Stump Remover Caution

[Booswalia]

It turns out that the stump remover I've been using may have sodium thiosulfate, (a reducing agent) in it so that people can't make bombs out if it. (Commonly done to Nitrate products according to Seachems) This is causing my tests to give false readings and the solution turns more orange than pink.

I'm using Later's Stump Remover, made in British Columbia. Anybody else using this brand and if so, are they having problems with their nitrate readings?

It may all be for naught anyway. My tap water has always read close to 10ppm and I believe that's quite possible given that I am surrounded by farms. If my tap water is 10ppm, should/would I ever need to add nitrates to my tank?

[GulfCstAquarian]

With 10ppm NO3 in your tap, I don't see why you'd ever need to add KNO3 at all! Just keep up with weekly water changes, and keep the Phosphate in a neat 1:10 balance with the Nitrates and you should be off to a great start.

If your plants are consuming NO3 that fast, then I'd look into getting pure KNO3 either from www.litemanu.com or from a local hydroponics store.