Potassium nitrate

[saltgogi]

I've recently started dosing my tank with brightwell neonitro. It's going great so far but it is going to cost me quite a bit in the long term. I've seen posts about tree stump remover because it has potassium nitrate in it. Is it possible to just buy pure potassium nitrate and mix it with ro/di water to create my own solution?

I found some on amazon.

 

[piranhaman00]

Yes that is what I do , dissolve 200g of stump remover into 1 L RODI water and filter. 200,000ppm KNO3.

@Randy Holmes-Farley will recommend food grade sodium nitrate, which I am sure works better. The stump remover is dirty, hence why I filter it.

 

[saltgogi]

So food grade is similar to something I attached to my post? I was thinking of mixing two cups of it in a gallon of ro/di water and 1 mL of that solution should raise the nitrate in my 40 gallon by about 0.6-0.7 ppm nitrate.

 

[saltgogi]

On second thought.. maybe i should do 1 cup instead.

 

[piranhaman00]

So food grade is similar to something I attached to my post? I was thinking of mixing two cups of it in a gallon of ro/di water and 1 mL of that solution should raise the nitrate in my 40 gallon by about 0.6-0.7 ppm nitrate.

On second thought.. maybe i should do 1 cup instead.

Yes, sorry I cannot see amazon links on my browser.

I would not measure in cups, measure in grams. Then you can determine the exact concentration.

 

[chiefifd]

Hi,
Check this link out for a source of Potassium Phosphate KH2 PO4 and Potassium Nitrate KNO3. It's pretty cheap and the site has information about mixing and dosing Phosphates and Nitrates.
Hope this helps.
https://www.nilocg.com

 

[saltgogi]

Hi,
Check this link out for a source of Potassium Phosphate KH2 PO4 and Potassium Nitrate KNO3. It's pretty cheap and the site has information about mixing and dosing Phosphates and Nitrates.
Hope this helps.
https://www.nilocg.com

The material says that it's potassium nitrate but the description says that it's potassium, nitrogen, and iron... Is it ok to add iron to the tank?

 

[piranhaman00]

The material says that it's potassium nitrate but the description says that it's potassium, nitrogen, and iron... Is it ok to add iron to the tank?

No it says potassium is necessary for plants to metabolize iron.

Hi,
Check this link out for a source of Potassium Phosphate KH2 PO4 and Potassium Nitrate KNO3. It's pretty cheap and the site has information about mixing and dosing Phosphates and Nitrates.
Hope this helps.
https://www.nilocg.com

Thanks for the source, I am going to use this next.

 

[saltgogi]

Yeah this is nice. I was just confused on the whole nitrogen part.
Guess i'll be buying some soon. Thanks for the share!

Would you premix the whole pack in 1 gallon of water?

 

[saltgogi]

Seems like there is a lot in 1 lb...

 

[chiefifd]

I bought two 1 pound bags of the Potassium Nitrate KNO3 a few years ago. Unless you have a very large reef tank even a pound of the stuff will last a few years I believe. I bought two bags to justify the shipping, the bags were about $3.00 a bag.

 

[piranhaman00]

Yeah this is nice. I was just confused on the whole nitrogen part.
Guess i'll be buying some soon. Thanks for the share!

Would you premix the whole pack in 1 gallon of water?

Seems like there is a lot in 1 lb...

1 pound is 433,592 grams. Dissolving one pound in 3.785L (1 gallon) of water will give you solution that is 114,555ppm.

Solving this equation for your desired dosage:

(114,555ppm) * (L of solution) = (Aquarium Liters) * ( desire ppm raise)

OR:

1mL will raise 1 gallon 30ppm.

 

[saltgogi]

I bought two 1 pound bags of the Potassium Nitrate KNO3 a few years ago. Unless you have a very large reef tank even a pound of the stuff will last a few years I believe. I bought two bags to justify the shipping, the bags were about $3.00 a bag.

Yeah i saw shipping is $8. I'll probably check to see if anyone local wants to split shipping with me.

 

[saltgogi]

1 pound is 433,592 grams. Dissolving one pound in 3.785L (1 gallon) of water will give you solution that is 114,555ppm.

1mL will raise 1 gallon 30ppm.

Yeah i figured it'd be too much

 

[piranhaman00]

Yeah i figured it'd be too much

Its not too much actually. The solution I use is about 3x that. Measure carefully with graduated syringe.

 

[saltgogi]

Its not too much actually. The solution I use is about 3x that. Measure carefully with graduated syringe.

Yeah i just saw the part about raising 30 ppm in 1 gallon. So in my 40 gallon it'll raise it less than 1 ppm per mL.

 

[chiefifd]

Or one Gallon equals over 3,700 milliliters using saltgogi formula! That's a lot of solution, pretty cheap any way you look at it.

 

[piranhaman00]

Yeah i just saw the part about raising 30 ppm in 1 gallon. So in my 40 gallon it'll raise it less than 1 ppm per mL.

Exactly, so you dont have to dose much, it will last a long time.

 

[chiefifd]

Sorry piranhaman00, using your calculations! I stand Corrected.....

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, reagent grade sodium or potassium nitrate is fine, as is food grade.

As folks mentioned, I prefer sodium nitrate if you are not monitoring potassium as it may get too high.