Calcium Nitrate

[Chuk]

Hey everyone I've come across a deal on reagent grade calcium nitrate Ca(NO3)2 5 lbs for $15 which is about 1/2 the cost of sodium nitrate. I'm wondering if anyone has used that to boost both nitrates and calcium at the same time.
It seems like a win win to me.
I did some rough math and if I mix 100 g of calcium nitrate into 1 L of DI water I would have a ~7500 ppm nitrate solution that also has ~ 2500 ppm Ca. My system is a little over 100 gal so every mL of that solution would raise my nitrates ~0.2 ppm and my Ca should go up 0.006 ppm. I want to dose to about 2.5 ppm nitrate in the tank which would require 12.5 mL of solution and would bump my Ca by 0.075 ppm not a huge move on the Ca front but still would be a bump.

Since I have never dosed nitrate before I thought this might be a chance to help with my Ca dose while getting nitrates to be readable. I would appreciate your thoughts or experience with this.

 

[Chuk]

Sorry I slipped a 0 that should be 10 g of calcium nitrate not 100

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It’s a fine thing to use.

 

[Jase4224]

Hey everyone I've come across a deal on reagent grade calcium nitrate Ca(NO3)2 5 lbs for $15 which is about 1/2 the cost of sodium nitrate. I'm wondering if anyone has used that to boost both nitrates and calcium at the same time.
It seems like a win win to me.
I did some rough math and if I mix 100 g of calcium nitrate into 1 L of DI water I would have a ~7500 ppm nitrate solution that also has ~ 2500 ppm Ca. My system is a little over 100 gal so every mL of that solution would raise my nitrates ~0.2 ppm and my Ca should go up 0.006 ppm. I want to dose to about 2.5 ppm nitrate in the tank which would require 12.5 mL of solution and would bump my Ca by 0.075 ppm not a huge move on the Ca front but still would be a bump.

Since I have never dosed nitrate before I thought this might be a chance to help with my Ca dose while getting nitrates to be readable. I would appreciate your thoughts or experience with this.

I’m going to use this myself, how were the results for you?

 

[Chuk]

I went through ~1/2 my bag of calcium nitrate. My tank had a chaeto die off that sent my nitrates sky high. After that I haven't needed to use it. As for how it worked, once I stopped dosing I didn't notice a dosing difference in the Ca since I use lime. It's definitely not a big boost to the Ca and the math shows that as well but it was cheap. Nitrates came up pretty much in line with the expected concentrations. So all in all for nitrates go for it but dot expect a measurable Ca hit.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

For folks considering calcium nitrate, it is worth noting that there may be substantial ammonia in some brands:

Misconceptions of Calcium Nitrate

I'm doing research into this myself now and what I've found is that everywhere I can find Calcium Nitrate is actually really Ammonium Calcium Nitrate 15.5-0-0, a fertilizer used for plant growth. Even loudwolf's "Calcium Nitrate" is actually this same blend. It says: "Calcium Nitrate has many...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Jase4224]

For folks considering calcium nitrate, it is worth noting that there may be substantial ammonia in some brands:

Misconceptions of Calcium Nitrate

I'm doing research into this myself now and what I've found is that everywhere I can find Calcium Nitrate is actually really Ammonium Calcium Nitrate 15.5-0-0, a fertilizer used for plant growth. Even loudwolf's "Calcium Nitrate" is actually this same blend. It says: "Calcium Nitrate has many...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks for the read Randy. I purchased this product:

LCA Calcium Nitrate 500g Plant Fertiliser - Liverpool Creek Aquariums

The Tech Den Australia is your source for aquarium supplies & fish food. LCA Calcium Nitrate 500g Plant Fertiliser - Liverpool Creek Aquariums. Enjoy Fast Flat Rate postage. Orders ship in 1-2 days.

www.thetechden.com.au

It’s an Aussie fresh water aquarium brand so I hope it’s suitable. I have reached out to them via email regarding a couple of other questions but no response so far.

Do you know how much Calcium Nitrate can be dissolved per 1L (1000ml) of water?

