Another nitrate additive question

[reefmutt]

Hey, in my attempt to reduce po4 by adding nitrate, (and to keep measurable n in the system for the acroporas) I have been using kno3 (seachem Flourish Nitrogen) and a cano3 granular product.
Both work fine but one increases potassium and the other calcium.
I don't really have easy access to sodium nitrate..
I found another seachem product in the Aqua Vitro line. It's called Synthesis- like Flourish, it's another product geared for freshwater planted tanks..

Link: http://www.aquavitro.com/products/synthesis.html

Here are the the ingredients:


Not being a chemist, I just want to make sure it doesn't have any red flags for anybody..
Having ammonia in it, I acknowledge I'll have to be more careful with additions..
I have always gathered that ammonia is a better food source than nitrate for corals so I'm hoping they will be better served by his product than the k or cano3 additives..

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance..

 

[dkeller_nc]

As long as you're very careful to correctly calculate how much ammonia you're adding at one time, you should be OK with that product, though I'm not sure how much information is out there with regards to the effect of urea on corals.

I'd think that sodium nitrate would be fairly readily available in its pure form, since its a common (and necessary) preservative for cured meat products.

If that's not the case in Canada, you might be able to source some pure janitorial ammonia. And as with the synthesis product, as long as you're exceedingly careful to calculate how much ammonia you're adding at one time (and generally not exceed a 0.5 ppm - 1 ppm "dose"), you should be OK.

 

[reefmutt]

Thanks very much for info.
I'll use caution.
But you're right, I'll look a little deeper into sodium nitrate.

 

[bertoni]

I found a sodium nitrate product, food grade, at one point, and thought that might be a good approach. Even sodium nitrite would be a bit safer than ammonia-base products.

 

[reefmutt]

Yeah, I hear you...
I will think twice about adding ammonia...
Thanks, I appreciate the responses!

 

[bertoni]

You're welcome. Good luck!

 

[FullBoreReefer]

Something like this...?

http://www.amazon.com/Sodium-Nitrat..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=0Q7PGVA66ZJP5KQQ1TRS

 

[bertoni]

That likely will be fine. I'd give it a shot.

 

[reefmutt]

How about this?
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00C2...um+nitrate&dpPl=1&dpID=51w6OMZ5HlL&ref=plSrch
I hope the link is allowed..
It's for curing meat, as was suggested above and ships to me.
6.25% sodium nitrate and 93.75% salt..
Question: will this product disrupt my ionic balance? I do 10% wcs weekly and wet skim..
Thanks!

 

[FullBoreReefer]

How about this?
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B00C2...um+nitrate&dpPl=1&dpID=51w6OMZ5HlL&ref=plSrch
I hope the link is allowed..
It's for curing meat, as was suggested above and ships to me.
6.25% sodium nitrate and 93.75% salt..
Question: will this product disrupt my ionic balance? I do 10% wcs weekly and wet skim..
Thanks!

Not even talking chemistry here, but that pink color cannot be good.

 

[reefmutt]

Not even talking chemistry here, but that pink color cannot be good.

Yeah.. Having never seen sodium nitrate, I wasn't sure it wasn't just normal that way..
Hm..

 

[bertoni]

The pink color is from a dye. I'd stay away from that product.

 

[reefmutt]

Thank you! Good to know. I won't order it.