Nick potts
Member
I only keep neocaridina, and Ca and Mg would be around 15ppm/6ppm, though I don't test.
I do feed a lot, both to the tank in general and specifically the shrimp who get a mixed feed daily of different shrimp foods.
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About making liquid gh booster
- Thread starter mrtank50
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I do feed a lot, both to the tank in general and specifically the shrimp who get a mixed feed daily of different shrimp foods.
I assume one reason is solubility and the other one is unknown. maybe we should ask someone who is afraid of high SO4, i myself don't like adding S or Cl in excess as i prefer low TDS and clean water.
here is what you are adding when you add CaNO3:
X3NiTH
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The reason I target a low range for sulphate is to reduce the incidence of hydrogen sulphide production from the breakdown of sulphate in any anoxic zones in substrate sediments.
The Source of Hydrogen Sulphide in Anoxic Sediments
The Source of Hydrogen Sulphide in Anoxic Sediments
X3NiTH
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The levels do not have to be excessive, I had a nano tank with shrimp where there was a cm or two of Tropica Plant Soil over a half cm of Tropica Plant Soil Powder that turned into a Hydrogen Sulphide gas factory, the remineralisation mixture in use was BeeShrimp Mineral GH+ which is composed of 16.91% Sulphate. The Catalyst for the production of Hydrogen Sulphide gas was a generous sprinkling of BacterAE on the bottom tank glass before any plant soils were added. The conditions were bad enough that it outright killed a Pygmy Pea Puffer that liked to dig in the substrate for snails, must have taken a face full, totally fine then suddenly dead. Took me a while to figure out what happened at first then when the Aquarium didn’t pass the sniff test I went stirring in the substrate and immediately released visible pockets of gas with the unmistakable repulsive odour that Hydrogen Sulphide has.
MichaelJ
Member
I am sorry about your loss there @X3NiTHThe levels do not have to be excessive, I had a nano tank with shrimp where there was a cm or two of Tropica Plant Soil over a half cm of Tropica Plant Soil Powder that turned into a Hydrogen Sulphide gas factory, the remineralisation mixture in use was BeeShrimp Mineral GH+ which is composed of 16.91% Sulphate. The Catalyst for the production of Hydrogen Sulphide gas was a generous sprinkling of BacterAE on the bottom tank glass before any plant soils were added. The conditions were bad enough that it outright killed a Pygmy Pea Puffer that liked to dig in the substrate for snails, must have taken a face full, totally fine then suddenly dead. Took me a while to figure out what happened at first then when the Aquarium didn’t pass the sniff test I went stirring in the substrate and immediately released visible pockets of gas with the unmistakable repulsive odour that Hydrogen Sulphide has.
Given the catalyst added, and perhaps other adverse conditions such as lack of flow throughout the substrate, I think the situation you describe might be a bit of an outlier. In any event, it is very valuable to know and adds to the pile of concerns that makes me lying awake at night... Thanks for that 
. I am trying to understand more about the short term / long term interactions between the chemicals we are adding to our tanks which I think should be better understood by the Chemistry-challenged people among us, including myself.Cheers,
Michael
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Hi all,
cheers Darrel
Fertiliser grade is usually "Nitrochalk" <"calcium ammonium nitrate">. You can get calcium nitrate tetrahydrate (Ca(NO3).2H20) as a salt, but it is a potential explosive so may be covered by legislation in some Countries.
cheers Darrel
MichaelJ
Member
Well, that might explain why I don't get a lot of hits on Amazon US when I search for that particular compound.
Since you used the word explosive.... note to the Analyst at the NSA who are intercepting and analyzing this: This is an Aquarium forum - we concern ourselves with plants and animals that lives in glass containers filled with water. While we are strange, we are also perfectly harmless and safe... for now at least
Cheers,
Michael
Wookii
Member
We seem to be able to get it alright over here:
It’s magnesium nitrate I can’t seem to find - those I have found listed as magnesium nitrate seem to have SO4 content?
X3NiTH
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This would suggest that it may be derived from mixing Magnesium Sulphate and Calcium Nitrate, the Sulphate content will be the amount of Calcium Sulphate that remains in the solution when it is separated from the Calcium Sulphate precipitate. The ionic solution of Magnesium, Nitrate, Calcium and Sulphate that remains could go through a further process to selectively exchange the Calcium ion (for Magnesium?) leaving only Magnesium, Nitrate and the Sulphate.