 

[Chuk]

Thanks for the read Randy. I purchased this product:

LCA Calcium Nitrate 500g Plant Fertiliser - Liverpool Creek Aquariums

The Tech Den Australia is your source for aquarium supplies & fish food. LCA Calcium Nitrate 500g Plant Fertiliser - Liverpool Creek Aquariums. Enjoy Fast Flat Rate postage. Orders ship in 1-2 days.

www.thetechden.com.au

It’s an Aussie fresh water aquarium brand so I hope it’s suitable. I have reached out to them via email regarding a couple of other questions but no response so far.

Do you know how much Calcium Nitrate can be dissolved per 1L (1000ml) of water?

anhydrous is 1200 g/L and tetra hydrate is 1290 g/L at 20C according to Perry's

 

[Jase4224]

anhydrous is 1200 g/L and tetra hydrate is 1290 g/L at 20C according to Perry's

Thanks, that’s a lot! How to I know which one I have?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks, that’s a lot! How to I know which one I have?

Unless they tell you, you won't know. I also think it doesn't matter since dosing will end up being by trial and error.

 

[Jase4224]

Unless they tell you, you won't know. I also think it doesn't matter since dosing will end up being by trial and error.

Well I will update this thread with my results

 

[Jase4224]

anhydrous is 1200 g/L and tetra hydrate is 1290 g/L at 20C according to Perry's

Must be correct, I was able to dissolve 500gms of Calcium Nitrate in 500ml of water, I then topped it up with another 250mls of water and this made exactly 1L of solution. So according to Jame’s planted tank calculator, 6ml will raise my 700L tank volume to 3.5ppm of Nitrate.

That’s 167 doses for $30. Very efficient!

 

[Jase4224]

Well turns out that the mix I describe above gives the expected nitrate value in the tank. Using Salifert test kit. I’ll just wait and see how my corals respond.

 

[epicfatigue]

@Jase4224 Hey mate I'm about to order this as there is no other source in Australia, did you test for amonia? How did it work out ?

 

[Jase4224]

Hey bud. I bought it from Aussie freshwater aquarium product brand LCA. I think you can get their stuff through The Tech Den. I mixed the 500grm tub to 750mls water and it’s WAY more concentrated than anything on the market. Very happy with it.

 

[Jase4224]

Also used the monopatassium phosphate, and it literally makes a lifetime supply from 250grm tub. You get something like 4L of extreme concentration. Just keep in mind that my pics are the bottles I put the liquid into and I just used the labels off the tubs.

 

[epicfatigue]

Thanks heaps mate i was about to buy some, how did you go with ammonia ?

 

[HuduVudu]

Hey everyone I've come across a deal on reagent grade calcium nitrate Ca(NO3)2 5 lbs for $15 which is about 1/2 the cost of sodium nitrate. I'm wondering if anyone has used that to boost both nitrates and calcium at the same time.
It seems like a win win to me.
I did some rough math and if I mix 100 g of calcium nitrate into 1 L of DI water I would have a ~7500 ppm nitrate solution that also has ~ 2500 ppm Ca. My system is a little over 100 gal so every mL of that solution would raise my nitrates ~0.2 ppm and my Ca should go up 0.006 ppm. I want to dose to about 2.5 ppm nitrate in the tank which would require 12.5 mL of solution and would bump my Ca by 0.075 ppm not a huge move on the Ca front but still would be a bump.

Since I have never dosed nitrate before I thought this might be a chance to help with my Ca dose while getting nitrates to be readable. I would appreciate your thoughts or experience with this.

I have used this and Magnesium Nitrate and Manganese Nitrate. You aren't going to get very much calcium but you are going to get a lot of nitrate. This is the nature of the beast based on the structure.

IMO this is and Magnesium are the best way to go.

 

[Jase4224]

Thanks heaps mate i was about to buy some, how did you go with ammonia ?

I didn’t even consider ammonia in the equation and not sure how it relates to this product/method? I had no problems in any way and would recommend this as a nitrogen source.

 

[epicfatigue]

I didn’t even consider ammonia in the equation and not sure how it relates to this product/method? I had no problems in any way and would recommend this as a nitrogen source.

Alot of people have reported high amounts of amonia I the calcium nitrate. Some products have a massive amount. I'll purchase some and test and see how I go. I guess it just depends on how much you require to dose