Would this work?

[Fishy888]

It turns out that I have 0ppm nitrates and 1ppm phosphates. I am going to try dosing nitrates in small amounts at a time in order to get phosphates down without causing algae armageddon. I have a decent amount of healthy chaeto though as well as an army of pods so in small amounts the nitrate dosing should benefit everything.

It got me thinking. What if I took some distilled water and put ammonia in it. It would go through the cycle the same way out tanks do I would imagine since the same beneficial processes would occur. In the end that water should have plenty of nitrates and no phosphates right? If so would I be able to dose that to the tank? If I did this I'd dose it into top off water. Of course the nitrate solution would be well aerated and I would test for nitrate and phosphate. I won't put salt in the nitrate water in order to make sure the water has nitrates and nothing else. I'd really like to keep as much of the reefing budget for other things the system needs. If this idea is a bad one I'll order some Neonitrate. Thank you.

 

[Bucs20fan]

+1 to neo nitrate. Easy, Safe, Proven. I use it daily.

 

[Fishy888]

Neonitrate will be my go-to if my idea isn't sound. It is good stuff from what I've read.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I prefer food grade sodium nitrate over the neonitro that lacks purity info.

Soem folks dose ammonia, but it definitely is not worth the effort to covert ammonia into nitrate.

 

[Fishy888]

Thank you Randy. I will go with your suggestion.

 

[Derrick0580]

What about adding neo nitro to your top off container so you are getting sort of a dosing effect?

 

[Fishy888]

I was looking for a cheaper way with prices that are going as high as the moon. My animals' health and wellbeing come first however. I won't do anything that would harm them. So far Randy's way sounds like the best idea. I am checking out another article where people are dosing ammonia to their reefs. I like to see all sides. Randy's opinion is greater In matters of reef chemistry than anyone else's opinion however so I am going to order what Randy suggested.

 

[Derrick0580]

Randy, what is the dosing amount for the sodium nitrate? A 1lb bag on amazon is 18 bucks. I assume i would dose less compared to neonitro since it is chemically pure?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I recommend this calculator for dosing, using the entry “nitrate from potassium nitrate”:

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator