I mistakenly ordered calcium nitrate.

[TonyInVa]

I mistakenly ordered calcium nitrate. I should have ordered sodium nitrate. Is there a use for the calcium nitrate? I need it to raise nitrates.

 

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

 

[Origami]

It's good as a plant fertilizer. The nitrates will really green up the foliage. I wouldn't use it in your tank, though. You'd probably get an explosion of algae and/or cyanobacteria.

[Origami]

If you dose it really slowly, though, the nitrate will be consumed and return one unit of alkalinity to your tank. However, it really depends on the ability of your biological filter to handle the added nitrate.

[TonyInVa]

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Origami]

Hey, Tony, one other thing: Realize that, in what may be an unexpected twist, the two nitrate ions in the calcium nitrate are, when metabolized in the nitrate cycle releases two units of alkalinity. So, calcium nitrate might be considered a balanced additive that gives you BOTH calcium and alkalinity, as well as nitrates. Just be aware that any addition of nitrate to the system will impact alkalinity as it is metabolized.

[TonyInVa]

I wasn't aware of that. I ordered the sodium nitrate, so I will just wait for that.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

[Origami]

16 hours ago, TonyInVa said:

I wasn't aware of that. I ordered the sodium nitrate, so I will just wait for that.
 

 

Yeah. I learned this long ago from Randy Holmes-Farley. The nitrogen cycle actually consumes one unit of alkalinity as ammonia is converted thru nitite to nitrate. That unit is added back in the step from nitrate to nitrogen gas, making the process neutral to alkalinity. For this reason, in tanks that have accumulating (rising) nitrates, where nitrate management is achieved through water changes, you can expect alkalinity to drop or for the calcium-to-alkalinity balance to change in favor of calcium as you effectively abort completion of the nitrogen cycle. Nitrate dosing can do the same thing - effectively add alkalinity over time.

[wangspeed]

2 hours ago, Origami said:

 

Yeah. I learned this long ago from Randy Holmes-Farley. The nitrogen cycle actually consumes one unit of alkalinity as ammonia is converted thru nitite to nitrate. That unit is added back in the step from nitrate to nitrogen gas, making the process neutral to alkalinity. For this reason, in tanks that have accumulating (rising) nitrates, where nitrate management is achieved through water changes, you can expect alkalinity to drop or for the calcium-to-alkalinity balance to change in favor of calcium as you effectively abort completion of the nitrogen cycle. Nitrate dosing can do the same thing - effectively add alkalinity over time.

 

I haven't heard this before! Yet another example of young tank stability issues. I chased my tail for a while on nitrates and alk until things finally stabilized,  mostly on their own.