Potassium Nitrate vs Sodium Nitrite for dosing No3

[Joe Batt]

Excuse my ignorance but is potassium nitrate or sodium nitrite better for dosing N03?

If you could explain your answer too please since I’m not a chemist

 

[EmdeReef]

Either is fine and works. Sodium nitrate is slightly more potent.

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Excuse my ignorance but is potassium nitrate or sodium nitrite better for dosing N03?

If you could explain your answer too please since I’m not a chemist

I am no chemist either, but I will share my experience.

I have to dose my larger tanks for NO3, as I can never keep detectable amounts. I was dosing Potassium Nitrate for about a year and it worked great. Sent out some water for an ICP test and my Potassium was high. The previous test before dosing, it was normal. I thought maybe an error or something like that had happened with the testing. Well, wife got me a full round of ICP tests for all my tanks for my B-Day, and again, all tanks getting NO3 dosed had high potassium. I had no issues with anything with the potassium at a little over 700 ppm. Just did not like it that high.

From there I started digging around the forums here and saw some other people who had to dose a lot of NO3 had the same issue. Little more digging, I found that sodium nitrate was being used for the dosing. I swapped to it and have been using it for about 5 months now and my last ICP test showed Potassium at normal levels.

So I do not know if it better from one to another, but for me sodium nitrate was the go to for NO3.

 

[lbacha]

I like potassium nitrate as I run a fuge and potassium is used by the cheato. I did order some sodium nitrate with my last fertilizer order from green leaf aquatics (I use it for my freshwater tanks as well) just in case I wanted to try it out

 

[DarkSky]

I like potassium nitrate as I run a fuge and potassium is used by the cheato. I did order some sodium nitrate with my last fertilizer order from green leaf aquatics (I use it for my freshwater tanks as well) just in case I wanted to try it out

Do you know in what way chaeto uses potassium?

 

[lbacha]

Do you know in what way chaeto uses potassium?

Potassium is a key nutrient for plant growth, you don’t typically worry about it in a reef tank as the levels are typically high but if you have a large fuge you may actually reduce it too low.

Planted freshwater users have been dosing potassium as one of their key macro fertilizers for years

If you look at plant fertilizer bags you will see 3 main components for macro nutrients

NPK is displayed on most fertilizers showing the ratio of Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium

 

[Scrubber_steve]

I like potassium nitrate as I run a fuge and potassium is used by the cheato. I did order some sodium nitrate with my last fertilizer order from green leaf aquatics (I use it for my freshwater tanks as well) just in case I wanted to try it out

How long do you run your fuge light?

 

[DarkSky]

Potassium is a key nutrient for plant growth, you don’t typically worry about it in a reef tank as the levels are typically high but if you have a large fuge you may actually reduce it too low.

Planted freshwater users have been dosing potassium as one of their key macro fertilizers for years

If you look at plant fertilizer bags you will see 3 main components for macro nutrients

NPK is displayed on most fertilizers showing the ratio of Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium

Thanks!

 

[SeaDweller]

I was using KNO3 in the form of spectacide. I know many use it, and are probably successful. I had a crash a couple years ago and I don't think the stump remover caused the crash, but I've since switched to NaNO3 from Loudwolf because it makes me feel better that it's not some chemical with potentially harmful stuff in it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Do you know in what way chaeto uses potassium?

Every living organism incorporates potassium in its cells. It is a big driver and controller of electrical potential across cell membranes, as well as transporters across membranes.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I would generally recommend sodium nitrate so that you are not also boosting potassium unless you know you need it, but for most reef tanks it won’t matter which you use. In a no water change tank, I’d use sodium since potassium might rise in such a setting.

 

[lbacha]

How long do you run your fuge light?

It varies depending on my nutrients. I typically run it 12 hrs opposite of my main lights, I also have it set to come on if my ph drops below 8 to help remove CO2 (natural CO2 scrubber) I will also lower the duration if my nutrients are too low

Thanks!

No problem

 

[Joe Batt]

In which case I will look at the sodium nitrite since I run full Triton. Thanks Randy

I would generally recommend sodium nitrate so that you are not also boosting potassium unless you know you need it, but for most reef tanks it won’t matter which you use. In a no water change tank, I’d use sodium since potassium might rise in such a setting.

 

[Ert]

I’m dozing seachem flourish nitrogen and noticed that it contains your urea, hence ammonium . Is this the same as ammonia and how bad is this on my SPS?

 

[Subsea]

Do you know in what way chaeto uses potassium?

I have not dry tested Chaeto but because I grew Gracilaria Parvispora, Red Ogo for humane cuisine I had it analyzed.

N at 2.59%
P at 0.082%
K at 13.54%
Ca at 0.555%
Mg at 1.183
S at 4.81%
Zn at 139 ppm
Fe at 10 7ppm
Mn at 29 ppm
Cu at 7 ppm

 

[Scrubber_steve]

It varies depending on my nutrients. I typically run it 12 hrs opposite of my main lights, I also have it set to come on if my ph drops below 8 to help remove CO2 (natural CO2 scrubber) I will also lower the duration if my nutrients are too low

I was wondering why you don't just reduce the photoperiod rather than dose nitrate

 

[lbacha]

I was wondering why you don't just reduce the photoperiod rather than dose nitrate

I don’t dose phosphate so if I go too low with the photpieriod phosphates get high. I really only have an issue with nitrates being low

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

In which case I will look at the sodium nitrite since I run full Triton. Thanks Randy

Nitrate.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’m dozing seachem flourish nitrogen and noticed that it contains your urea, hence ammonium . Is this the same as ammonia and how bad is this on my SPS?

Urea is not either ammonia or ammonium. It is a suitable nitrogen source for tanks, but is not measured by kit. I don't prefer it for that reason.

 

[ocsurferdad]

Every living organism incorporates potassium in its cells. It is a big driver and controller of electrical potential across cell membranes, as well as transporters across membranes.

This is also true of sodium