DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

But if no detectable nitrate, how does it one know if there is enough N? Just coral observation?

Yes, observation, but getting nitrate to a few ppm is additional insurance.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

@Randy Holmes-Farley would this affect ammonia test kits that test for total ammonia nh3/nh4 and make use of a conversion chart based on temp and ph to come up with free ammonia? I’m curious as I got help using a Red Sea ammonia test kit which showed .2 total ammonia (the first option over zero) which I think is ok (with a temp of 78 and ph of 8.2) but between me being blind as a bat, having a non-reefing helper, and the hazy instructions, I’m not certain as to what it actually converts to.

Edit. I guess I should add that I’ve been dosing 25ml (spread out over 8 daylight hours) of the ammonium chloride stock solution to roughly 160 gallons to maintain nitrate. Which should equate to less than .2ppm unless my brain hasn’t been working, which is often the case.

I don’t know if the 0.2 ppm total ammonia is accurate, but if it is, it’s an acceptable level.

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

I don’t know if the 0.2 ppm total ammonia is accurate, but if it is, it’s an acceptable level.

Thank you Randy. Ive been dosing ammonium for over a year now and never tested ammonia. Never felt the need. We just did it out of curiosity a few weeks ago as a yellow tang had a bad case of hlle. I’m confident it was due to carbon a long ways back but just wanted to check as someone had mentioned ammonia and I was pulling at straws.

 

[Necrodaemus]

My system is 100g total volume. Would it be ok to mix up my solution with 35 grams of NH3-HCO3 to 1000ml water just to simplify the dosage amount to achieve 0.1ppm (5ml solution would equal 0.1ppm Ammonium)?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My system is 100g total volume. Would it be ok to mix up my solution with 35 grams of NH3-HCO3 to 1000ml water just to simplify the dosage amount to achieve 0.1ppm (5ml solution would equal 0.1ppm Ammonium)?

Sure, changing the concentration up or down for convenience is fine. There’s going to be an upper limit of solubility, but that is over 200 g/L.

 

[Necrodaemus]

So what determines the maximum daily dosage? I’m doing 0.1ppm at a time but unsure on how frequently I should be dosing it. When NO3 reaches and stays at a desired level?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So what determines the maximum daily dosage? I’m doing 0.1ppm at a time but unsure on how frequently I should be dosing it. When NO3 reaches and stays at a desired level?

Well, maximum daily dose would be akin to asking if too many fish will overwhelm the nitrifying capacity in a tank and cause an ammonia rise. If added slowly, it's not likely limiting in most tanks.

I think you could keep adding spread out ammonia doses until something appears off in the water, or nitrate is rising too much.