# Planted Tanks > Fertilisation and Algae >  KNO3 available

## Sleepy_lancs

Hi All,

Just to let you know if you are looking to get KNO3, it is going to be available soon only in solution form. It will be available HPC from next week onwards  :Laughing: . Hope this is a good news for all.

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## flick

sounds good! where/what is HPC?

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## aquarius

Great news..... Thanks for the updates!

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## Sleepy_lancs

> sounds good! where/what is HPC?


Oh.. I thought everyone knows... Lushgro provider.  :Smile: 

Anyway, it's Hydroponics & Plant Care Pte Ltd
Block 461#01-79 Crawford Lane, Crawford Court, Singapore 190461

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## aquarius

By the way I heard that Nature Aquarium might be carrying it ~ I presume HPC will be supplying them?? Anyway do call NA first before going over.

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## felix_fx2

normally NA got carry their lushgro range.

liquid form if concentrated like lushgro will be best

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## Suzerolt

I understand that Dr Malick's permit allow him sell the diluted liquid form at 10% concentration.
Adding 10ml to 100L of water will give 38ppm K & 62ppm NO3 Nitrogen.

I got a 1L bottle several months back. Very happy with it.

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## flick

> Oh.. I thought everyone knows... Lushgro provider. 
> 
> Anyway, it's Hydroponics & Plant Care Pte Ltd
> Block 461#01-79 Crawford Lane, Crawford Court, Singapore 190461



Thanks for the info!

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## Shadow

How much do they sell from 10% solution?

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## milk_vanilla

Interesting, is that available on their online store?

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## AQMS

Really? cant find it on their website..

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## Suzerolt

I don't think its available on the online store. As far as I know, only available from his Crawford shop.
Call him to mix for you before heading down.

Price is shown in the image below.

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## ltsai

I use CaNO3 as a replacement. Bought online.

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## felix_fx2

> I don't think its available on the online store. As far as I know, only available from his Crawford shop.
> Call him to mix for you before heading down.
> 
> Price is shown in the image below.


update, Na don't have for now. until they send him. but he seems to be aware already. just dropped by na refill standby co2.

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## Sleepy_lancs

Okay. Based on this new information of ppm. How do we dose if we follow EI?

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## milk_vanilla

Never use this, looking at dosage. 1 - 1.2ml for 100l tank should be considered EI method


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## barmby

Great! Though...

I never have luck/skills/etc with just simply dosing KNO3 for N, KH2PO4 for P and K2SO4 for K, and etc. 

Pre-mix lushGro Aqua still work best for me.

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## aquanick

i wrote to mallicks and they responded back stating KNO3 is available only in liquid form and only in a 1L package. And the price is higher than that image shows..  :Very Happy:

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## Sleepy_lancs

> Never use this, looking at dosage. 1 - 1.2ml for 100l tank should be considered EI method
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Hi Milk_Vanilla,
Just wondering what you meant by Never use this. Are you saying that we should not use this product or you are saying you have not used this product?.

Thanks for the calculations. Very much appreciated.

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## milk_vanilla

Hi Sleepy,

i never use this. Sorry for being ambiguous.


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## Sleepy_lancs

It's okay. I was trying to clarify so that we don't get mistaken. Thanks for the updates.

I forgot to ask about your calculation. When you say 1 - 1.2ml you mean per dose or for that week? Just want to very sure I understand you correctly.

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## milk_vanilla

Sleepy, 

Per dosage. Well Tom Barr (founder) suggest to have 20ppm or more N per week, 
30 ppm or more K per week 
and 2 ppm or more P per week

But those are just guidelines, anyone could customize the dose according to your tank needs.

When i started EI, i use that for my starting point. You could lower or higher the dosage by monitoring the plants behavior. Trial and error basically.



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## Phillipians

> Great! Though...
> 
> I never have luck/skills/etc with just simply dosing KNO3 for N, KH2PO4 for P and K2SO4 for K, and etc. 
> 
> Pre-mix lushGro Aqua still work best for me.


Actually on the contrary, I dose Aqua + Micros and also separately in mid week add Urea, K2SO4 to get that little bit more of N and K as I have APP(Elatine Tiandra), a nitrate monster.

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## Phillipians

With KNO3, its even better. Got K and N together.

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## Sleepy_lancs

> Sleepy, 
> 
> Per dosage. Well Tom Barr (founder) suggest to have 20ppm or more N per week, 
> 30 ppm or more K per week 
> and 2 ppm or more P per week
> 
> But those are just guidelines, anyone could customize the dose according to your tank needs.
> 
> When i started EI, i use that for my starting point. You could lower or higher the dosage by monitoring the plants behavior. Trial and error basically.
> ...


