is Potassium required for reef???? Help??

globaldesigns · #1 06-24-2009, 04:38 AM

I have to agree with the others, never dose unless you can test. I do dose pottassium, but I use the Zeovit test kit. I find it hard to use but it does give me a baseline and I tend to dose less than more. Pottassium is said to improve colors of color especially in SPS

Be careful in dosing anything, never do unless you can test and know what to do with the results in regards to the dosing.

Happy Day to all!!!

mandarin man · #2 06-24-2009, 06:04 PM

I believe ELOS makes potassium test kit. I will get it today and test it out in my tank. Also, I have noticed that "Reef Pure" makes "Balanced ion Potassium suppment"; I am wondering is it OK to use or any one experience with this product?

Thanks

sphelps · #3 06-24-2009, 06:28 PM

Potassium is a key element but more so for SPS corals. Low potassium can lead to color fading, lower growth and even STN. All salts contain potassium but usually at around 300ppm, natural sea water is around 380ppm so usually dosing is a good idea if you plan on keeping any SPS corals, otherwise regular water changes should be sufficient.

Also I dose many things without being able to test for it, these include amino acids, PotassiumIodide Fluoride, Pohl's B-Balance, and other trace element supplements. I believe these additives play a huge role in my coral health and vitality and I know many others who claim the same. Sometimes testing isn't needed, you can dose lower amounts and observe how the livestock responds and go from there. Besides I think it would be foolish to put too much trust in any test kit, even quality test kits will often give false readings from time to time.

BlueAbyss · #4 06-24-2009, 06:30 PM

As was mentioned above, most people don't put too much stock in Potassium (though it's likely just as important an ion as calcium and magnesium), but it couldn't hurt to maintain it at NSW levels if you can test for it.

mandarin man · #5 06-24-2009, 11:00 PM

Thank you guys for helping me. I am new to this amazing hobby and I am trying to learn as much as I can.

I bought the KZ potassium test kit, tested the water and it is almost impossible to see the results without placing the test vial underneath the sun light or a very very bright light. It came out to be approximately 250mg/l to 275mg/l. Any one experiences with this test kit and have a better way of testing this? Am I doing it correctly by placing it under the sun?

I also bought reef pure potassium and started dosing it slowly. Let's see what happen

Thanks

Myka · #6 06-25-2009, 05:31 AM

I recently got the KZ kalium kit as well, and was a bit miffed by the way you test it. Kinda weird. I tested old water that I saved from my 33g before it transferred here, and then tested my 90g that i have here now. Both were around 240 or 250 ppm. I haven't figured out which product I'm going to use to supplement, but I'm excited to hopefully see some results. I'm interested to see if there will be any difference in my tank since it is 95% LPS.

mandarin man · #7 06-25-2009, 06:11 AM

Hi Myka

I am wondering how you tested yours? It is so milky and cloudy that I could make out the reading without placing it under the bright light.

Myka · #8 06-25-2009, 06:53 AM

I also had difficulty. I read mine under a flourescent tube we have over the kitchen sink. It's just one of those 18" white household tubes. I imagine sunlight would be the best to use. I will try that next time.

christyf5 · #9 06-25-2009, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandarin man

Thank you guys for helping me. I am new to this amazing hobby and I am trying to learn as much as I can.

I bought the KZ potassium test kit, tested the water and it is almost impossible to see the results without placing the test vial underneath the sun light or a very very bright light. It came out to be approximately 250mg/l to 275mg/l. Any one experiences with this test kit and have a better way of testing this? Am I doing it correctly by placing it under the sun?

I also bought reef pure potassium and started dosing it slowly. Let's see what happen

Thanks

I find placing it under the brightest light source possible is the way to go. I test in my bathroom, plenty of light in there

It is a fairly frustrating test kit to read though.

Definitely dose slowly and keep an eye on your potassium levels. Once you see it hit 380 or so (as sphelps says, the higher the K+ the harder the kit is to read) level off and see how your tank does after a week of no dosing, then you can aim for a weekly dosing rate (or try whatever it says on the bottle, some are weekly dosing, some are daily).

I think once you get your dosing closer to NSW you'll find you'll get a bit better coloration out of your corals. I was running the full zeo system and quit cold turkey. Lately I have been working on my potassium levels back on track and things are coloring up nicely.

Myka · #10 06-25-2009, 03:30 PM

Christy, I think sphelps said that the higher concentration is easier to read. By my understanding anyway.

I'm not going to pay the ZEO price for a potassium supplement though, I need to find something else. I haven't started looking yet though. I've also heard that it seems to take a lot of supplement to bump it up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mandarin man

Hi Myka, you probably have seen one of the thread showed the pics of the actual test which the test vial was placed under another pic of white paper which also placed under the color test chart. Are we missing something? The test kit never state any thing about the other white paper.

I haven't seen the thread you're talking about. My kit came with a small square of white paper that has a hole in it the same size as the bottom of the test container, then you slide it along. is that what you're talking about?