# K2s04



## mdhardy01 (11 Dec 2010)

Bought this by mistake am I still ok to use this 
Have ordered kh2p04 as well once I realised my mistake 
Thanks 
Matt


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (11 Dec 2010)

mdhardy01 said:
			
		

> Bought this by mistake am I still ok to use this
> Have ordered kh2p04 as well once I realised my mistake
> Thanks
> Matt




Matt

No problems as it is Potassium sulphate - you could reduce your quantities of potassium nitrate / magnesium sulphate down slightly and add some of what you have purchased.

Regards
Paul.


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## mdhardy01 (11 Dec 2010)

Hi Paul thanks for that 
Put my mind at rest
I don't dose mgs04 so I take it this will be of  some benefit there?
Matt


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## ceg4048 (12 Dec 2010)

K2SO4 is neither a substitute for KNO3 nor MgSO4 fundamentally because it doesn't provide NO3 or Mg. It would not be wise to reduce your Nitrate dosing just because you have K2SO4.

A better solution is to trade your K2SO4 for something more useful.

Cheers,


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## mdhardy01 (12 Dec 2010)

Hi Clive
I ordered kno3 and by mistake ordered k2so4 instead of kh2p04
I have now ordered this as well
What I wanted to know is can I use the k2so4 as well is there any benefit or do I just leave it got 1kg of is so thought I could use it somehow
My tank is 500l and dose 2tsp kno3 1 tsp kh2po4 as ei 
No mgso4 as hard water area 
Thanks 
Matt


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## Dolly Sprint 16v (12 Dec 2010)

ceg4048 said:
			
		

> K2SO4 is neither a substitute for KNO3 nor MgSO4 fundamentally because it doesn't provide NO3 or Mg. It would not be wise to reduce your Nitrate dosing just because you have K2SO4.
> 
> A better solution is to trade your K2SO4 for something more useful.
> 
> Cheers,




Clive 

So if the above does not contain any of what you have stated - what can it be used for as it seems that it completely useless for a planted tank.

Regards
Paul.


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## dw1305 (12 Dec 2010)

Hi all,
In plant terms it is just a source of potassium - K. This is one of the 3 macro-nutrients for plant growth, so as a K source it is useful, if you were just growing plants, you could just add more nitrogen. The problem comes  because the "normal" nitrogen addition would be ammonium nitrate (NH3NO3), which is 33% N, but unfortunately not really suitable for planted tanks with livestock. 

There are compounds that would substitute for NH3NO3(or the N part of KNO3), but only calcium nitrate (Ca(NO3)2.4H2O)or magnesium nitrate (Mg(NO3)2Â·6H2O) are available and suitable. Of these magnesium nitrate would be much more expensive (if you could find it), and calcium nitrate is usually only available as the "double salt" with ammonia (5Ca(NO3)2.NH4NO3.10H2O). 

This is why people use KNO3 as a nitrogen/potassium source and KH2PO4 as a potassium/phosphorus source. KNO3 contains K = 39, N= 14 and O3 = (16 + 16 + 16) = RMM = 101 so 39/101 = 39% K, but only 14% N. This is why you shouldn't reduce KNO3 if you add more K2SO4.

cheers Darrel


cheers Darrel


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## ceg4048 (12 Dec 2010)

Yep, as noted by Darrel, the reason you would use K2SO4 is ONLY if, in your dosing program you decided to use some other source of Nitrogen. Some people for example have high nitrates in their tap water or occasionally have high stocking, so the Nitrogen is obtained from the tap or from fish waste. If this is the case then you don't need to dose KNO3 but you do still need a source of K+. Therefore K2SO4 is an alternative source of K+ only. What I was saying is that you shouldn't lower the KNO3 dosing just because you have K2SO4 because you could then be low on NO3. We don't really care too much about the Sulphate (SO4) because sulphur is a micronutrient, so we don't need a lot of it. 



			
				mdhardy01 said:
			
		

> What I wanted to know is can I use the k2so4 as well is there any benefit or do I just leave it got 1kg of is so thought I could use it somehow


When I said that you should trade your K2SO4 for something more useful, what I mean is that I can see that your main source of Nitrogen will be the KNO3, which in your case makes the K2SO4 completely redundant. Those people who don't use KNO3 but who still need a source of K will find K2SO4 useful. 

Now, there's no harm in adding it even if you do dose KNO3 and KH2PO4, but there is definitely no advantage so you might as well trade it for something that will make a difference like Trace or more KNO3/KH2PO4. See what I mean?

Cheers,


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## mdhardy01 (12 Dec 2010)

That's great thanks Clive/darrel/Paul
Might just keep hold of it for emergencies as I have fairly high stocking
Levels and fairly high nitrates in my tap as well
I do mix 50/50tap and ro but if I run out in the future I can always 
Use it until my order comes through
Thanks 
Matt


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