Nitrates and amino acids are two different things if i understand correctly. Amino acids = base proteins used as building blocks for cell structure. Nitrates = Nitrogenous waste fully oxadized which is a very specific compound of NO3 which is not readily used by complex life forms (although gardens and algae seem to like N03).
Red Sea Pro, HW marinemix, Tropic Marine etc. All claim to have more than just elevated levels of mg, ca, alk, they claim to have supplemental amino acids.
Randy Thinks if you store the salts long term such amino acids would just be consumed by bacteria in the salt bucket whie the manufactures claim that a bucket of salt is an extremely inhospitable place for bacteria and these amino acids are only available for consumption once the salt is mixed.....which i can buy into since i was raised earing country ham which basically was meat hung from a ceiling in a barn that stayed fresh because it was cured in salt.
Anyway your point is noteworthy as i just tested a batch of red sea pro freshly mixed to 1.025 with a 6 stage ro di (2 RO stages, a prefilter, 2 carbon blocks and 2 DI stages) and it tested positive around 1ppm of nitrates with a red sea own pro nitrate test kit.
