Raising nitrates with spectricide?

[Rp8]

Spoke with a helpful employee at LFS (rare), asked about ways to raise nitrates. Mine have bottomed out at 0. So he suggested instead Specteicide stump remover. He said he uses it in his tank and even gave me a mixture to use. Has anyone ever done this? The only ingredient is potassium nitrate. I looked up MSDS. Pictures are the brand and his mixture. Thanks in advance.

 

[Duffer]

I know lots of folks that use it and swear by it

 

[daybreaksky]

It's widely used in freshwater planted tanks to feed the plants so they can outgrow algae.
I've used it in my freshwater planted setups for years and model rocket engines it's basically fertilizer

 

[daybreaksky]

P.s. try that dosage and test then adjust as needed from there.

 

[Rp8]

Wow good to know. This was the 1st time an employee was knowledgable and didnt just try to sell me some extra junk. Thanks everybody.

 

[Peng1606]

You can also purchase potassium/calcium/magnesium nitrate from green leaf aquariums. I have used that before as was battling low nitrates and phosphates.
Did ICP test recently and no heavy metals detected. Only abnormality was potassium was a little low and iodine a bit high.... so no significant contamination

 

[homer1475]

Used it for a couple years as it was cheap and easy to find. I'm finding now that it's now quite so easy to find, so I used brightwell neo-nitrate.

I used to use this calc to make my mix so 1ml was 2ppm. You can play with the amount of nitrate or RO/DI to make a mix that suitable for you.

James' Planted Tank - Dosing Calculator

 

[Rp8]

Is it more of a freshwater thing? Are u guys using it in saltwater?

 

[homer1475]

Yup SW.

 

[Rp8]

Ok, thanks again

 

[Reefahholic]

I’ve used stump remover before and it works. Although the purity is a concern. I’ve moved on to LoudWolf and have great results with it. Definitely recommend this product for dosing N or P.

 

[homer1475]

I found I had horrible cyano outbreaks with stump remover. Never could pin it down to the impurities in it, but since I switched to neo-nitro, I no longer have mysterious cyano outbreaks.

Thought about using the loudwolf products, but neo-nitro was just to easy to use.

 

[Rp8]

My phosphates are in good parameters. 0.03 to 0.1. Will loud wolf effect phosphates also? Currently battling cyano already.

 

[Rp8]

My phosphates are in good parameters. 0.03 to 0.1. Will loud wolf effect phosphates also? Currently battling cyano already.

 

[Reefahholic]

It’s used to supplement N or P only if you need to.

 

[Reefahholic]

I found I had horrible cyano outbreaks with stump remover. Never could pin it down to the impurities in it, but since I switched to neo-nitro, I no longer have mysterious cyano outbreaks.

Thought about using the loudwolf products, but neo-nitro was just to easy to use.

You may see Cyano especially if your dose is too strong. I did see more with Stump Remover.

I make my solution to where it raises N by 1ppm for 1 mL. If you raise much more than 1ppm at one time, it seems to affect Acro’s negatively and cause other issues.

 

[kblazewicz]

@Rp8 Just keep in mind that dosing 50 ppm of NO3 will rise your alkalinity by 2.3 dKH. I didn't know that and wondered why my alk is going up after I started dosing KNO3.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Wow good to know. This was the 1st time an employee was knowledgable and didnt just try to sell me some extra junk. Thanks everybody.

Well, the chemical type is good, but there's no reason to use a potentially impure agricultural grade.

Food grade sodium or potassium nitrate is cheap and easy to find.

 

[User1]

I’ve used stump remover before and it works. Although the purity is a concern. I’ve moved on to LoudWolf and have great results with it. Definitely recommend this product for dosing N or P.

This is what I use anyway for nitrate. Loudwolf's 4 oz bottle can be found on etsy or whatever.

Sodium Nitrate 4 Ounces 1 Bottle

The item for sale is 4 Ounces (113 Grams) of Sodium Nitrate (NaNO3). Sodium Nitrate, also known as Chile Salt Petr, is a white powder which is very soluble in water. For Potassium Nitrate, check out our other listing. Our bottles are made of durable Polyp

www.loudwolf.com