of either stock solution to a 100 L (26 gallon) aquarium. You may need to add this amount multiply times per day to dose enough.

I'd add it to a sump, if possible, to dilute it well before it gets to the main tank. Most folks dosing ammonia wouldn't also be using media intended to push the nitrogen cycle in various ways, but if you do, dose downstream of that media.

Of course, if anything seems to react badly the first time or two that you dose, stop dosing, double check the amounts, and perhaps come back to this thread for further discussion of what might be happening.

This article has a lot more on ammonia in reef aquaria, although some parts of it may not be correct (such as the utility of products such as Prime):

Ammonia and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[zhernandez]

OK, I looked it over.

Ammonium Chloride and oxidizer (KMnO4), to grow corals, less water changes, and very low organo-phosphates:

The following was only slightly discussed back in I think 2015, while what was then discussed mostly was to help grow corals. However, now after years of not being able to keep organo- phosphate down and not being able to keep it down consistently without starving fish, smothering green...

forums.reefcentral.com

I have a couple of comments:

1. I'm not a fan of permanganate dosing, and the fact that some corals closed up when the dose is high is why: it reacts with and damages any tissue it comes in contact with. IMO, it is better to use a confined oxidizer, such as ozone followed by GAC.

2. This sentence is a little confusing:

"Ammonium vs. AMMONIA??? Several people have inquired , if it is Ammonia that I'm writing about to use in a reef tank.... Answer: NO!!!. It is AMMONIUM that is non-Toxic at a common Reef aquarium pH of 8.3. Ammonia can occur, but at a totally different pH!!! Non-toxic Ammonium and very toxic Ammonia are pH dependent, so just keep the pH at 8.3 and all will be well. Call me at Marine World, Hot Springs ,AR if I can be of any further help......"

Regardless of whether you dose ammonia or ammonium, the exact amount of the more toxic form, NH3, is only a factor of the pH and the total ammonia concentration (ammonia plus ammonium). At pH 8.3, there will be a pretty decent fraction of the total ammonia as NH3 (about 10%), so one cannot dose willy nilly and not get tox concerns.

​

The fraction of free ammonia (NH3) present in seawater as a function of pH over the range of most interest to reef aquarists.

You want to keep the total ammonia concentration from rising too much, which is why I suggest spreading out the dosing over many dosing periods when dosing ammonium:

DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

Some reef aquaria have chronic low nitrogen availability. One indicator is very low nitrate. Nitrate dosing is a fine remedy, but it is possible that ammonia dosing may be more beneficial for some organisms since ammonia can be energetically easier to assimilate than is nitrate. For this...

www.reef2reef.com

from it:


Dosing

Don't be overly afraid of dosing ammonia due to toxicity, but one cannot dose substantial amounts all at once. IMO, it is safe to add 0.1 ppm ammonia (equivalent to 0.36 ppm nitrate) at once to any reef tank, and one can likely add more, if it mixes in well. Don't dose it right onto a fish, but dosing 2-3x that amount at once is also likely OK. Of course, using a dosing pump to spread out the dosing is fine and may be preferable, but be sure to guard against dosing pumps out of control (e.g., stuck on). Stock solutions can be increased or decreased in potency to match pumping needs. The ammonia could also be put into an ato since exact daily dosing is not required.

To add 0.1 mg/L ammonia to an aquarium, you would need to add 2.3 mL of either stock solution to a 100 L (26 gallon) aquarium. You may need to add this amount multiply times per day to dose enough.

I'd add it to a sump, if possible, to dilute it well before it gets to the main tank. Most folks dosing ammonia wouldn't also be using media intended to push the nitrogen cycle in various ways, but if you do, dose downstream of that media.

Of course, if anything seems to react badly the first time or two that you dose, stop dosing, double check the amounts, and perhaps come back to this thread for further discussion of what might be happening.

This article has a lot more on ammonia in reef aquaria, although some parts of it may not be correct (such as the utility of products such as Prime):

Ammonia and the Reef Aquarium by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

What effects do Prime have after dosing ammonium chloride? Could you bind the more toxic NH3 with it? Or would it react with it all?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What effects do Prime have after dosing ammonium chloride? Could you bind the more toxic NH3 with it? Or would it react with it all?

I do not believe a prime has any effect on ammonia, despite Seachem claims, so I don’t advise trying to mitigate toxicity of high doses that way.