Potassium nitrate

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What is it[edit]

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KNO3 - Potassium Nitrate: Provides Nitrogen (N) and Potassium (K) for feeding aquarium plants.


Quite often in a planted aquarium the plants absorb so much nitrate that it becomes a shortage and limits the growth of the plants. So aquarists add it manually.


To make a typical stock solution add 40g of dry KNO3 powder to 500ml of RO or distilled water and then add 10ml of this per 100L of tank. This will give you a value of 5ppm.


  • One quarter tsp or 1.4g of KNO3 with give you 4.5ppm increase of Nitrate in 190L (50 US gallons) of water.


  • Note too much Nitrate in the aquarium can damage your aquatic animals and any increases in levels of nitrate should be done gradually.


  • See PMDD for more details and suppliers.

Synonyms[edit]

Nitric Acid, potassium salt, salt peter, nitrate of potash.

Warning[edit]

This chemical is hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of eye contact (irritant), of ingestion, of inhalation (lung irritant).

Prolonged exposure may result in skin burns and ulcerations. Over-exposure by inhalation may cause respiratory irritation.

Keep the item away from heat and other chemicals as it may cause explosions. See a MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) for details.

Links[edit]