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Re: [APD] PMDD: What's Potassium Sulfate used for



WC,

My comments below.

> controlling algae in Planted Aquaria. And I'm curious
> why they listed Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4) in the PMDD
> ingredient list? Specifically, what is the Sulfate
> part of compound good for.

Sulphur is an important part of most proteins and is used in some other
biological compounds.

> Since I couldn't find Potassium Nitrate or Potassium
> Sulfate near my area, I decided to tweak the PMDD
> formula and replace the those 2 ingredients with the
> following
>
> muriate of potash K20 - Potassium supplement

Do not even think about this one. It will immediately react with water:
K2O + H2O -> 2 KOH
KOH is a very strong base and will raise your pH significantly and
immediately. Most likely result - your fish will die and the plants too.

> Nitrate of Soda NaNO4 - Nitrogen supplement

Even though there in no direct harm in this one it will raise the salinity
of the water and will cause Potassium deficiency. The reason we use
Potassium in most of the nutrients is because cells of the living organisms
have higher concentration of potassium (K) than sodium (Na) so for the plant
to grow you must provide enough K while Na is not that important. Also
hobbyists agree that slightly excessive potassium concentration is generally
harmless while excess in sodium can have adverse effects on fish (maybe
plants too).
Every time you prune your plans you remove a good portion of potassium,
nitrate (NO4) and everything else you added before.

Good luck.

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