low riderr
New member
who is testing for potasium and dosing it? have you seen any results? just curious
potasium?
- Thread starter low riderr
- Start date
The tests are unreliable (some test habitually low) with the Fuana Marin Test , pricey around $50 marginally useful by some reports.If someone has found a reasonably priced reliable way to test for it it; I'd like to hear of it.
I have dosed small amounts ( enough to bump K 25ppm) of Potassium chloride just in case depletion by bacteria from carbon dosing was occurring. No changes were noticed. Randy Farely's opinion after testing is that there is no need to dose it when normal water changes are performed. You can find a lot of information on it in the Reef Chemistry Forum ; just search Potassium.
I have dosed small amounts ( enough to bump K 25ppm) of Potassium chloride just in case depletion by bacteria from carbon dosing was occurring. No changes were noticed. Randy Farely's opinion after testing is that there is no need to dose it when normal water changes are performed. You can find a lot of information on it in the Reef Chemistry Forum ; just search Potassium.
low riderr
New member
red sea also makes a test 45.00 bucks i believe.how accurate i dont know.i have not tested my levels or dosed potasium but was curious as to who might be.sounds like you are the only one in upstate that has,and without any noticeable results i probably wont either. how long of a time period did you dose for? thanks for the reply
I dosed it all at once on two occassions several months apart . I wanted a quick bump to enhance the odds of an observable change. I used potassium chloride (approximately52%potassium and 48%) from iherb.com. very reasonable prices.Dosing it is popular in zeovit systems but their test kit reads low and those tanks are heavily depleted of nutrients for better or worse. Quite a bit of K comes in with the salt mix and food.Natural seawater has 399ppm so a bump of 25ppm should have been noticeable but not enough to upset things,imo.
GMaquarium
New member
I dose potassium to my freshwater plant tanks. When some plants are damaged I can see results quick. In terms of reef I always felt that salt mix would provide enough, especially with my regular water change routine I see no need to dose it. I used potassium chloride on urchins, to collect their eggs. Thats a lot of fun.
John, no discernible effects;good or bad.
I agree don't dose without testing is a good general rule, imo.
Unfortunately , there are a number of things we can't test for with any reasonable expectation of accuracy with hobby grade equipment; for example: organic carbon( vodka, vinegar,sugar, polymer pellets, etc);K(potassium), iodine tests are weak and hard to read;copper tests don't go low enough, etc. Carefully calculated measures are often the best we can do Testing can be tedious and fraught with inaccuracy. Some folks over react to an inaccurate test result.
The quantity of K Potassium present in seawater is such that a calculated dose for a 25ppm bump shouldn't and didn't hurt anything. I was concerned that it might be low due to bacterial growth associated with organic carbon( in my case vodka/ vinegar dosing).
We all dose lot's of things we can't measure in our salt mix and major supplements too. The market takes advantage of the uncertainty with a plethora of products ( ammino acids,secret elixirs,reef safe medications, bacterial supplements,trace elements ,etc) without telling us what's in them or any real evidence that they are helpful.
So all in all it's hard to tell exactly what's in tank water but knowing as much as you can about it and monitoring those things you can diligently by test when possible or at least close observation for those you can't accurately test is important, imo.
I agree don't dose without testing is a good general rule, imo.
Unfortunately , there are a number of things we can't test for with any reasonable expectation of accuracy with hobby grade equipment; for example: organic carbon( vodka, vinegar,sugar, polymer pellets, etc);K(potassium), iodine tests are weak and hard to read;copper tests don't go low enough, etc. Carefully calculated measures are often the best we can do Testing can be tedious and fraught with inaccuracy. Some folks over react to an inaccurate test result.
The quantity of K Potassium present in seawater is such that a calculated dose for a 25ppm bump shouldn't and didn't hurt anything. I was concerned that it might be low due to bacterial growth associated with organic carbon( in my case vodka/ vinegar dosing).
We all dose lot's of things we can't measure in our salt mix and major supplements too. The market takes advantage of the uncertainty with a plethora of products ( ammino acids,secret elixirs,reef safe medications, bacterial supplements,trace elements ,etc) without telling us what's in them or any real evidence that they are helpful.
So all in all it's hard to tell exactly what's in tank water but knowing as much as you can about it and monitoring those things you can diligently by test when possible or at least close observation for those you can't accurately test is important, imo.
John, no discernible effects;good or bad.
I agree don't dose without testing is a good general rule, imo.
Unfortunately , there are a number of things we can't test for with any reasonable expectation of accuracy with hobby grade equipment; for example: organic carbon( vodka, vinegar,sugar, polymer pellets, etc);K(potassium), iodine tests are weak and hard to read;copper tests don't go low enough, etc. Carefully calculated measures are often the best we can do Testing can be tedious and fraught with inaccuracy. Some folks over react to an inaccurate test result.
The quantity of K Potassium present in seawater is such that a calculated dose for a 25ppm bump shouldn't and didn't hurt anything. I was concerned that it might be low due to bacterial growth associated with organic carbon( in my case vodka/ vinegar dosing).
We all dose lot's of things we can't measure in our salt mix and major supplements too. The market takes advantage of the uncertainty with a plethora of products ( ammino acids,secret elixirs,reef safe medications, bacterial supplements,trace elements ,etc) without telling us what's in them or any real evidence that they are helpful.
So all in all it's hard to tell exactly what's in tank water but knowing as much as you can about it and monitoring those things you can diligently by test when possible or at least close observation for those you can't accurately test is important, imo.
I agree don't dose without testing is a good general rule, imo.
Unfortunately , there are a number of things we can't test for with any reasonable expectation of accuracy with hobby grade equipment; for example: organic carbon( vodka, vinegar,sugar, polymer pellets, etc);K(potassium), iodine tests are weak and hard to read;copper tests don't go low enough, etc. Carefully calculated measures are often the best we can do Testing can be tedious and fraught with inaccuracy. Some folks over react to an inaccurate test result.
The quantity of K Potassium present in seawater is such that a calculated dose for a 25ppm bump shouldn't and didn't hurt anything. I was concerned that it might be low due to bacterial growth associated with organic carbon( in my case vodka/ vinegar dosing).
We all dose lot's of things we can't measure in our salt mix and major supplements too. The market takes advantage of the uncertainty with a plethora of products ( ammino acids,secret elixirs,reef safe medications, bacterial supplements,trace elements ,etc) without telling us what's in them or any real evidence that they are helpful.
So all in all it's hard to tell exactly what's in tank water but knowing as much as you can about it and monitoring those things you can diligently by test when possible or at least close observation for those you can't accurately test is important, imo.
