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DIY Potassium Nitrate Dosing Solution (1 Viewer)

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Cody

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I saw the Randy Holmes-farley recipe but was wondering where y'all get your potassium nitrate from, how are y'all personally mixing it, and does his equation actually check out. I know someone brought it up in a thread a couple weeks ago but couldn't find it
 
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Also, same question for sodium nitrate. I'm currently using brightwell FlorinGro, which is a premised sodium nitrate solution, but for the amount I need to dose, it's getting too expensive too quick.
 

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Dont use it because i have a smaller tank but...
this
 
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That video was very comprehensive and exactly what I was looking for. I'm giving you a raise, Matyas!
 
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Just nitrates. I have had to start running GFO to keep phosphates down.
 
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Keep an eyes on the Phosphate level. I'm dosing sodium nitrate from LoudWolf. It brought down the Phosphate level down to zero on Hanna ULR.
Yeah I have. My cheato took off like crazy after I started dosing nitrates and it helped with phosphates. Phosphates were too high.
 

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Used potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate and stump remover. I ran out of the first two and started using stump remover. I see no differences.


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Used potassium nitrate, sodium nitrate and stump remover. I ran out of the first two and started using stump remover. I see no differences.


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Thanks for the feedback. What was the difference in price? I ordered some of the potassium nitrate from greenleafaquarium that they recommended in the video because it was cheap. $3 per pound. I need to dose about 30mL per day now with the FlorinGro and that stuff raise one gallon of water about 18ppm with just one mL of solution. Very potent stuff.
 

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I purchased a smaller quantity of potassium nitrate pharmacy grade, the sodium nitrate wasn’t powder form and was difficult to dissolve completely (which is why I stopped trying), stump remover was most economical in small quantity. I didn’t do any bulk purchases for both potassium and sodium so I wouldn’t be able to compare pricing at bulk quantIty. The potency of potassium was definitely stronger than stump remover. Personally I like stump remover best just because I have more experience with it. I don’t have to pull out my scale and measuring spoons to calculate the exact dose. Then again, I don’t have very picky sps... so there. Also I bleached out a bit of Webster’s sps.


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I purchased a smaller quantity of potassium nitrate pharmacy grade, the sodium nitrate wasn’t powder form and was difficult to dissolve completely (which is why I stopped trying), stump remover was most economical in small quantity. I didn’t do any bulk purchases for both potassium and sodium so I wouldn’t be able to compare pricing at bulk quantIty. The potency of potassium was definitely stronger than stump remover. Personally I like stump remover best just because I have more experience with it. I don’t have to pull out my scale and measuring spoons to calculate the exact dose. Then again, I don’t have very picky sps... so there. Also I bleached out a bit of Webster’s sps.


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How did you bleach them? Dosing too much at once? I noticed that a 10ppm jump will cause corals to shed a little skin, but all stopped after a day or two of shedding.
 
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So after some quick math, at the same concentration of solution, the lowest common denominator for volume of dosing solution (based off of the bulk price for Brightwell) would be about four months. Four months of brightwell would run me about $120. The greenleafaquarium solution would run me $3. Which one do y'all think I should go with?
 

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Dang $3 is a good value to dose a big tank like that.
 
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How did you bleach them? Dosing too much at once? I noticed that a 10ppm jump will cause corals to shed a little skin, but all stopped after a day or two of shedding.

Not enough flow perhaps? I don’t dose anymore. Got more fish and feed super heavy. My phos bounces between 0.02-0.06 though. 10-12ppm nitrate. Steady 7.7 dkh alk. Mag 1299-1300. Cal 450ish. Low low flow and par 140tops. Was told I need pur meter. If I dose nitrate only increases 0.02 per day.


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Dang $3 is a good value to dose a big tank like that.

I don’t really have to dose anymore. I have obese fish [emoji23]


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Not enough flow perhaps? I don’t dose anymore. Got more fish and feed super heavy. My phos bounces between 0.02-0.06 though. 10-12ppm nitrate. Steady 7.7 dkh alk. Mag 1299-1300. Cal 450ish. Low low flow and par 140tops. Was told I need pur meter. If I dose nitrate only increases 0.02 per day.


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There's not a PUR meter that I'm aware of considering that each coral is different. As far as PAR, if your corals are bleaching then it means your nutrients are too low or your PAR is too high. Thats why no one magic number is the key to success when it comes to PAR. PAR and nutrients for the corals (zooxanthellae that form a symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellate algae) have a relationship.
 

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There's not a PUR meter that I'm aware of considering that each coral is different. As far as PAR, if your corals are bleaching then it means your nutrients are too low or your PAR is too high. Thats why no one magic number is the key to success when it comes to PAR. PAR and nutrients for the corals (zooxanthellae that form a symbiotic relationship with dinoflagellate algae) have a relationship.

What I know is my acro colony doesn’t like my tank and everyone else is happy. They said they have majority vote that they like their home, and the acro can go to h3ll


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