DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Does it have a chance to accumulate in a live tank with LR?

I don't know.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

, amides,

By that you mean urea, or something else?

 

[vahegan]

By that you mean urea, or something else?

Yes, urea in this case, though many years back I had experimented with feeding amide-based nitrogen fertilizers to a freshwater tank. Even though I considered this promising, I didn't see any significant effect on the aquatic plants growth.

 

[brandon429]

you would need to boost co2 to cause them to want to uptake more ferts, the planted tank. very rarely would adding fertilizer to a planted tank help once the co2 availability to the system becomes the limiting factor. were you injecting co2 into the planted tank or was systemic co2 the only source

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, urea in this case, though many years back I had experimented with feeding amide-based nitrogen fertilizers to a freshwater tank. Even though I considered this promising, I didn't see any significant effect on the aquatic plants growth.

what other amides?

 

[vahegan]

you would need to boost co2 to cause them to want to uptake more ferts, the planted tank. very rarely would adding fertilizer to a planted tank help once the co2 availability to the system becomes the limiting factor. were you injecting co2 into the planted tank or was systemic co2 the only source

Of course. I was injecting more than 10 bubbles per second CO2, high-light, maintenance of NO3/PO4 in Redfield ratio, daily dosing of microelements and all the staff. It was a high-tech planted tank and was already thriving - I wanted to see whether amide nitrogen sources would make any difference versus the traditional NO3.

what other amides?

I used a commercial organic fertilizer for hydroponics, called Earth Juice Grow. It was dark liquid, by the color ans smell it was apparently full of humic acids. I was able to retrieve the bottle in my closet, funnily I kept it (it was over 15 years ago when I used it). The manufacturer does not give the composition, except for NPK ratio and overall nitrogen content, but states that the staff was "derived from bat guano, sea kelp, natural sulfate of potash, feather meal. blood meal, oat bran, steamed bone meal". I do not remember why I decided that this product contained nitrogen specifically in amide form, but I clearly remember that was my goal when I was choosing this fertilizer. I recall that I believed that nitrogen in amide form was energetically more efficient for plant uptake and I was looking to try that out.

Thinking this over again now, probably Calcium cyanamide could be a good source of nitrogen for a reef tank as opposed to urea. I am not sure of its easy availability, though. At least, a quick search on Amazon did not reveal any offers.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok, thanks.

 

[Miami Reef]

Thanks, Randy!

I made the solution, and your instructions were very easy to follow. I dosed 0.10ppm ammonia today.

Feeding more tends to raise my phosphates considerably more than nitrates. I figured my tank might be N limited, especially since I carbon dose for the filter feeders.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks, Randy!

I made the solution, and your instructions were very easy to follow. I dosed 0.10ppm ammonia today.

Feeding more tends to raise my phosphates considerably more than nitrates. I figured my tank might be N limited, especially since I carbon dose for the filter feeders.

Keep us updated on any observed changes!