Kno3 (Potassium Nitrate) Dosing Instructions!

[R6REEFER]

Fellow chemistry inclined reefers,

I'm currently experimenting with Aquavitro Synthesis to raise my nitrates but I believe I'm going to switch to Potassium Nitrate. Upon some research I found this equation (see pictures) to be the general rule of thumb. My problem is I have a 160g system and I DO NOT want to dose 160ml of anything to my tank! So in order to crunch the amounts, I simply divided by 4 to get a more reasonable 40ml dose. My question is, with concentrating the KNo3 itself would I have to increase the amount of RO/DI? Also If so, how much? Even if I use this equation, does it have to be daily? If anyone has a more reliable equation that I can dose possibly more spread out throughout the week, please share. Randy I would really appreciate your input and a possible solid mixing/dosing equation! I included a pic of the simple math I did to get this more concentrated equation, sorry if you can't read my hand writing.

 

[JimWelsh]

My problem is I have a 160g system and I DO NOT want to dose 160ml of anything to my tank!

Wait... Why not? Why is this a problem?

 

[Myka]

I use 30 g Sodium nitrate then fill the bottle so that there is 500 mL total volume. Here's Randy's math for it which I edited a bit so it makes more sense for your tank.

Sodium nitrate has a molecular weight of 85 g/mole. Nitrate is 62 g/mole.

So sodium nitrate is 73% nitrate by weight.

If you add 30 g of sodium nitrate, that is 21.9 grams of nitrate per 500 mL, or 44 mg/mL

Adding 10 mL to the tank adds 440 mg.

Added to [tank volume in liters], the addition is 440 mg/[tank volume in liters] = ? mg/L (aka ppm).

So if you made up the same solution I use, then your math would look like this:

10 mL of solution added to 608 L, 440 mg/608 = 0.72 mg/L.
0.72/10 = 0.072
1/0.072 = 13.9 mL

So 14 mL of this solution will raise the nitrate in your tank by about 1 ppm (assuming your 160 gallons is net, not gross).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Here's my standard recipe for potassium nitrate, and it can be adjusted easily up or down in concentration, as needed:

Dissolve 10 grams potassium nitrate in 1 liter of fresh water. That 10 grams contains 6.14 grams of nitrate, so that solution is 6,140 ppm nitrate.

If you add 1 ml of the solution per 2 gallons of tank water volume, that will boost nitrate by 0.8 ppm nitrate.

As a rough estimate, 10 dry mL of powder weighs about 10 g.

 

[Myka]

Here's my standard recipe for potassium nitrate, and it can be adjusted easily up or down in concentration, as needed:

Dissolve 10 grams potassium nitrate in 1 liter of fresh water.

Hehe, but then he's going to have to add 100 mL to his tank, and that is approaching 160 mL!

 

[JimWelsh]

Hehe, but then he's going to have to add 100 mL to his tank, and that is approaching 160 mL!

Yes. Again, I'd like to understand why this is perceived as an issue.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Maybe he wants to use a dosing pump and it is limited in volume per day.

If so, you can make my recipe 10x (or more) what I described.

 

[Myka]

The way he phrased it, it sounded like he was nervous to add that volume to the tank. I like to make my solutions either strong or saturated so that I don't have to store as much, nor do my dosing vessels have to be as large. That's the only logical reason I can think of. Dosers can handle 160 mL/day no problem - I had one doing about 700 mL per day for quite some time. That was a large dosing vessel...

 

[R6REEFER]

Here's my standard recipe for potassium nitrate, and it can be adjusted easily up or down in concentration, as needed:

Dissolve 10 grams potassium nitrate in 1 liter of fresh water. That 10 grams contains 6.14 grams of nitrate, so that solution is 6,140 ppm nitrate.

If you add 1 ml of the solution per 2 gallons of tank water volume, that will boost nitrate by 0.8 ppm nitrate.

As a rough estimate, 10 dry mL of powder weighs about 10 g.

Here's my standard recipe for potassium nitrate, and it can be adjusted easily up or down in concentration, as needed:

Dissolve 10 grams potassium nitrate in 1 liter of fresh water. That 10 grams contains 6.14 grams of nitrate, so that solution is 6,140 ppm nitrate.

If you add 1 ml of the solution per 2 gallons of tank water volume, that will boost nitrate by 0.8 ppm nitrate.

As a rough estimate, 10 dry mL of powder weighs about 10 g.

Awesome! Thanks a million Randy, that's all I needed

 

[R6REEFER]

The way he phrased it, it sounded like he was nervous to add that volume to the tank. I like to make my solutions either strong or saturated so that I don't have to store as much, nor do my dosing vessels have to be as large. That's the only logical reason I can think of. Dosers can handle 160 mL/day no problem - I had one doing about 700 mL per day for quite some time. That was a large dosing vessel...

