[karnivor]

Hi Guys, I thought I'd pop a few pictures up, showing a few of my Corals. Ive been adding Ammonium Chloride to my tank for some weeks and ive seen a large improvement in colour and corals that were fairly stagnant have started to kick off.

I have a long way to go before I am satisfied with my results, but I hope you will agree that things are beginning to pick up now. I make no apologies for the quality of my photography, they were just quick shots.

Tony.

[tommo]

Looking lovely,

Evidence LOL

Tom

[chriss]

They look nice and healthy. How are you monitoring and controlling what you add?

Chris

[karnivor]

Thanks guys, I dont actually "control" it at all. I did some calculations to work out a safe level to add, which in my case is 0.4 grams per day in a 600 ltr system. As Ammonium Chloride is transitional, it cant build up in the tank. instead it converts to Nitrates via the usual Bacterial routes. My nitrates sit at about 3ppm as a result of my actions. Ammonia readings are barely readable, even shortly after the addition. I also use a Seachem ammonia alert in my sump and it never shows any reading.

[Tony B]

What is the purpose of adding amonium chloride?

Tony

[lindsay]

Looking good,cool pics tony.

[karnivor]

Tony B, on Aug 6 2009, 12:39 AM, said:

What is the purpose of adding amonium chloride?

Tony

Basically, its to feed the corals directly with their preferred food. On a reef, this naturally occurs with fish waste, as they shoal inside the coral heads. The down side is that in a closed system, any unused Ammonium is converted to Nitrates, which need to be dealt with, whereas on a reef, they are simply flushed away.

Of course, I could simply add more fish but fish produce other organics which can also build up in a captive system. also, fish need feeding and not all of the food gets eaten.

[ben]

i see the point to this tony, but maybe the fish poo contains other types of food that the corals enjoy/need, not just ammonia?

[Tony B]

ben, on Aug 6 2009, 08:54 AM, said:

i see the point to this tony, but maybe the fish poo contains other types of food that the corals enjoy/need, not just ammonia?

Yes, I'dd agree ^^^

Just adding pure ammonia limits the food source, lets not forget that all poo contains many minerals and vitamins that pass through the digestive system.


I'm not nocking what your doing, I'd just do it it differently by adding more fish, if you want higher nutrient levels within the water.

Tony

[karnivor]

Tony B, on Aug 6 2009, 10:35 AM, said:

Yes, I'dd agree ^^^

Just adding pure ammonia limits the food source, lets not forget that all poo contains many minerals and vitamins that pass through the digestive system.


I'm not nocking what your doing, I'd just do it it differently by adding more fish, if you want higher nutrient levels within the water.

Tony

You are right, there are other important elements added with fish poo, but I do have fish and they do poo. My point is that there is an imbalance in the tank because its not an open ended system.
In the ocean, everything gets washed away, and there is no build up of nutrients, including the wanted ones (aminos etc). In a tank its different and these nutrients build up, with the exception of Ammonia, which gets converted very quickly. So to balance the nutrients that are already in the tank, you would need to add Ammonia, preferrably on a continual basis (too much like hard work).

Finally, more fish = more Phosphates = lower growth rates.

It good to debate it though.

[gattsps]

they look lovely mate
but what were they like before and how long have you been experimenting with the amm chloride ?
any previuos pictures , ?are we talking more colour , better growth by the addition?
aslo what side affects could this cause apart from the obvious .?
cheers barry

[ben]

"In a tank its different and these nutrients build up, with the exception of Ammonia."

are you sure nothing else is missing?

[karnivor]

ben, on Aug 6 2009, 01:45 PM, said:

"In a tank its different and these nutrients build up, with the exception of Ammonia."

are you sure nothing else is missing?

No, i'm not sure at all, this is why i'm experimenting with it. Have you spotted something?
Cmon man, out with it

[ben]

id be the last to spot anything.







or would i?

[chriss]

A useful experiment, but go on, stick a load of fish in instead, they'll feed the system and look good in the process. As for any excess waste, nothing that a decent skimmer can't deal with.

Chris

[karnivor]

chriss, on Aug 6 2009, 04:48 PM, said:

A useful experiment, but go on, stick a load of fish in instead, they'll feed the system and look good in the process. As for any excess waste, nothing that a decent skimmer can't deal with.

Chris

I will be doing just that Chris. In fact i'm off to TAC next week for that very purpose. However, without some experimentation, we would never learn or move the hobby forward.
Ill still be sticking some in though, until such time that the tank bulks itself up.

Anyway, i'm playing with something else now

[tommo]

Fish permanently excrete small amounts of ammonia into the water via their gills and as they shed excess concentrated salts. Fish poo itself is only an occasional delicacy that can be replicated by regular small particulate feeds.

I am a beiliever in refugia however to constantly bombard corals with small amounts of plankton as they would experience in the wild. But in reality i think they need to be much slower flow through than we typically make them to work properly and produce true suspended plankton!



Tom

[lindsay]

Do you ever ask yourself ,am i feeding the tank too much?,do i need to feed the tank more?am i going mad ?

[chriss]

karnivor, on Aug 6 2009, 05:01 PM, said:

However, without some experimentation, we would never learn or move the hobby forward.

Absolutely.

Chris

[ben]

interesting about your opinion on slow flow through the refuge tom