Dosing Calcium Nitrate
- Thread starter estrange
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Samala
New member
Well, the commonly available form of calcium nitrate is usually the hydrated salt, Ca(NO3)2 * 4 H20, with 16.5% of the total weight being Ca, 52.5% being nitrate and 31% water in this hydrated molecule. So for every gram of calcium nitrate you dose to the tank you're providing 0.165 g of calcium and 0.525 g of nitrate. Without knowing the volume of the tank (after displacement from rocks and such, an approx guess) its hard to say how this affects the ppm levels of both Ca and nitrate in the tank. You might have another form of this nitrate salt, does the container say tetrahydrate, or other?
If you have many calcium consuming organisms in this system - say calcified macros like Neomeris, Halimeda, Udotea, Penicillus which use more than non-calcified - its possible that their uptake rates will make a dent in the calcium you're supplying. All three situations of supplying too little, just enough and too much calcium are possible here. I would test the tank accordingly for Ca concentrations to determine if you are slowly enriching for Ca or if the levels remain steady or drop.
If there are no heavy calcium users in the tank you might want to reconsider and switch to sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate. Or, continue with calcium nitrate and be sure to make large water changes to keep from reaching levels that are too high. (Say, bump from 10-20% weekly to 30% weekly or so, that's what I'd do at least.)
As a reference, when dosing KNO3, 39% is potassium and 61% is nitrate, so you still have the issue of enriching for another element in the tank and throwing off the normal electrolyte profiles. Again, regular water changes seem to make this a fine situation for the animals I've tried in these systems.
I hope that helps some.
>Sarah
If you have many calcium consuming organisms in this system - say calcified macros like Neomeris, Halimeda, Udotea, Penicillus which use more than non-calcified - its possible that their uptake rates will make a dent in the calcium you're supplying. All three situations of supplying too little, just enough and too much calcium are possible here. I would test the tank accordingly for Ca concentrations to determine if you are slowly enriching for Ca or if the levels remain steady or drop.
If there are no heavy calcium users in the tank you might want to reconsider and switch to sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate. Or, continue with calcium nitrate and be sure to make large water changes to keep from reaching levels that are too high. (Say, bump from 10-20% weekly to 30% weekly or so, that's what I'd do at least.)
As a reference, when dosing KNO3, 39% is potassium and 61% is nitrate, so you still have the issue of enriching for another element in the tank and throwing off the normal electrolyte profiles. Again, regular water changes seem to make this a fine situation for the animals I've tried in these systems.
I hope that helps some.
>Sarah
The_Nexis_One
New member
WooHoo... that's our Sarah bringing the math and chemistry!!!
You go girl!
(and yes, I'm taking notes Teach...)
John.
You go girl!
(and yes, I'm taking notes Teach...)
John.
The_Nexis_One
New member
:rollface:
It's all good
John.
piercho
New member
I don't think that the contribution of Ca++ should throw the alkalinity:calcium ratio out of whack in the tank. Knowing how many moles of Ca you are adding, you could add the appropriate amount of sodium bicarb to balance it (bumping up the sodium side of the Na:Cl ratio...). BUT, unless you are adding a LOT more of this stuff than I think you will , IMO it won't make any difference. There just so much Ca++ in normal seawater to start with.
gentledental4u
Member
anyone else dosing Calcium Nitrate?
