DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

@Randy Holmes-Farley ,

When dosing ammonia, should I test for ammonia? for nitrate? or both?

My nitrate level is very low, while my phospate level is OK. So, rather than dosing vinegar or vodka, I think I will dose ammonia using your formula. I haven't tested for ammonia in years, but should I if I begin dosing it?

It would be perfect to check ammonia if you are pushing multiple doses per day, at least when you start. I’d test nitrate to know when you are dosing enough ammonia.

 

[Jari]

I'm currently dosing ammonium bicarbonate (stock solution from first post) 36ml during the light period (300l tank). Ammonia with Hanna Ammonia Checker 0.21, nitrate still 0.0. Corals look really happy, but just wondering how long should I push the dose higher

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm currently dosing ammonium bicarbonate (stock solution from first post) 36ml during the light period (300l tank). Ammonia with Hanna Ammonia Checker 0.21, nitrate still 0.0. Corals look really happy, but just wondering how long should I push the dose higher

I’d personally keep slowly pushing higher until nitrate started to rise or something starts to look less good.

 

[BR260354]

My total system volume is around 150g which includes the display, sump, and external refugium. I've been dosing 39ml per day broken out in 3 doses. Actually, I just increased to 39ml from 33ml. Nitrates still low. So, thinking about it, I guess my refugium is kind of holding me back. I can reduce the light intensity and schedule within the refugium. I guess the question is, do I even do this with a refugium? I mainly use the refugium for pod housing, but I do have microalgae in there.

Tank looks great, BTW. Thanks for providing the information! Always learning from @Randy Holmes-Farley !

 

[Hockeypunk1]

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 reason, I thought it would be useful to provide some DIY directions for ammonia dosing.

There are many materials that could be used for ammonia dosing, including some household ammonia solutions, but in order to give better assurance of purity, I'm electing the show directions using food grade ammonium chloride and food grade ammonium bicarbonate.

Ammonium Chloride
Ammonium chloride, NH4Cl is essentially ammonia (NH3) plus hydrochloric acid (HCl). The reason I mention that fact relates to the impact on alkalinity. Dosing NH3 followed by consumption by organisms to form tissue in a net alkalinity neutral process. I'm ignoring the fact that if it is converted into nitrate, alk is lost, because if that nitrate is later used, all the alk lost comes back.

However, the HCl that is effectively dosed will steadily deplete alk. Adding the equivalent of 50 mg/L nitrate (0.81 meq/L; coming from NH4Cl) will have depleted 0.81 meq/l (2.3 dKH) of alkalinity. That may need to be made up for in some other fashion, such as adding more alkalintiy supplement.

High quality ammonium chloride is readily available and inexpensive. Loudwolf is one brand, but there are many. Aim for food grade or ACS reagent grade. Amazon carries many Loudwolf is $7 for 4 ounces, which contains 38,000 mg of ammonium, and is equivalent to 131,000 mg of nitrate, enough to raise 100 L of aquarium water to 5 ppm nitrate about 262 times. So cost is not significant.

Ammonium Bicarbonate
Ammonium bicarbonate, also known as baking ammonia, NH4 HCO3 is essentially ammonia (NH3) plus CO2 and water.

As mentioned above, dosing NH3 followed by consumption by organisms to form tissue in a net alkalinity neutral process. The CO2 and water also do not impact alkalinity. Thus, ammonium bicarbonate is a net alk neutral way to dose ammonia.

High quality ammonium bicarbonate is also available from Amazon as baking ammonia. It is readily available and inexpensive. One brand sells 11 ounces for $15, so it's cost is similar to the Loudwolf ammonium chloride per unit of ammonia added (one needs to use more of the ammonium bicarbonate than the ammonium chloride, evening out the cost).

Stock Solution
Using either of these materials, we will make a stock solution for dosing. Keep it closed up as it will smell of ammonia and slowly loses ammonia to the air. Ammonium bicarbonate will have a higher pH, smell more, and lose ammonia to the air faster.

13.5 grams of ammonium chloride (about 3 - 4.6 teaspoons, varies by brand) in 1 L RO/DI water.
OR
20 grams of ammonium bicarbonate (about 4 and 3/4 teaspoons) in 1 L RO/DI water.

Both solutions contain approximately 4300 mg/L (4.3 mg/mL) ammonia, equivalent to 15,700 mg/l nitrate.

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

Happy Reefing!

edit: One can use this calculator for dosing these stock solutions. Use the entry for ammonia from ammonium nitrate when using the ammonium bicarbonate. For ammonium chloride, use it the same, but dose 0.7 times the amount it says to add to the aquarium.

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

This may have been covered already, but when making up the mixture does this apply to something like Dr Time ammonia chloride? Can I dose the Dr Tim's as is or should I also mix with RODI?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This may have been covered already, but when making up the mixture does this apply to something like Dr Time ammonia chloride? Can I dose the Dr Tim's as is or should I also mix with RODI?

I’d get the products described since they are cheap and have a purity guarantee. Dr Tim’s product may be fine, but it is not intended for ongoing dosing and so may not have the purity desired.

That said, as long as you can dose 0.1 ppm at a time, use it as is. If that small amount is hard to measure, dilute it.

