NO3.... KNO3?...

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mudskippers

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Jun 1, 2007
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Alright, so I am very new to understanding all of this "geek" talk that have to do in relation to planted aquariums....

I'm sure I will have many many questions, but for how, this is one...

Ok, so... NO3 is Nitrates.... what is KNO3??
What exactly dose the K stand for??

I was trying to look it up, this is what I believe I found...

KNO3 is ammonium and Nitrates. Correct??

If so.. what do I want to be dosing just NO3? or KNO3?? I hear that a bit of ammonium is good, but dosing it will cause an algae outbreak..

Here is a quote from some website, (WWW.BARRREPORT.COM....)

"If you add NO3 from KNO3, you will not get any algae bloom, if you add even 1/20th of the ammonium you will get a very intense algae bloom."

So, after reading that, I'm confuesed... do I want to only does NO3? OR do I want to does KNO3???

Thanks in advance...
-Jessica
 

mudskippers

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Oh, ok thanks!

So, what is the quote refering to about ammonium?? is there ammonium in K?

This whole thing has got me quite confused... lol...
 

Sploke

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Potassium is an element...thats all there is, is K in K. Ammonium is NH(4)+, another separate ion. The two don't really have anything to do with each other.
 

Sploke

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I think what that link might be referring to is using nitrate as a fert instead of ammonia/ammonium? The point behind dosing either is as a nitrogen supplement. Most land-plant ferts use ammonium - NH(4)+ as the N component of the fert. However, using ammonium will result in algae issues, whereas using nitrate - NO(3)- does not. I think it has something to do with the ability of algae to metabolize ammonium as a compound faster than plants, whereas for nitrate the opposite is true?
 

mudskippers

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:topic:

hey, you asked me a while back what ferts i used for my planted tank. its kno3, k2so4, and plantex csm. i get my ferts from rex grigg.
WOW, so I hope you dont mind, but, you seem to be the man I need to talk to... lol..

Everthing that I am researching I am going towards using more of an EI method and useing Plantex CSM+B.

If you dont mind, I might send you a PM in a few days, I still have a lot of research to still read....

Thanks,
-Jessica
 

Squawkbert

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Oct 3, 2006
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www.aquaticplantcentral.com
Anionic (negatively charged) radical: Nitrate, NO3, is available paired w/ cationic (positively charged) Potassium (K+), Ammonium (NH4+), and others.
Ammonium Nitrate is popular with farmers, people who need to remove stumps and bomb builders. Potassium Nitrate is for the planted fish tank crowd, among others.

Your plants need potassium, and Ammonium tends to turn into Ammonia if your pH gets too high (Ammonia, NH3, plus a proton, H+ = Ammonium). Keeping your pH down means keeping protons in the water that will protonate Ammonia molecules.
 
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