Dosing a tank.... how to

[sardesign]

Can anyone help me out?

I'm a bit nervous with purified chemicals because I've seen a bottle in a chemistry class blow up and almost take out someone's eye How should I dose KNO3 and K2SO4 in the purified state? Do I just add to the aquarium water and dissolve it before I pour it into the tank? What is the best way to store these chemicals? Right now they are sitting in the bag they came in. I would prefer to put them in a plastic (or glass) container that I know will not rip.

Here is another question... it's almost impossible to find anyone that sells these chemicals to individuals. Anyone know of a good site?

 

[beviking]

Gregwatson.com

The best way is to mix a stock solution. Check out the ferts sticky at the top of the plants forum page for lots of good info (if you haven't already).

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/ has a calculator so you can figure out [how much of a particular compound] to mix with [how much water] so that dosing [1 ml of that mix] will give you ["x" ppm of the aforementioned compound].

As long as you don't mix up gallons at a time, you can store it under the aquarium in the cabinet. Just keep them out of reach of small children .

 

[happychem]

KNO3 and K2SO4 are essentially harmless, neither will blow up (unless you make black powder ). As a side note - that's why we wear goggles, it's not just for the sex appeal!

Use the calculator to figure out how much to add. Sometimes you can't make a stock solution to convenient concentration - it depends on tank size and the fertillizer. For your 2 20 gallon tanks you can make a solution of KNO3 so that each mL of solution will raise tank NO3 by 1 ppm, then just use a little 5 mL syringe for dosing.

For dry compounds that don't mix conveniently (it's just a matter of taste, really, I don't want to have to make several gallons of solution and add litres to my tank), just measure out the appropriate amount and dissolve it in a cup or two of water before adding it directly to the tank - this will keep your fish from eating it.