Calcium nitrate diy question - purity and density

[Northern Flicker]

Hi Randy,

I didn’t want to buy nitrate products for obvious reasons so I was reading through some of your old posts and saw you recommend calcium nitrate (one of a few nitrate options).

I realized I still had some of this from my old EI method planted tanks days. However, I’m not sure how to read the guaranteed analysis - does this look like an expected %? It only seems to account for 35%. Any issues with using it for reef dosing?

My 2nd question would be I don’t trust my old scale, is there anyway to convert units without one (in tsp)?

I know tsp is volume and gram is “weight” and we would need density to be exact. For example, instructions for the solution say:

Mix 35.4g into 500ml - can we ballpark 35.4g into tsp or do I need to buy a new scale?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I can’t judge the purity from that info, but it may be fine.

I think assuming one level dry teaspoon is 5 grams is going to be close enough since you will rapidly adjust dose anyway.

 

[Northern Flicker]

I can’t judge the purity from that info, but it may be fine.

I think assuming one level dry teaspoon is 5 grams is going to be close enough since you will rapidly adjust dose anyway.

I think I will try it anyway. Not sure what could be in it that would be ok for discus, shrimp and plants but deadly to coral, but I guess I will find out.

5g is very close to an old note I just found which says 6.2g = tsp. I’ll start with weaker doses, l guess the key is just making sure the dosing solution is consistent so I can always predict dosage amount.