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Alternative (Cheaper!) Sources For EI Salts?

jagillham

jagillham

Member
Joined
6 May 2015
Messages
343
Location
Kent (UK)
Hi,

I'm looking for alternative sources for the EI salts and wondered if any of these were suitable...

500g Mono potassium phosphate - fertilizer high grade! (£4.49)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AU6MAAW

1kg 1000g Saltpetre min.99.8%-assay! Potassium nitrate (£6.99)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B010GB4GWA

1kg Magnesium Sulphate food grade! (Epsom salt) organic 100% pure (£3.79)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VPITEU8

P+P for the lot would be £12.50 - and I think I'd need to get the 'Chelated Trace Elements' from APF or similar.

I think there is money to be saved, but unsure what is 'aquarium safe'?
 
Well I make your cheaper source £30.66 (P&P is £15.39).

AquariumPlantFood.co.uk will do the same amounts for £24.70 +£7 P&P total £31.70.

Hardly cheaper.

I know which I would get after hearing so many stories about Ebay chemicals not being what they claim to be.
 
Hi all,
jagillham said:
I'm looking for alternative sources for the EI salts and wondered if any of these were suitable...
Click to expand...
Food grade is fine, I'm pretty sure they will be the pukka item.
ian_m said:
AquariumPlantFood.co.uk will do the same amounts for £24.70 +£7 P&P total £31.70.
Click to expand...
I'm with Ian, APF can source chemicals that might be of interest to us (like magnesium nitrate), but not to cooks etc.

It is in our interest to put the business through specialist sellers, because if we don't there won't be any.

cheers Darrel
 
jagillham said:
1kg Magnesium Sulphate food grade! (Epsom salt) organic 100% pure
Click to expand...

But no analytical lab will find any compound to be "100%" pure ...

and if you click on the accompanying certificates of analysis, the Mg SO4 is certified halal (not the same as organic in my lexicon) & not 100% anything & has been repackaged from the original 25kg bag (so likely not even halal anymore)

If you keep shrimp or sensitive fish, you want to be very careful of tank additives, especially those used long term.
 
How can MgSO4 be "organic". It is an inorganic salt either mined directly or from drying mineral springs, especially like those in Epsom...which is why it is call Epsom salts.
 
That was the first thing that caught my attention on that MgSO4 ... premium grade MgSO4 is synthetic, organic anything is least likely to be 100% "pure"
 
ian_m said:
Well I make your cheaper source £30.66 (P&P is £15.39).

AquariumPlantFood.co.uk will do the same amounts for £24.70 +£7 P&P total £31.70.

Hardly cheaper.
Click to expand...

Not sure I agree with your maths...

Potassium Phosphate KH2PO4 (500g)
Amazon - £4.49
APF - £6.00

Potassium Nitrate KNO3 (1kg)
Amazon - £6.99
APF - £11.00

Magnesium Sulphate MgSO4 (1kg)
Amazon - £3.79
APF- £7.20

Total:
Amazon - £15.27 (£12.50 P&P) = £27.77
APF - £24.20 (£9.99 P&P) = £34.19

Saving £6.42. Plus this would be more if ordering bigger batches. Some of the above can buy upto 25kg buckets!
 
Got from APFUK this time around in the end as completely run out of 2 salts so in a rush. I see they lurking on this thread. May I suggest you guys look at the option of selling bigger packs or in ratios closer to the standard EI dosing please? I'd happily buy a bundle if two didn't run out when the other two are still half full. :)
 
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