 

[ShoreReefer]

I started reading this thread a few days ago and ordered ammonia chloride. I made my first solution this morning and dosed 10ml of Randy’s solution to my 220 gallon total system (main display and sump). I intend on dosing 30ml broken up 3x per day for a few days and see where I’m at. Aside from my auto feeder emptying while I was on vacation last month spiking my nitrates to 12 and my phosphates to .35, my NO3 and PO4 are generally near undetectable. Today I measured my PO4 to be .11 and NO3 at .3. I’m going to start at 30ml/day and adjust accordingly. Thank you @Randy Holmes-Farley for all that you do for our community.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I started reading this thread a few days ago and ordered ammonia chloride. I made my first solution this morning and dosed 10ml of Randy’s solution to my 220 gallon total system (main display and sump). I intend on dosing 30ml broken up 3x per day for a few days and see where I’m at. Aside from my auto feeder emptying while I was on vacation last month spiking my nitrates to 12 and my phosphates to .35, my NO3 and PO4 are generally near undetectable. Today I measured my PO4 to be .11 and NO3 at .3. I’m going to start at 30ml/day and adjust accordingly. Thank you @Randy Holmes-Farley for all that you do for our community.

Thanks. Sounds like a good plan.

 

[ShoreReefer]

Update: after dosing 30ml/day broken up into 3 doses (morning, afternoon, and night) of ammonia chloride in a 220 total volume system my nitrates went from .3 to 2 (Hannah nitrate HR). What did surprise me was that my phosphates rose from .11 to .21 (Hannah Phosphate ULR). Nothing changed in the last 2 days so I’m not sure why it doubled. I just used my last packet of reagent and ordered more to arrive Sunday when I’ll test again. I haven’t noticed much difference so far except in my acan colony, it appears to have more colors coming out now.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Update: after dosing 30ml/day broken up into 3 doses (morning, afternoon, and night) of ammonia chloride in a 220 total volume system my nitrates went from .3 to 2 (Hannah nitrate HR). What did surprise me was that my phosphates rose from .11 to .21 (Hannah Phosphate ULR). Nothing changed in the last 2 days so I’m not sure why it doubled. I just used my last packet of reagent and ordered more to arrive Sunday when I’ll test again. I haven’t noticed much difference so far except in my acan colony, it appears to have more colors coming out now.

Thanks for the update. I have no idea why the phosphate appeared to change.

 

[WvAquatics]

Ammonium Bicarbonate Solvents, Chemicals & Additives | Kremer Pigments Inc. Online Shop

Ammonium Bicarbonate water soluble salt, technically pure

shop.kremerpigments.com

Will this work before i buy it. I plan to cure rocks and cycle tank with this and to dose in future if needed. Does it expire is another thing! Any help would be approciated!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ammonium Bicarbonate Solvents, Chemicals & Additives | Kremer Pigments Inc. Online Shop

Ammonium Bicarbonate water soluble salt, technically pure

shop.kremerpigments.com

Will this work before i buy it. I plan to cure rocks and cycle tank with this and to dose in future if needed. Does it expire is another thing! Any help would be approciated!

If you can find food grade, that might be better.

 

[WvAquatics]

Ok awesome. Ill lokk into foodgrade i was hoping this wpuld be more lab grade but ill find some food garde. Does it expire?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ok awesome. Ill lokk into foodgrade i was hoping this wpuld be more lab grade but ill find some food garde. Does it expire?

No, it won’t expire.

 

[reefsanz]

Hello @Randy Holmes-Farley, I would love to start with the topic of ammonium because I am always at 0 nitrate and 0 phosphorus. I have a real 550l aquarium with acropores, although they are no longer cuttings, but they are not colony either and little lps which ammonium would you recommend me to prepare.

A cordial greeting and very good information although I was not clear about the doses to begin with.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hello @Randy Holmes-Farley, I would love to start with the topic of ammonium because I am always at 0 nitrate and 0 phosphorus. I have a real 550l aquarium with acropores, although they are no longer cuttings, but they are not colony either and little lps which ammonium would you recommend me to prepare.

A cordial greeting and very good information although I was not clear about the doses to begin with.

I'd start by adding 0.1 ppm ammonia as ammonium bicarbonate twice a day, and add more doses over time until nitrate begins to show a few ppm, or anything apparently undesirable happens.

 

[reefsanz]

Yo comenzaría agregando 0,1 ppm de amoníaco como bicarbonato de amonio dos veces al día y agregaría más dosis con el tiempo hasta que el nitrato comience a mostrar algunas ppm o suceda algo aparentemente indeseable.

Bueno lo mas seguro es que lo pruebe como dices dos dosis al dia de 0,1 y a la semana si no me ha aparecido nitrato subo a tres dosis al dia?
muchas gracias

 

[reefsanz]

good morning @Randy Holmes-Farley
Another question arises, if I start with 0.1, does that mean that I would have to add 2.3ml of the mother mixture for every 100l of aquarium water?
Would it be 11.5 ml for a real 550l?
And would it be correct to do it all at once or repeat it during the day?
I'm sorry for so many questions but I want to make sure I do it right.
thank you so
much

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The dosing directions are:

"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 "

So in 550 L total volume, you'd add 12.7 mL for each 0.1 ppm increase dose.

That adds 0.1 ppm once.

To start in a tank with zero nitrate, I'd do it once in the AM and once in the pm. It'sd also fine to divide it up even more if you want (say, 6.3 mL at each of 4 different times, etc.).

 

[drawman]

Hello @Randy Holmes-Farley, I would love to start with the topic of ammonium because I am always at 0 nitrate and 0 phosphorus. I have a real 550l aquarium with acropores, although they are no longer cuttings, but they are not colony either and little lps which ammonium would you recommend me to prepare.

A cordial greeting and very good information although I was not clear about the doses to begin with.

I would make sure to get your phosphate up first before starting the ammonia dosing to be on the safe side.