goldfish Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 Hey guys , a guy wants to sell me some Kno3 as fertilisers. I have no idea what is does and how to use it! Do I need some other stuff aswell if I use this? Advice needed!! THx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeyBoyR Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 KNO3 is potassium nitrate and unless you know what you're doing don't go adding terrestrial fertilisers to a fish tank, you will either kill your fish or create a mass of algae (or both). KNO3 by itself is not adequate in fertiliser a aquatic plants (which I am assuming you are inferring). Potassium and Nitrogen are both things that aquatic plants will utiliser in growth, however there are other important factors such as C02, Iron, light and a host of other trace elements. Regardless of all that, let me reinforce that you shouldnt be adding fertilisers to a fish tank unless you're comfortable and knowledgeable with chemistry. By the way, if this is a planted tank related question we have a forum for that, its called the Underwater Garden. Check it out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foai Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 I have got to agree with BBR on this one. I have a Degree in Chemistry and don't have any idea how you could safely use KNO3 in a fish tank. The most likely prsopect is kill all of your fish. Beware. David Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grungefreek Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 Hey, I use KNO3 in my fish tank all the time, all planted tank enthusiats do otherwise we would have zero nitrates all the time, not a good thing. Ok so KNO3 is safe, but by the sounds of it, u dont know what u need it for, so u probably dont need it at all. U will only need to add nitrates (in form of KNO3) if u have a high light setup which means u will also be running CO2. I would reckon u would have a low light setup and thus u wont need to use KNO3, nitrates will be provided by means of fish waste. So all u will need is a bottle of plant ferts from your pet shop. If u post a full description of your setup we can advise what additional things u may need. Grunge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeyBoyR Posted May 1, 2005 Share Posted May 1, 2005 grungefreek do you mix your own ferts or use a commercially available product? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grungefreek Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 grungefreek do you mix your own ferts or use a commercially available product? Well i mix my own ferts mostly (i have a chem degree, but its not hard) KNO3 for nitrates (hydroponics stores maybe, i get mine thru my mums pharmacy) Fleet Phospho soda for phosphates (from chemist, used for bowel cleansing) Sulphate of Potash (potassium sulphate) for potassium (garden shop) Epsom Salts (magnesium sulphate) for magnesium (garden shop) Yates chelated Iron for Iron (garden shop) ATM i don't use calcium, but will have to soon i think, which will be in the form of calcium chloride available as hardness raiser from pool shops. For traces i use store bought ferts, cause so far i cant find a good trace element mix here in Newcastle. Sydney hydroponics stores stock trace element mixes (get CSM+B if u can) which allows u to mix them yourself. be careful of ratio's of nutrients tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goldfish Posted May 2, 2005 Author Share Posted May 2, 2005 Hey guys, my tank is 5x2ft(width)x2ft3inch(height). I have a full CO2 setup, Milwaukee system,I set the pH to 6.7 . Theres three twin 4ft reflectors! each tube is the 36watts, so 216watts total. I leave the lights on about 9 hrs each day! Water temp is about 28.5 degrees! Every 2 weeks i changed about 100lts of the water, about 1/5. The fertilisers i use now are the Aquasonic hydrogrow tablets and the liquid fertilisers is the Aquamaster plant food! I guess these fertilisers are working alright now, but somehow i feel its not that effective because the tank is quite large.The plants are not growing fast or well as I like. Last time when I used to have a planted 2ft tank with Amazons and crypts only, it was thriving so well.All I had was a DIY CO2 and I added some Sera tablet fertilisers only. So i guess comparing to this 5x2x2 tank now, I can see the difference in growth! So maybe I thought by adding some of these specific elements I might get some better results!,,but im not sure what elements I need or how to go about it! And also its quite annoying adding weekly liquid fertilisers. I bought the Aquamaster 500ml for only $12.,,Dosing according to the label, it will only last me 10 weeks!,,,so may aswell get those elements in bulk might be cheaper! Any advice u guys have would be very helpful!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett4Perth Posted May 2, 2005 Share Posted May 2, 2005 Hi Goldfish, I suggest you read Clint's page and consider the Barr method? Clints pages Cheers Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grungefreek Posted May 3, 2005 Share Posted May 3, 2005 OK, U haven't posted any water tests, so its a bit hard to tell what u may need. The kits i think a planted enthusiast needs is Nitrates, phosphates, KH and pH. So u may well need to add nitrates, but until u know what levels they are currently at, its a bit hard to dose. Same goes with phosphate, cause there is no point having sufficient nitrates and then no phosphates, will lead to trouble everytime. For KH, well u posted your pH, but without a KH reading, its impossible to tell what CO2 level your tank is currently at. Now for your lighting. Calculating it out, it appears u would have ~1.5 watts per gallon. This is generally considered low light, and generally the addition of CO2 and extra ferts other than traces is unnesscary. I know the watts/gallon rule breaks down in big tanks, but i thought u would at least 2-2.5 watts to benefit from CO2 injection. Brett might be able to give better insight into the lighting, as i haven't had much experience with large tanks like yours. Definately do some more reading in the site brett gave and also Chucks Planted Tank. There is also the specialty forum There was also another great planted tank resource, "plantedtank.com", but unfortunately due to a stupid idiot store owner who is sueing the owner of the site, it no longer exists i dont think. Read about the idiot on chucks site. Grunge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punie Posted May 4, 2005 Share Posted May 4, 2005 Here's my take on the issue, based on the little 5 years experience i've had keeping planted tanks, hope that if i've made a mistake someone will correct me. KN03, KH2P04, Mg2S04 can be introduced into aquariums as dry stock chemicals. UNLESS you overdose (and massively), there are no ill effects to your tanks. Excess nutrients DO NOT cause algae outbreaks. It has been proven in a controlled experiment by Tom Barr. Lighting is no issue when it comes to C02 uptake. The only thing that gets affected is the nutrient uptake by your plants. Basically, The more light you have the faster they take in nutrients*. If you use the ESTIMATIVE INDEX by Tom Barr (Estimative Index in Layman's Terms), you'll find it beneficial, as i did. However the key thing to note on this is that C02 MUST be kept at 30 - 45ppm during photoperiods. This means unless you've got super control over your DIY mixture, go for a pressured setup. Basically, what the EI argues is that excess nutrients do not cause algae so dose the specified amount safely. It'll only work if your C02 is within 30 - 45ppm. I've personally tried ODing to try, no algae whatsoever. But a water change at the end of the week is a must to reset the values. Also, on the Dry chemicals, i've been using them for years and so have you, just that it's mixed with the NPK premixed ferts you've been using. Farmers use it, Hydro hobbyists use it, and so do planted tankers. We (ASWA forrumers) over at perth recently bought a bulk which allows us to workout about $20 for 500gm each of: KN03, KH2P04 and Mg2S04, much cheaper than what you would get if even possible at that small amount. Let me know if you guys need any we may have some left over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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