The amount of Sulphate will be low in this compound, if there’s a content analysis available it might be helpful to post the Sulphate percentage.
If using this compound and targeting for Nitrate then the Sulphate content will be low to negligible, if targeting for Magnesium content then the Sulphate content will be even lower.
In my search for salts I managed to buy calcium nitrate tetrahydrate as a source of NO3. Getting KNO3 is completely out of question in Germany. It is also possible to buy magnesium nitrate for agriculture use, but that is mixed with other compounds. Otherwise, magnesium nitrate hexahydrate is extremely expensive (laboratory grade). Below are the specifications of the calcium nitrate salt I got. It has only residual Cl and SO4.
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Im on all the fun lists! 😄
Ah I didnt know they were stricter in Germany than in Norway with this
We have two lists of chemicals, the first one is the no-no-no list and the second one is "We'll be watching you closely" list. Is there not a system like that in Germany? For me KNO3 was on the second list so I took the chance and havent gotten any scary phonecalls yet. I figure if they do call on me I will invite them round to view my tank and discuss why ammonia dosing isnt straight forward in aquariums with fish.
Wookii
Member
This would suggest that it may be derived from mixing Magnesium Sulphate and Calcium Nitrate, the Sulphate content will be the amount of Calcium Sulphate that remains in the solution when it is separated from the Calcium Sulphate precipitate. The ionic solution of Magnesium, Nitrate, Calcium and Sulphate that remains could go through a further process to selectively exchange the Calcium ion (for Magnesium?) leaving only Magnesium, Nitrate and the Sulphate.
The amount of Sulphate will be low in this compound, if there’s a content analysis available it might be helpful to post the Sulphate percentage.
If using this compound and targeting for Nitrate then the Sulphate content will be low to negligible, if targeting for Magnesium content then the Sulphate content will be even lower.
This is the only stuff I could find in a smaller quantity, and is described as “Magnesium Sulphate with Nitrogen”:
1900g GARDEN MAGNESIUM NIRTRATE =MAGNESIUM SULPHATE WITH NITROGEN 11-0-0 16 MG | eBay
Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1900g GARDEN MAGNESIUM NIRTRATE =MAGNESIUM SULPHATE WITH NITROGEN 11-0-0 16 MG at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
The only other stuff I could see is this, but I don’t really want 25kg:
Nova Magnesium Nitrate - 11-0-0+15.4mg- 25kg - Agrigem
www.agrigem.co.uk
Im not quite sure if this is a helpful link because im not quite following the thread, but have you looked at Loudwolf (Magnesium Nitrate) ?
I considered ordering from them once on one of my journeys down a rabbithole.
I didnt end up ordering that time so I cant vouch for the site but they seem to sell a lot of useful stuff in convenient quantities.
(For anyone from the Norwegian Police Security Service reading this, when I say useful I mean for making really nerdy custom fertilizer recipes and strictly that)
"Technical grade" (or above) KNO3 is on on the no-no-no list and cannot be sold to private customers and only registered companies can buy it. The versions that are available are mostly agriculture use are mixed with a significant amount of other substances (and you need to buy bags of 25Kg or so). You can also try to buy KNO3 as food preservative (E252) but this is not straightforward as a private customer and you will always end up in the "we'll be watching you closely" list. I also got into that list because of my 1Kg of CaNO3Im on all the fun lists! 😄
Ah I didnt know they were stricter in Germany than in Norway with this
But CaNO3 and MgNO3 are sold with less restrictions The store where I bought the CaNO3 also sells MgNO3 but they only had the expensive high purity version. Otherwise, CaNO3 and MgNO3 can be bought after your ID is verified.
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Wookii
Member
Wookii
Member
"Technical grade" (or above) KNO3 is on on the no-no-no list and cannot be sold to private customers and only registered companies can buy it. The versions that are available are mostly agriculture use are mixed with a significant amount of other substances (and you need to buy bags of 25Kg or so). You can also try to buy KNO3 as food preservative (E252) but this is not straightforward as a private customer and you will always end up in the "we'll be watching you closely" list. I also got into that list because of my 1Kg of CaNO3
It’s a strange one as KNO3 is easily obtainable in the UK:
Potassium Nitrate 99.5% ACS
Restricted to Professional Users – A declaration of use will need to be completed and approved prior to shipment of any order placed – This product is not available for Customer Collection. It is a…
apcpure.com
It would be indeed strange if these laws and regulations made any sense
plantnoobdude
Member
