DIY Ammonia dosing for low nitrate systems

[A_Blind_Reefer]

So another side effect noted as of late, and I’m not assigning blame to ammonium as it started long after and only after adding vinegar to the equation, is that my roller filter fleece consumption has more than doubled. The fleece is actually not as dark (think coffee filter) as is typical and is now notably slimy to the touch. I’m guessing the slime is bacteria related and is enough to block the porosity of the fleece. Now that it’s $34 a roll (which lasts 2 months as opposed to the 4-6 that’s been typical over the years), I’m considering ditching the fleece altogether. I will also add that ammonium alone did not have much effect on growth (based solely on Alk demand) but shortly after adding vinegar to the mix Alk demand has notably increased. This is with maintaining 10ppm of nitrate as was the case with ammonium alone. I can’t say how much it’s increased as I’ve been adjusting the calcium reactor co2 and effluent to keep up and can’t calculate dkh consumption based on that madness.

 

[reefsanz]

It would be better to see a picture of the bottle itself to know if it claims food suitability.

It puts this in the description.
Ammonium bicarbonate is used in the food industry as a flat leavening agent for baked products, such as cookies and crackers.

 

[ataller]

It may be better to spread out doses above 0.2 ppm total, IMO. But 0.1 ppm at once vs 0.02 ppm? Not sure that's a difference.

Thank you for your insight Randy.

 

[reefsanz]

Hello Randy, again these are my values from yesterday in the measurement using daily sodium nitrate, what do you think?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hello Randy, again these are my values from yesterday in the measurement using daily sodium nitrate, what do you think?

I'd continue to up the ammonia dose a bit unless there is some reason to not do so. You may be adding enough so N is not limiting, but at that nitrate level, there may well still be an N shortfall.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It puts this in the description.
Ammonium bicarbonate is used in the food industry as a flat leavening agent for baked products, such as cookies and crackers.

If it is sold for that purpose then it should be good to go.

 

[mythesis]

If both Nitrates & Phosphates have gone to 0, should I do this or something else? (2 month old tank, trying to avoid Dinos)

Fed a ton & Added the Red Sea AB+ yesterday.

Turned off Protein Skimmer (Filter Sock has been removed for a while)

Nitrates & Phosphates both non-zero today

These look like 5 & 0.5 to me...but I'm not a reliable judge of color (my wife typically reads the tests for me)

Lights are still low today, will keep feeding and I guess testing daily to make sure we don't spike too far.

 

[reefsanz]

I'd continue to up the ammonia dose a bit unless there is some reason to not do so. You may be adding enough so N is not limiting, but at that nitrate level, there may well still be an N shortfall.

Thanks, Randy, but that data is from abroad. I haven't started with the ammonium yet. It arrives this week.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks, Randy, but that data is from abroad. I haven't started with the ammonium yet. It arrives this week.

Sorry, I misunderstood. Yes, I'd keep dosing nitrate until the ammonia arrives, and maybe then only slowly drop the nitrate as ammonia replaces it.

 

[reefsanz]

Sorry, I misunderstood. Yes, I'd keep dosing nitrate until the ammonia arrives, and maybe then only slowly drop the nitrate as ammonia replaces it.

perfect that's it thanks again

 

[rishma]

Hello Randy, again these are my values from yesterday in the measurement using daily sodium nitrate, what do you think?

I don’t recall the accuracy of the Hanna ULR, I use the same one, but I get nervous with any reading below 10. I’d raise that too.

 

[Necrodaemus]

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

theplantedtank.co.uk

Hey Randy, would this be suitable?

 

[rishma]

Hey Randy, would this be suitable?

Hope so because that’s what I’ve got.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hey Randy, would this be suitable?

Yes.

 

[Necrodaemus]

I’m not sure if it has been mentioned/discussed in the thread, but was wondering what impact this would have on pH as the aerobic bacteria population increases to cope with the increase of ammonia.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’m not sure if it has been mentioned/discussed in the thread, but was wondering what impact this would have on pH as the aerobic bacteria population increases to cope with the increase of ammonia.

It depends on what happens to the ammonia, but I don't expect a big effect in any situation.

If nitrate is stable at any level, adding ammonium bicarbonate won't have any effect on alkalinity and pH.

If nitrate is rising, alk will be depleted a bit and pH lowered (just as if it would be caused by feeding fish foods).

If you are using ammonium chloride, that slowly depletes alk and lowers pH a very small amount.

 

[Necrodaemus]

It depends on what happens to the ammonia, but I don't expect a big effect in any situation.

If nitrate is stable at any level, adding ammonium bicarbonate won't have any effect on alkalinity and pH.

If nitrate is rising, alk will be depleted a bit and pH lowered (just as if it would be caused by feeding fish foods).

If you are using ammonium chloride, that slowly depletes alk and lowers pH a very small amount.

One more question…this regarding reading/measuring actual NO3. As an example, I strive to maintain 5-10ppm (salifert testing) but I’ve noticed on the dosing calculator (as well as on NeoNitro dosing instructions) NO3 is mentioned in decimal form, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, etc. That being said, is what we are referring to when we say 5, 10, etc, the actual whole number or 0.5, 1.5, respectively? I might be overthinking this, I just don’t want to over dose anything.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

One more question…this regarding reading/measuring actual NO3. As an example, I strive to maintain 5-10ppm (salifert testing) but I’ve noticed on the dosing calculator (as well as on NeoNitro dosing instructions) NO3 is mentioned in decimal form, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, etc. That being said, is what we are referring to when we say 5, 10, etc, the actual whole number or 0.5, 1.5, respectively? I might be overthinking this, I just don’t want to over dose anything.

Whole numbers mean whole numbers. But you may need less or no detectable nitrate when dosing enough ammonia. Nitrate is needed when nitrate is the N source. When dosing ammonia, ammonia is at least part of the N source.

 

[rishma]

Whole numbers mean whole numbers. But you may need less or no detectable nitrate when dosing enough ammonia. Nitrate is needed when nitrate is the N source. When dosing ammonia, ammonia is at least part of the N source.

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

 

[A_Blind_Reefer]

@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.