Ahh... okay. Per dose. Thanks. I got it. Then I can estimate. My tank is rather weird, low light with CO2 injection so I need to figure how much to dose. Currently using Lushgro series and I thought if NO3 is available I can easily follow the EI method to take out the guessing. Hmm... Anyone has the calculator for Lushgro series or point me to a place I can download the correct version of the calculator? I saw 2 versions and I can't tell which is the updated version

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## Suzerolt

This is the link to Lushgro Aqua Excel 

I use this excel in conjunction with this online calculator : http://calc.petalphile.com/

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## Sleepy_lancs

Thanks for the calculator, Gosh I dose too low for EI. I need 3x of lushgro dose. Hmm.

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## aquarius

From the photo, it looks like light is able to penetrate into the bottle.....  :Surprised:  From my understanding, fertilisers should be kept in a dark bottle, otherwise it'll spoil very fast. Am I missing something??

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## Sleepy_lancs

Just don't sun the bottles.  :Smile: 

Jokes aside. Well yes it is true however, if he uses those special bottles, it will bring his cost up so guess who pays for those "upgrades". I just keep mine in the cabinet and take out whenever I use it. After all, I run through my bottle quite quickly.. Sigh...

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## limz_777

> From the photo, it looks like light is able to penetrate into the bottle.....  From my understanding, fertilisers should be kept in a dark bottle, otherwise it'll spoil very fast. Am I missing something??


should be ok if store indoors , ada and borneo wild fertilisers are packaged in clear bottles too

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## barmby

For this reason, we have black trash bag to prevent the garbage from being spoilt..

_I promise that I will not sleep in science class_

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## Sleepy_lancs

For those people planning to get the KNO3 liquid form... well. bad news... The police has gave him a new warning. He can now only sell it at 5% concentration. And the cost of the bottle to us is the same!!!!! That's means you are paying for the same price but getting half the amount of NO3 (Labour Cost)!!!!  :Crying:  :Knockout:

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## aquarius

:Evil:   :Evil: 

I read on Seachem's bottle that the Total N is 1.5%....... When you say 5% concentration, is it referring to 5% total N?

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## Sleepy_lancs

What it means is in 1L, we get 50,000 ppm. Pure N it would be 7,000ppm.

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## Mookie

Can dose KNo3 to a shrimp tank?

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## Sleepy_lancs

Yes. it is possible. It really depends on what you require. However, I do not suggest you deliver a sudden large dose of high PPM to a shrimp tank. You may want to do it gradually.

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## bennyc

> For those people planning to get the KNO3 liquid form... well. bad news... The police has gave him a new warning. He can now only sell it at 5% concentration. And the cost of the bottle to us is the same!!!!! That's means you are paying for the same price but getting half the amount of NO3 (Labour Cost)!!!!


Aiyo, why like that? who busybody call police.

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## AQMS

> Aiyo, why like that? who busybody call police.


that is why sometimes it is best to keep mum about some things and not share it openly in the forum.

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## Dodofish

> What it means is in 1L, we get 50,000 ppm. Pure N it would be 7,000ppm.


Bro, if it is 50000ppm, what is the ratio between k and n? And does it mean 1ml I get 50ppm?

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## urbach

Instructions from the label 

10ml of solutions to 100litres of water will give 38 ppm K and 62ppm NO3 nitrogen. This is base on 10% KNO3.

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## Dodofish

> Instructions from the label 
> 
> 10ml of solutions to 100litres of water will give 38 ppm K and 62ppm NO3 nitrogen. This is base on 10% KNO3.


Ok thanks bro.


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## Sleepy_lancs

That is 10% concentration. However now you have to half that since its 5% concentration since 10% cannot be sold.

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## bennyc

> That is 10% concentration. However now you have to half that since its 5% concentration since 10% cannot be sold.


Terrorism cause too much problems for us. Now, we can't enjoy the good deal.

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## Dodofish

> Terrorism cause too much problems for us. Now, we can't enjoy the good deal.


Haha. I cant agree more. 

This makes us always 'half priced' but pay full price.

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## milk_vanilla

Still 1L could ever last before you make subsequent purchase , even they reduced to 50%. Compare to Seachem Nitrogen, best saving ever.

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## Sleepy_lancs

For a small tank yes. Not for a large tank. I feel my wallet crying!

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## felix_fx2

> Terrorism cause too much problems for us. Now, we can't enjoy the good deal.


bennyc, understatement... a lot suffer bottlenecks or bans due to terrorism...

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## urbach

If 10% concentration not allowed, why don't they make 9% concentration and sell at the same price. Just a thought.

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## Dodofish

> If 10% concentration not allowed, why don't they make 9% concentration and sell at the same price. Just a thought.


