Raising Nitrates without Disturbing Phosphates

[ClutchCityReefer]

Hello,

Relatively new reefer here and I was hoping you all could help me figure out the best way to bring up my nitrates without messing with my Phosphates. Some background: a few weeks back my phosphates zeroed out. I have subsequently increased my feeding to usually 4x a day, which has helped bring up my phosphates to a level I feel good about - .05, .07, .08, .08 the 27, 30, 8, and 12, respectively.

All the while, I was flying blind in regards to my nitrate levels as I waited for my Hanna HR checker to arrive. Arrive it finally did today, and I tested my parameters twice and got a 0.0 reading both times. In short, I would like to raise my nitrates without messing too much with my phosphate levels since they seem stable in a pretty desirable range.

I've read some of @Randy Holmes-Farley 's posts and it seems like Sodium Nitrate is a good choice, but I've had a hard time sourcing some food grade product. Does anyone know anywhere to purchase this? Similarly, is there a better way to bring this up than by sodium nitrate?

I still have a few fish to go in my stocking plan so I do hope it goes up naturally over time as I add my anthias/tangs, but I'd like to get my nutrients more balanced now before I have any major cyano/dino issues.

Thanks all!

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

Sodium Nitrate, Reagent Grade (chemically Pure) – 1 lb. Bag

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

I use potassium nitrate. Just dose slow. REAL easy to go too high with a small amount

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

Much appreciated, I was able to find the product but will wait to hear back from others on their experiences with Sodium nitrate/potassium nitrate....what are the pros/cons of the various options?

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

Potassium can raise your potassium levels over time if you don’t do water changes. Most people dose either with little concern. Just have to dose slowly. A debate that no one can win on which one is better

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

Thanks for the feedback. I don't monitor potassium so on balance I'd rather not dose it and given my most recent ICP results where I was slightly higher than recommended on potassium (415 me v. 380 rec) it sounds like the Sodium nitrate is the one for me. Do you use a preferred dosing calculator?

I do about a 10% water change every 5-7 days (usually ends up being a little more frequent than once a week due to doing it when convenient) so I suppose the potassium could be in play too.

Thanks!

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

I'm sorry to sound like a complete noob but how do I go about using this dosing calculator? I am far from a chemist and am not sure what amount of nitrate I should adding/day, nor how "heavy" the mix the solution. Does anyone have any baseline ideas? I figure start slowly and be sure to monitor nitrate and phosphate but I don't really know how to put that into practice.

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

www.theplantedtank.co.uk

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I'm sorry to sound like a complete noob but how do I go about using this dosing calculator? I am far from a chemist and am not sure what amount of nitrate I should adding/day, nor how "heavy" the mix the solution. Does anyone have any baseline ideas? I figure start slowly and be sure to monitor nitrate and phosphate but I don't really know how to put that into practice.

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

www.theplantedtank.co.uk

sorry im not sure how to use that calc but i just dose and test allot , sry no help but bump buddy

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

thanks, much appreciated...I ordered the sodium nitrate but am hoping it rises naturally through even more feeding and the addition of some PJ cardinals while I wait

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

thanks, much appreciated...I ordered the sodium nitrate but am hoping it rises naturally through even more feeding and the addition of some PJ cardinals while I wait

be careful with the feeding, everyone says to feed more but that's just re used info that spreads as if it would work for everyone. it doesn't, just my opinion.. but with feeding more if you don't have the heavy filtration to remove or skim, and even fish waste is more food than broke down nutrients, it causes more issues. dosing no3 and po4 is a clean way to get the nutrients in the water and feeding very sparingly on a schedule along with testing.

hopefully some one else can chime in for you and give you another point of view so you can get a few options, but it sounds like you have a good plan to me, good luck

 

[ZoWhat]

I found a lil TRICK

Cultivate phyto using sodium nitrate pellets to get phyto to brew up deep green and dose the dark green phyto in your tank late at night. No3 will stabilize around 5 and po4 can stay around 0.1

Using f/2 fertilizer to brew phyto is !LOADED! with Phosphates thus deserving of f/2 to be poured DOWN THE DRAIN or fed to your houseplants

.

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

Nice idea, thanks guys! I bought a bottle of Reef Nutrion's condensed phyto and recently started dosing that a few days ago...I hope that also helps bring it up. All ideas welcome so I really appreciate the feedback!

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

also @zoa what what is your reasoning behind dosing the phyto late at night? Not questioning, just curious and would like to learn.

 

[ZoWhat]

@ClutchCityReefer

I've read in many places that corals eat very little phyto, but phyto does feed Pods. Pods come out in the middle of the night. Corals feed on pods.

Thus feed phyto late at night so pods have phyto to eat from midnight to 6am

.

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

Perfect logic, thanks for teaching!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If you really want to increase nitrate and not phosphate, feeding any food (including phyto) will not do it. It contains both N and P. Dosing of nitrate is the way, as mentioned above.

If you still need help with the calculator, I'm happy to do so.

 

[homer1475]

I'm not a chemist either and found that calc to be a little confusing initially too.

What I did was just buy some neo-nitro from brightwell and followed their directions. Very repeatable dosing if following the directions.

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

Thanks Randy and everyone else. I get that feeding will raise both N & P, but given my phosphates levels are on the low side of the "safe" spectrum, I figured I would see if I can successfully get some nitrates in the system naturally through feeding.

I'm still waiting on the sodium nitrate and am hoping I can get my water chemistry issues resolved more naturally before resorting to dosing, but assuming that isn't the case I will be back soon to learn more about that dosing calculator!

Thanks again everyone

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My concerns with Brighthwell are purity (unknown), composition (unknown), and cost.

 

[ClutchCityReefer]

I agree with those sentiments Randy. I know Homer and some other friends have had some anectodical success dosing Brightwell's nitrate product, but I'd rather mix up my own solution if I can to ensure purity and I less unknowns going into my system.