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Sodium Nitrate
- Thread starter horseplay
- Start date
Joe, I don't dose it....short of all the food I feed the fish. 
But I've read people using stump removal products....but with the warning that some might contain copper (and other unwanted products), so pick carefully. You might wish to search other sites that have a number of folks doing this, or just purchase the sodium nitrate as a pure chemical....such as THIS.
But I've read people using stump removal products....but with the warning that some might contain copper (and other unwanted products), so pick carefully. You might wish to search other sites that have a number of folks doing this, or just purchase the sodium nitrate as a pure chemical....such as THIS.Paul I feed a lot but I have to run GFO to remove the excess phosphate. Nitrate is zero always so there is an imbalance there. I am gonna go with pure sodium nitrate just want to know if someone has used a specific product. I will probably order the one you link if no one is dosing this.
The nitrate I see people dosing is usually potassium nitrate Kno3. I do occasionally as well. I use this product.
Potassium Nitrate [KNO3] - 1lb
Potassium Nitrate [KNO3] - 1lb
ok noob question here what is the advantage of dosing sodium nitrate?
Do you mean va potassium nitrate or vs not dosing nitrate at all?
I dose potassium nitrate in all my reef tanks; same one that Kevin and Art do. It's basically putting the much debated Redfield Ratio into practice. Many reefers work hard to get their nitrates to 0 and then struggle to keep phosphates and hair algae in check. That's because the ratio of nitrogen to phosphorous in the aquarium is "out of whack".
Raising nitrate is next to impossible a task without negatively affecting phosphate levels by simply getting more fish or feeding more. By only raising nitrates through potassium nitrate dosing, phosphate levels theoretically drop. Once my nitrates hit 20 ppm, phosphates pretty much became undetectable. As many who've been in my store can attest, I feed more than most of you ever would, and no longer run GFO. My phosphates read 0.00 on a Hannah Checker, there is no visible nuisance algae anywhere in my tanks and my SPS corals are not lacking for color. Again, it's a theory, but one I've so far proved true in my two store displays and my home SPS system. The added nitrate also allows me to run a much longer, stronger photoperiod and higher alkalinity, calcium and magnesium levels (but that's another topic altogether). My 290 gallon store tank runs around 80 ppm nitrate. I think it looks good, but I really think others that have seen it in person should voice their own opinions. I do use a weekly dose of lanthanum chloride for phosphate control, but that's an entirely other hotly debated topic as well.
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@Reefabout thanks. This is exactly what I want to achieve.
@Reefabout thanks for that information. That where I was confused cause I was under the impression that one should aim for 0 nitrates (but I did know nitrates are ok to have) so I was confused why people would add nitrates to their tanks.
I've never had my colors look good when nitrates were 0 because I was either too clean from under feeding or carbon dosing and teetering on the edge of keeping things alive. Some folks can keep 0 nitrates and have great growth and color. This way is much easier for me.
Once I started treating my reef tanks like fish tanks again things started making a turn for the better.
@Reefabout again thanks. Now my colors are ok but I do think they can be better. My nitrates are at 0 and my phosphate range between 0 and 0.2 I now have more research to do which makes this hobby great learning something new everyday.
I have dosed the spectricide stump remover for months with no negatives.
Just curious, those dosing Spectracide, which is potassium nitrate, do you guys test for potassium?
I am going to take a wild guess here. Potassium Nitrate, N vs K is about 3 to 1. So raise 30 ppm of N you also raise 10 ppm of K. Macro consumes K, quite significantly. That's why you have K in fertilizers. Even assuming macro consumes no K, 10 ppm is very little compare to 450ppm of K for NSW. and 30 ppm of Nitrate is a lot and should last a while.