Most likely the restriction dictate the percentage.

But I agree 5% still a good deal.


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## AquaObsession

Last time we used to bulk them in powder..1/2 kg for abt $10 if I'm not wrong....  :Sad: 

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## felix_fx2

> If 10% concentration not allowed, why don't they make 9% concentration and sell at the same price. Just a thought.


bro, if i am the nea people and they really do try sell lower by 1 percent after i give warning. i will think these people trying to be funny, then will become more strict and run random checks on the selling product. If more then 9% issue summon since already warning liao.

5% is better then giving hobbyist only a substitute to use, thou not powdered form But far better then non at all.

just my 50cents...

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## limz_777

is the 5% kno3 cheaper then dosing cano3 and k2so4 ?

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## Sleepy_lancs

Based on what I see it may be still cheaper to dose CANO3 and K2SO4 in the long run however, to me, dosing so much CA (where you may have to soon dose MGSO4 (not calculating the cost) to balance it) compared to KNO3 where K is required as a Macro. I use Seachem Equilibrium to provide both CA and MG in proper level. I have been down the road of too much CA so I will try to stick to KNO3 even though it maybe slightly more expensive.

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## bennyc

> Based on what I see it may be still cheaper to dose CANO3 and K2SO4 in the long run however, to me, dosing so much CA (where you may have to soon dose MGSO4 (not calculating the cost) to balance it) compared to KNO3 where K is required as a Macro. I use Seachem Equilibrium to provide both CA and MG in proper level. I have been down the road of too much CA so I will try to stick to KNO3 even though it maybe slightly more expensive.


Sorry, can educate noob anot? why must balance CA with MG? what are the levels then? Where to read up more? Is it link to EI dosing?

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## Sleepy_lancs

Ahh... I am the Noob here. Anyway, from what I see from my old tanks, when CA/MG becomes too high, it I seeing deficiencies of leaf curling & tip stunting. I have to keep trying to re-balance them. I used to put coral chips to allow CA to get to my tank and I get great growth for some plants (rotala, swords & APP) then left it too long and things gone bad. I believe if you are dosing CAKNO3 following the same dosage of EI for KNO3 then you should be getting somewhere around 10ppm which is still okay as long as you are doing 50% water change but do look at your plants if it's showing leaf curling or deformed, you may have to add a little MGSO4 (too much of this will block CA intake so don't go crazy over this  :Smile:  ) to your dosage.

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## Shadow

Ca *deficiency* cause distorted leaf growth
Mg *overdose* cause distorted leaf growth

Dosing CaNO3 will not cause distorted leaf because no Ca deficiency.

What else can causing distorted leaf? CO2, K and B deficiency. IMO for distorted leaf I would point finger to CO2 and K because these 2 are macro nutrient. The rest are micro nutrient which normally OK as long as you dose trace fert.

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## barmby

Maybe I will up my K2sO4 after reading Shadow advice! no more cupped leaf!!!!!

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## illumnae

No issues with additional Ca - excess will just remain unused and will be removed with your weekly water change per EI instructions. Purpose of this water change is to prevent excess buildup of all chemicals, including Ca. If people in the west who have very hard water (lots of Ca and carbonates in the water) don't have problems, we certainly won't just by using Ca(No3)2!

Also no issues with deficiency of Mg by dosing Ca(No3)2 since you will be dosing GH booster as per EI instructions. GH booster already contains Mg. GH booster also contains some K.

Using Ca(NO3)2 + K2SO4 (I use KCl) is more cost efficient than buying a 5% liquid of KNO3 imo.

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## milk_vanilla

Sorry for out of subject,

How do you get GH booster here in Singapore?

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## illumnae

Seachem Equilibrium or Eiho GH Booster, both quite commonly available. If you can be bothered, you can mix your own using CaSO4, MgSO4 and K2SO4. Recipe can be googled.

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## milk_vanilla

Ah ok, i thought Barr GH booster.

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## barmby

Yes. I was about to say.. Seachem

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## illumnae

Barr GH booster is basically self mix of the 3 sulphates I mentioned in my previous post. Tom Barr gave the mix ratio and I think Greg Watson mixed it up and sold it as a standalone product for convenience. Seachem Equilibrium should use a similar ratio and is the most convenient locally.

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## Shadow

I use Seachem Equilibrium been using it for 7 years and not even half yet  :Laughing: , I just put half teaspoon every water change

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## bennyc

> I use Seachem Equilibrium been using it for 7 years and not even half yet , I just put half teaspoon every water change


Hi shadow bro,
half a teaspoon is for how many liters? Are you using tap water or RO water?

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## Shadow

I'm using tap water. my tank is 3ftx45x45

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