Dry ferts- KN03 question

[kenshinH]

What is the importance of KNO3 in plants? i am doing the EI method of dosing (NPK,Plantex) but every time i dose my tank the nitrate shoots up from 10 to 40ppm. In my oscar tank above 20ppm of nitrate is not good i don't know about planted tanks. Is it possible not to include the KN03? my tank has a steady reading of nitrate of 5 to 10ppm.

BTW i do WC once a week to reset the tank.

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

How big is your planted tank? Are you sure you measured out the correct amount of KNO3? When you do your water change how much are you doing? Are you using dry or liquid fertilizers?

KNO3 is potassium nitrate which plants need some source of nitrogen hence the NPK Nitrogen-Phosphate-Poatassium, whether it's potassium nitrate, or calcium nitrate. But it sounds like you may be dosing too much nitrate to your tank, this is why I use only dry fertilizers because I use a micro-gram/gram/ounce digital scale to measure out the exact amount of each fertilizer to dose in my tank. Here's a good calculator that's I use for how much of each fertilizer to measure out...

http://calc.petalphile.com/


If you use this calculator make sure to select estimative index for it then select which fertilizer to get how much your tank needs, and how often you should dose it.


Here's my dosing regime

Mon - NPK macros
Tues - Micros (plantex csm+b)
Weds -NPK macros
Thurs - Micros (plantex csm+b)
Fri - NPK macros
Sat - Micros (plantex csm+b)
Sun - 50% water change

 

[fishbum]

KNO3 is potassium nitrate. That might explain the increase in your nitrate reading. 40ppm of nitrate is not going to hurt your fish. If you are keeping an oscar with live plants, you may not have a planted tank forever anyway.

 

[kenshinH]

How big is your planted tank? Are you sure you measured out the correct amount of KNO3? When you do your water change how much are you doing? Are you using dry or liquid fertilizers?

KNO3 is potassium nitrate which plants need some source of nitrogen hence the NPK Nitrogen-Phosphate-Poatassium, whether it's potassium nitrate, or calcium nitrate. But it sounds like you may be dosing too much nitrate to your tank, this is why I use only dry fertilizers because I use a micro-gram/gram/ounce digital scale to measure out the exact amount of each fertilizer to dose in my tank. Here's a good calculator that's I use for how much of each fertilizer to measure out...

http://calc.petalphile.com/


If you use this calculator make sure to select estimative index for it then select which fertilizer to get how much your tank needs, and how often you should dose it.


Here's my dosing regime

Mon - NPK macros
Tues - Micros (plantex csm+b)
Weds -NPK macros
Thurs - Micros (plantex csm+b)
Fri - NPK macros
Sat - Micros (plantex csm+b)
Sun - 50% water change

My tank is 75gal i follow the EI dosing for 40-60gallons
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forum...pdated-10-10&p=1257519&viewfull=1#post1257519


I am using dry ferts that i got from here http://www.bobstropicalplants.com/shop/en/fertilizers/15-csmb-nkp-combo-pack.html

 

[kenshinH]

KNO3 is potassium nitrate. That might explain the increase in your nitrate reading. 40ppm of nitrate is not going to hurt your fish. If you are keeping an oscar with live plants, you may not have a planted tank forever anyway.

I don't have plants in my oscar tank i am just used to low nitrate because of my oscars, i ask the question because i am bit worried about my community of fish in my planted, just not used to high nitrate.

 

[HybridHerp]

What I would say, is that you should add some hygrophilia of some sort to your tank, because those plants LOVE extra KNO3. But you could always measure your nitrates and adjust your dosing accordingly. EI is an estimate, and provides more than needed by your plants....eventually your figure out what works best for your plants by tweeking things slowly, and even then, as plants grow and are removed more tweaking can be done.