Quote:
Originally Posted by dwalstad  I do not recommend adding sulfates to NPTs, especially those with a potting soil or organic substrates. H2S generated from sulfates in the anaerobic environment is highly toxic to plant roots.
Chloride is only inhibitory in massive amounts, much less than what you need to add for increasing water hardness. For example, to bring GH up to my water's hardwater levels, you would need to add 30 ppm of CaCl2. This addition would bring with it 60 ppm of chloride. This is 60 mg/l, which is only 0.006% chloride. Plants are inhibited by salt (sodium chloride) at 0.1%.
Bottom Line: The amount of chloride you're adding to get GH up to increase water hardness is much less than what would inhibit plants.
If you have a clay or gravel substrate with no organic matter, CaSO4 will probably cause no problems. But in an NPT with an organic soil, you risk getting reduced plant growth and other problems. |
Diana,
Thanks. My tank is actually a high tech tank but I'm trying to eliminate any ph swing that adding chemicals can occur as its also my shrimp tank. I added about 3/4 tsp of both MgSO4.7H2O and CaCL2 to get my tank 5g up to where I want it atleast by the math (also by the fertilator) no test kit yet. I use the ADA Aquasoil in my tank with pure RO water and needed to add Ca and Mg for my shrimp and snails.
I had a chat with Ray Lucas (Kingfish Services) this weekend and he told me he had done a talk on NPT and was fortuante enough to meet you afterwords.
Thanks for posting your input as everyone is telling me that the Chloride is harmful for the tank. I have 2 lbs of it so I would love to use it.
Craig