My corals have always looked nice and grown very well, but the colors were always way more pale than I liked. I have always had undetectable nitrates (Salifert) and undetectable phosphates (Hanna) because of my light fish load and light feeding regimen. Finally, my curiosity got the best of me and I decided to try Nitrate dosing. For me the results have been nothing less than spectacular.
My Purple Monster was always the Lavender Monster, Red Robin the Pink Robin - you get the picture. My friends loved the pastel colors but I longed for the deep rich colors I have seen in other tanks.
I am using potassium nitrate sourced as Spectracide Stump remover. To make my stock solution, I knew I wanted to keep day to day measuring to a minimum, so I calculated the amount needed to make a small daily dose.
*Keep in mind these calculations are for my tank, the numbers would need to be adjusted for other volumes. *
My tank is a 210 gallon, I estimated that after rock displacement and adding the sump volume back in, there is around 200 gallons of water. 1 part per million equals 1 mg per liter, therefore in my tank where 200 gallons is approximately 750 liters it would take 750mg of nitrate to make 1 part per million. Each 10 grams of potassium nitrate contains 6.14 grams of nitrate, therefore 81.43 grams of potassium nitrate contains 50 grams of nitrate. Dissolving 81.43 grams of potassium nitrate (containing 50 grams of nitrate) in enough RO/DI water to make 400ml of final volume makes a solution of 50,000mg per 400ml or 125mg/ml. I used my digital reloading scale to get the accurate weight measurement.
I dose 3ml per day to add 0.5ppm, or 375mg of nitrate to my system. I am keeping my nitrate levels between 0.75 and 1ppm.
The day after I started dosing, I had green algae everywhere. I would blow it off with a turkey baster, it came off in sheets, the next day it would be back. It grew on the sand, on the glass near the sand, on every exposed piece of rock, over the top of some of the less aggressive zoas - everywhere except on the SPS and LPS corals themselves. . I assumed that the small amount of phosphate was being consumed and that it would soon pass. After a couple weeks, the maintenance of the nuisance algae was getting better, and now after almost 3 months, there really is none to speak of, and I just noticed the other day when I went to check my chaeto, that it is really struggling and hasn't grown a bit since I last checked it. It might even be a little smaller.
I wish I had taken some before pictures, but here are a few top down pictures after dosing for 2 & 1/2 months.
My Purple Monster was always the Lavender Monster, Red Robin the Pink Robin - you get the picture. My friends loved the pastel colors but I longed for the deep rich colors I have seen in other tanks.
I am using potassium nitrate sourced as Spectracide Stump remover. To make my stock solution, I knew I wanted to keep day to day measuring to a minimum, so I calculated the amount needed to make a small daily dose.
*Keep in mind these calculations are for my tank, the numbers would need to be adjusted for other volumes. *
My tank is a 210 gallon, I estimated that after rock displacement and adding the sump volume back in, there is around 200 gallons of water. 1 part per million equals 1 mg per liter, therefore in my tank where 200 gallons is approximately 750 liters it would take 750mg of nitrate to make 1 part per million. Each 10 grams of potassium nitrate contains 6.14 grams of nitrate, therefore 81.43 grams of potassium nitrate contains 50 grams of nitrate. Dissolving 81.43 grams of potassium nitrate (containing 50 grams of nitrate) in enough RO/DI water to make 400ml of final volume makes a solution of 50,000mg per 400ml or 125mg/ml. I used my digital reloading scale to get the accurate weight measurement.
I dose 3ml per day to add 0.5ppm, or 375mg of nitrate to my system. I am keeping my nitrate levels between 0.75 and 1ppm.
The day after I started dosing, I had green algae everywhere. I would blow it off with a turkey baster, it came off in sheets, the next day it would be back. It grew on the sand, on the glass near the sand, on every exposed piece of rock, over the top of some of the less aggressive zoas - everywhere except on the SPS and LPS corals themselves. . I assumed that the small amount of phosphate was being consumed and that it would soon pass. After a couple weeks, the maintenance of the nuisance algae was getting better, and now after almost 3 months, there really is none to speak of, and I just noticed the other day when I went to check my chaeto, that it is really struggling and hasn't grown a bit since I last checked it. It might even be a little smaller.
I wish I had taken some before pictures, but here are a few top down pictures after dosing for 2 & 1/2 months.
