Pottasium Nitrate - Pink in color

[sam22sam]

Hi,

I picked up some pottasium nitrate and it is pink in color. Although all references to KNO3 show that is supposed to be a white powder. Could I use this in the aquarium? I am being told that labs color code their chemicals and that is why this is pink in color.

Please advise.

Thanks,
Sam

 

[Biollante]

I am Curious (Yellow) Not (Pink)

Hi Sam,

First being a potted plant I am not all that smart, this answer probably requires a Guru Class Expert.

I have never seen chemicals color coded in the way you describe.

As far as I know Potassium nitrate is moderately reactive (2) oxidizer therefore has a Storage Color Code of Yellow (Reactive). But I am pretty sure that is the label color not the chemical itself.

Biollante

 

[Biollante]

1 Part C12H22O11: 1 Part KNO3 Light It Up!

Hi Sam,

Still not really smart enough to answer the question…but…

Just had a thought, painful experience…

You live in a humid place, so I suppose it is possible the “pink” is an anti-caking agent. I have no idea what that agent might be.

The easiest way I know to test to find out if it is Potassium nitrate is to mix equal parts Potassium nitrate and table sugar and set it on fire.

A couple of grams each should be sufficient, do this outdoors, it should burn vigorously, the flame will be purple-pink range, lots of smoke.

If it is Potassium nitrate with ant-caking agent you can either purify the Potassium nitrate, though first I would test to see if the anti-caking agent is harmful to flora or fauna.

Removing the anti-caking agent or purifying Potassium nitrate is not difficult, just time consuming.

 

[jay sarfati]

Red flag for pink KNO3

KNO3 (dyed pink) is sold as a meat preservative but can be used as a fertilizer. Just make sure it is indeed KNO3, for you can find other pink curing salts on the market that could mess things up.

Two other types of curing salts, used in meat preservation and sausage-making, are both called "Prague powder", and both are also dyed pink to help them blend better with meat and to prevent them from being confused with common table salt. Prague powder #1 or pink salt contains 93.75% table salt and 6.25% sodium nitrite. Prague powder #2 contains sodium nitrate in addition to sodium nitrite.