Nitrate dosing long term log

IME, organic carbon dosing reduces orthophosphate and nitrogen inlcuding some nitrate. Wouln't count on the "redfield" 16:1 ratio though as it's an enmasse measure and the organisms in play may vary significantly from it.
 
So if anyone is curious on how fast carbon dosing in conjunction with nitrate dosing lowers phosphates. It took around 7 days of dosing 15 ml of carbon with .5 ppm of potassium nitrate to lower my phosphates from .1 to 0.00. I really don't see this as a viable solution since it seems to hold phosphates at 0 because I think phosphate becomes the limiting factor but if you need to lower massive amount of phosphates I think this would be a cheaper option then gfo and less controversial then lanthanum chloride.
 
Keep this thread going Toby! I did some experimenting with nitrate dosing and definitely noticed immediate improvements in the richness of color in my corals. I eventually stopped dosing and took a 2 month water change hiatus and my hair algae (present before I started dosing nitrate) got out of hand. Experimenting with a chaeto reactor now, and may revisit nitrate dosing once the hair algae is gone.
 
So it seems the issue I'm running into now is that raising my nitrates to 4 ppm has causes my phosphates to bottom out completely to 0.00 with a Hanna checker. I dose 2 ppm of nitrates with kno3 weekly to maintain 4 ppm nitrate. I'm wondering what everyone's opinion is on dosing phosphates to maintain 0.03 ppm. I've tried feeding more for 2 weeks but my phosphates having budged and my montis especially aren't maintaining food color.
 
Well, you could try dosing a food-grade trisodium phosphate product, as an experiment. I think a large supply is fairly inexpensive on Amazon.
 
I ordered some mono potassium phosphate from a reputable website that specializes in fresh water planted tanks for 5 bucks. Based on my calculations if I mix 1/2 teaspoon with 500 ml of ro/di water each ml of solution will cause a .01 increase in phosphate.
 
If one is looking to dose nitrates is it better to dose NaNO3 or KNO3? I don't test for Potassium as it is.
 
By my calculations it shouldn't matter. In every scenario I ran it wasn't possible to dose enough kno3 to make a noticeable difference in potassium.
 
Overtime K/potassium can build up;It's normal seawater level is a mere 380ppm vs. sodium on the other hand at around 10,800 ppm .
 
I'd dose sodium nitrate, but it's probably safe enough to use potassium if you keep up a good water change schedule.
 
I've been dosing potassium nitrate for a few weeks and have noticed a small increase in coloration. I am adding 1/4 teaspoon every couple of days and my nitrates are around 2-5-its hard to know exactly with RS test kits.

It is working, in my opinion. Pretty crazy to think that I would be ADDING nitrates!
 
I got my mono potassium phosphate in today. I made a known solution to calibrate the Hanna checker and w a .03 solution the checker read .05. I then dosed .03 in the aquarium and got .05 so it seems the checker is only .02 off which is pretty impressive for a 50 dollar tester. I am using a dosed to add .16 nitrate and .01 phosphates daily. I check parameters in a week to see where they are at.
 
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