potassium dosing

ihavtats29

New member
does onyone here test for and dose potassium? is there even a need for it? ive done a little reading on potassium and sps corals , from what i have read it is used up by corals for constriction of thier skeletons along with increasing the red and pink colors .
 
First off, I don't dose potassium myself, although I have a bit of interest in doing so. As far as I know, there isn't a cheap, reliable way to test potassium levels This would be a dream machine, Palintest Photometer 7100, but I'm not sure it would even work with a bottom range of .5 mg/l. I believe those that do dose it responsibly, starting their dosing much like carbon dosing. Start with small amounts and slowly increasing over time until benefits are seen, and reducing if negative side effects are noted. Like I said, I don't dose, but from what I've read, potassium increases blue coloration, not red.

Increasing red coloration is often done by limiting nutrients and finding that right light level, usually high light. If your nutrient levels are already basically zero and they are exposed to "the right light level", you may need to increase nutrients by feeding more often or utilizing a carbon source like sugar, which will darken paled corals in ULNS.
 
luckly i have a reefer friend that works at a lab, they have a testing machine that will show levels of just about everything with a accuracy around 98% i am waiting on him to bring me a sample container so i can have him check, i never dose with out testing first. any way as for it just bringing out the blue colors check out the 4th post in this thread

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1906920

any way i have read allot here and im seeing some with no real diferance in dosing potassium and some that have some good affects in growth and color from dosing it. when my results from the lab come back i will know what my levels are at .
 
Back
Top