To avoid the precipitation of hydroxides of Ni2+ , Co2+ , Zn2+ and Mn2+ along with those of Fe3+ , Al3+ and Cr3+ the third group solution should be:
(1) Heated with a few drops of conc. HNO3
(2) Treated with excess of NH4Cl
(3) H2S gas is passed into solution
(4) None of these