Nitrogen and Phosphate fertilizer

[maestro]

Hi guys

I need some help.

I want to create a balanced Nitrogen and Phosphate supplement to experiment with as for years all my corals have been slow growing and pale.

I want to use dry chemicals and produce a single liquid fertilizer than I can dose in small amounts everyday.

I have calcium nitrate but I dont know what phosphate chemical to buy that would mix with it?

I want a ratio of about 15 nitrogen to 1 phosporus to keep in line with the redfield ratio.

Thanks

 

[mbingha]

Why not just feed your fish more, skim less, and less frequent water changes.

 

[maestro]

Why not just feed your fish more, skim less, and less frequent water changes.

Because I want to do in a more controlled way without the build up of organics.

 

[bertoni]

Some food grade form of sodium phosphate should be fine. I'd check food supply places. If my memory is correct, there tends to be some type of sodium phosphate used for food.

 

[madadi]

can you dose this with a dosser? I was looking for a food to dose with my extra dosser channel that wont spoil quickly. I have considered phyto, zooplankton and nutritional yeast but I have a hard time with settlement and hate to add another pump to the mix. I like the idea of dosing something balanced. I use a DSB with reef grass and dose little vinegar with good skimming. I also have an auto feeder for reef chili/yeast and second one to feed the fish to keep nutrient levels constant. It works for me but not sure what the nutrient ratio is. Only negative so far is that my fish don't associate my shadow with food and run when I'm near the tank. I hardly ever see them, night or day

 

[bertoni]

Using a doser should be fine. There's nothing organic in the sodium phosphate.

 

[maestro]

Will sodium phosphate be ok mixed in the same solution as calcium nitrate or will there be a reaction?

 

[billsreef]

Have you actually measured the phosphate levels in your tank? The odds of a tank being phosphate limited without considerable phosphate removal being done are rather slim.

 

[dkeller_nc]

Will sodium phosphate be ok mixed in the same solution as calcium nitrate or will there be a reaction?

No, you can't mix a calcium nitrate and sodium phosphate solution together. Calcium phosphate will form, which is insoluble, so you will either wind up with a cloudy solution, or concrete, depending on the concentration of your solutions.

Since you will be dosing miniscule amounts of the nitrate and phosphate portions, there's no reason not to use sodium nitrate and potassium or sodium phosphate. The amount of calcium boost that you would get fron using calcium nitrate would be utterly insignificant.