That's exactly it. I want to refill my reservoirs as little as possible. I just naturally shoot for more concentration, less volume. It's not that it's inconvenient or that I'm afraid, that's just what I prefer. I will concentrate the solution with this recipe! Oh and yes, I'm using the GHL Profilux II

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Good luck.

 

[dimidragos]

Here's my standard recipe for potassium nitrate, and it can be adjusted easily up or down in concentration, as needed:

Dissolve 10 grams potassium nitrate in 1 liter of fresh water. That 10 grams contains 6.14 grams of nitrate, so that solution is 6,140 ppm nitrate.

If you add 1 ml of the solution per 2 gallons of tank water volume, that will boost nitrate by 0.8 ppm nitrate.

As a rough estimate, 10 dry mL of powder weighs about 10 g.

Hello, i hope you can answer to this question @Randy Holmes-Farley. I dissolve 10 grams of Potassium Nitrate (bought from Pharmacy) i 1 liter Ro water. I use ml measure and Weight scale also because i didn't thrust my weight scale. When i check the water with my Salifer test show me over 50ppm i think almost 100!!!
I have 130 gallons water in all system and 0 No3 (according with Salifert). I think 0.8ppm No3 it's what i need, then i add 1ml x 65 (x2) = 65 ml mixed solution to the tank.
It's that wright??
This is what i dose:

 

[incloud design]

I've ordered 2 types of potassium nitrate now and am concerned about the types. A chemistry website i was reading through states that food grade is lower quality than lab grade while other places I read are stating that food grade is the highest quality and lab or technical grade has the most impurities. I'm very nervous about adding anything to my tank that I do not understand its chemical compound. Coming Friday is Spectracide stump remover through Amazon. Today I am receiving another type through amazon by Humco that is Technical Grade. I've looked for KN03 and it seems the only place to order from takes a while and shipping is more than the product. I could really use some help here as I need to raise my nitrates but don't want to kill my tank by using the wrong type of potassium nitrate. Thanks for any and all help with this.

HUMCO 263794001 Potassium Nitrate FCC 4 oz, Shape

Spectracide 66420 Stump Remover, 1-Pound Granules

Potassium Nitrate (KNO3) - 1lb (Bag)

 

[joshwaggs]

Fellow chemistry inclined reefers,

I'm currently experimenting with Aquavitro Synthesis to raise my nitrates but I believe I'm going to switch to Potassium Nitrate. Upon some research I found this equation (see pictures) to be the general rule of thumb. My problem is I have a 160g system and I DO NOT want to dose 160ml of anything to my tank! So in order to crunch the amounts, I simply divided by 4 to get a more reasonable 40ml dose. My question is, with concentrating the KNo3 itself would I have to increase the amount of RO/DI? Also If so, how much? Even if I use this equation, does it have to be daily? If anyone has a more reliable equation that I can dose possibly more spread out throughout the week, please share. Randy I would really appreciate your input and a possible solid mixing/dosing equation! I included a pic of the simple math I did to get this more concentrated equation, sorry if you can't read my hand writing.

Old thread, but I bought aqua vitro to dose nitrates. I also got the phosphate.

Why did you switch to the powder? Did Aquavitro not do well?

 

[Nurse.Reef.Reapeat]

following this!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

following this!

Do you have a question about it? The last post to it was several years ago.

 

[Nurse.Reef.Reapeat]

Do you have a question about it? The last post to it was several years ago.

yes, where can i purchase the poweder for DIY? is this better than Brightwells Phos and Nitro? im currently dosing both to up my parameters. already added 10 acro so far.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

yes, where can i purchase the poweder for DIY? is this better than Brightwells Phos and Nitro? im currently dosing both to up my parameters. already added 10 acro so far.

Brightwell gives no purity data, so I do not recommend it.

I also do not recommend potassium nitrate unless you monitor potassium to be sure it does not rise too much.

Sodium nitrate is cheap and easy to buy in high purity (Food grade or ACS reagent grade).

For example, many people use this brand:

Sodium Nitrate

You can follow this calculator for dosing (use the entry for nitrate from potassium nitrate) to dose a few ppm per day:

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

 

[Nurse.Reef.Reapeat]

Thank you!

 

[Nurse.Reef.Reapeat]

Brightwell gives no purity data, so I do not recommend it.

I also do not recommend potassium nitrate unless you monitor potassium to be sure it does not rise too much.

Sodium nitrate is cheap and easy to buy in high purity (Food grade or ACS reagent grade).

For example, many people use this brand:

Sodium Nitrate

You can follow this calculator for dosing (use the entry for nitrate from potassium nitrate) to dose a few ppm per day:

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

will this actually replace both of them? the Neo Nitro and Neo Phos?