fizzing ferts

[zenkatydid]

quick question: is k2so4 supposed to fizz when you add it to water? i am using an agricultural grade "sulphate of potash" but am concerned by the fizzing.

 

[JDogg]

quick question: is k2so4 supposed to fizz when you add it to water? i am using an agricultural grade "sulphate of potash" but am concerned by the fizzing.

is there any other ingredients in it?

it should not fizz imo


EDIT: did a little research...
K2SO4 can react violently (fizz???) with Aluminum and Magnesium... do you have high concentrations of either of those in your water? it would also react with an oxidizer like peroxide, in general it is not considered to be very reactive. all that would be in its dry form. once mixed with water it is even less reactive...

 

[zenkatydid]

there are no other ingredients listed. it's a yates brand, i don't know if that helps. i have heard of other people using it in their aquariums, but it just seems wrong...

edit in reply to your edit: i don't have any way of measuring aluminium or magnesium, but they're both in seachem trace. i am mixing the dry k2so4 with a cup of tank water. i did add about .5tsp to my guppy tank 2 days ago and they seem unaffected. do you think it's safe? i can order another compound from my new wonderful fert supplier, i suppose. maybe kcl would be safer.

 

[Purrbox]

I'm using K2SO4, and haven't ever noticed what I would call fizzing. I know that at least one of the ferts tended to develope a bit of a bubblely layer on top after being shaken well, especially within the first few days of being initially made, but I don't remember which one.

If your using tap water to mix it with, there is a possibility that it's having a slight reaction with something in the water. I'm no chemist, so I have no idea what specifically might cause it. A quick test to mix it with some RO or deionized water would help to either rule in or rule out that possibility.

 

[Zezmo]

I have had a fizzing reaction when mixing that stuff with my other macros, and my Gh booster in a bottle all at the same time.

That was in the mix bottle, not the tank. That is a fert I always dose on it's own.

 

[maxwell1295]

I have had a fizzing reaction when mixing that stuff with my other macros, and my Gh booster in a bottle all at the same time.

That was in the mix bottle, not the tank. That is a fert I always dose on it's own.

That makes sense, since the the GH booster probably contains magnesium (epsom salt).

 

[zenkatydid]

ok, well my fish haven't reacted badly to it since dosing it a few days ago, and since it's most likely a harmless al/mg reaction, i'm going to keep using it. i'm thinking there could be trace amounts of al/mg in the dry mix that reacts with the k2so4 when it hits the water.

edit: i have just got through to the yates infoline, who has said there is nothing else in it apart from k2so4. they suggested it might be the sulphate that was fizzing... but i don't think the girl i spoke to knew much about chemistry

 

[JDogg]

well a little simple chemistry... K2SO4 + Mg/Al + H2O assuming those are the chemicals involved... the only products you would get from a reaction MIGHT be some heat, MAY H2 Gas or O2 Gas both are technically flammable, but would not be in very large quantities. the K2 and SO4 are going to separate into separated ions in the Water so i do not see any dangerous new compounds being formed.

i am not a chemist, i have had a year and 1/2 of some basic chemistry, unless i am missing something i do not see anything chemically speaking that would worry me