# Can i use hydroponic nutrients in aquarium?



## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Folks have been doing this for the last 20 years.

eg: KH2PO4, KNO3, CMS etc........


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

Take a look at the sticky at the top of the fertilization subforums for a variety of fertilization regimens which use bulk chemicals.


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## [email protected] (Jul 17, 2008)

Yes, but dry ferts are a lot cheaper than liquid hydroponic mixes.


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## Cuchulainn (Nov 2, 2010)

Check the ingredients list. If the product is derived from Ammonium Molybdate, Ammonium Phosphate, e.t.c. and you are planning on keeping fish in said tank-I would advise against it. I have tried a couple different products I have lying around-both producing a huge spike in Ammonia levels(no big surprise there:hihi.
For plants only, It appears it would be great, though I can't speak for long term usage...yet!
Gl~


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## fast93accord (Nov 14, 2010)

heres the stuff i have. 

Guaranteed minimum analysis: Total Nitrogen 2.0% (Ammoniacal Nitrogen 0.1%, Nitrate Nitrogen 1.5%, Other Water Soluble Nitrogen 0.4%); Available Phosphate (P2O5) 2.0%; Soluble Potash 5.0%; Calcium (Ca) 1.0%; Magnesium (Mg) 0.5%; Non-Plant Food Ingredients 0.1% Sodium Silicate. Derived from Ammoniacal nitrate, Ammonium molybdate, Potassium nitrate, Calcium nitrate, Ferric nitrate, Cupric nitrate, Manganese nitrate, Zinc nitrate, Potassium phosphate, Potassium phosphate, Potassium borate, & Magnesium sulfate

Is this usable? or not?


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

Probably not.. The ammonical N will be an issue. It wouldn't be bad if it was under the substrate but floating around could be harmful to the fishes.


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## fast93accord (Nov 14, 2010)

mistergreen said:


> Probably not.. The ammonical N will be an issue. It wouldn't be bad if it was under the substrate but floating around could be harmful to the fishes.


the ammoniacal nitrogen is only .1% though.


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

fast93accord said:


> the ammoniacal nitrogen is only .1% though.


how much will you add into the tank? less than .1 ppm? it might be ok at that concentration. I've heard of people doing that and it seemed to be ok.

I wouldn't do it in large quantity like in a hi-tech situation.


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## Cuchulainn (Nov 2, 2010)

mistergreen said:


> how much will you add into the tank? less than .1 ppm? it might be ok at that concentration. I've heard of people doing that and it seemed to be ok.
> 
> I wouldn't do it in large quantity like in a hi-tech situation.


+1 Agreed. If U can rehouse the fish in the tank. try dosing, then test for Ammonia, U will have your answer. I'm using Hydro nutrients in one fishless tank, it works, but pretty sure it would kill the fishes in no tyme. Theres always other uses for expensive Hydro ferts....U should see my Tomatoes plants come spring!


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I doubt that the ammonia will be a problem, but if you dose to get adequate phosphate you will have far too little nitrogen, and if you dose to get adequate nitrogen you will have too much of the other nutrients. Treat it as a trace mix, and it should work, I think, but you would still need to dose nitrates, phosphates and potassium, so it hardly seems worth the effort.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

mistergreen said:


> Probably not.. The ammonical N will be an issue. It wouldn't be bad if it was under the substrate but floating around could be harmful to the fishes.


The ammoniacal N in this quantity will likely not cause any issues. Plants use up Ammoniacal N much faster than nitrate based N. I have tested at much higher concentrations than .1%. 

Both Pfertz and RootMedic liquid products use Ammoniacal N and I have never heard of anyone having a problem when using responsibly. Obviously, if you dump the bottle in, you're going to have problems. 


I think as hobbyists we here "ammonia" and automatically think in the same manner as 1-2 ppm of ammonia in a non established tank. This just isn't the case in established planted tanks. 

There is little difference between in the substrate and in the water column... it all ends up in the same place unless you have a very tightly packed substrate.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

I also agree with hoppy that the levels provided will do little in terms of meeting the needs of plants in our tanks. Not knowing the levels of Copper, Iron, etc seems more concerning to me. Even in terrestrial plants they are "food" so not sure how they are "Non-Plant Food Ingredients"


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## Cuchulainn (Nov 2, 2010)

So, not all Ammonia is harmful to fish then? Or just not so much in low level p.p.m.? I'm no chemist, just curious.


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## OverStocked (May 26, 2007)

Cuchulainn said:


> So, not all Ammonia is harmful to fish then? Or just not so much in low level p.p.m.? I'm no chemist, just curious.


2 things:
in lower pH, ammonia is less toxic in its ammonium form. At the most minimal levels, our plants use it very fast.


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

Furthermore, in a well-cycled tank the ammonia that the plants don't use is quickly converted to the less toxic nitrate and nitrite.


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## Cuchulainn (Nov 2, 2010)

Good to know. Thanks for clearing this up guys!


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