wasp

Doubt any of the shops will get one. The only one I know of currently marketed to the aquarium hobby is made & sold by Zeovit.

Never seen anyone have a running fight with Warren before!

Yes I have a QT, it is set up permanently just a small tank. Didn't used to but after introducing marine velvet to my main tank I decided it would be cheaper to have a QT. Like Trinity I find it quite useful sometimes new fish are not eating properly & putting them on their own means the food can just float around till they figure it out, without competition from other fish. I don't use copper the fish just stay there for a few weeks till I think they're ready for the main tank.

Steve most reefers have various types of snails in their tanks, if you get to know some locals you can probably score a few. But if not, just head down the beach and grab a few off the rocks, they are temperate snails and normally only last a few months, but I have one in my tank that has been there for a good year.

You asked me to tell you about the experiments i did. When I didn't answer fast enough you complained. I then told you what I did, as per your request. Again, the results were what the results were. You then tell me this shows how ignorant I am. Whatever...... you are impossible....

Yes that will be an interesting one, particularly as you use ASW. The best way to do it will be to test some of your new, unused water, and test your tank for comparison. As you have been getting good growth in your sps, it should be a fair test.

NSW at many reefs has potassium levels varying between 380 to 420. As I recall, Craigs testing of our NSW found levels of 380 ( i THINK ). If it was 380, but we have to dilute the water 10 or more percent, we would end up with a level around 340 ish, lower than the lowest normal range at a wild reef. Does that matter? Don't know. But dosing it is cheap, so for me anyway I'm dosing some extra and this appears to be doing good. But I'm only dosing a little as my test kit has not yet arrived. When that gets here I'll have a better idea where I'm at. Also, to me anyway, it never can hurt to have the water as close as I can get it to NSW. Another thing to consider though is that millions of years ago the sea was not exactly the same composition as it is now. And the corals we have now, or their forebears, were also around then. So there is some room to move, mostly in favour of how things were before.

This may help. Habib ( Mr. Salifert ) ran some tests over time on a tank, and found negligeable depletion of potassium. The tank was mostly softies, hardly any sps. A number of people with tanks crowded with sps, find measureable depletion of potassium, requiring replacement if it is to be kept at NSW levels. So, while it is not a controlled experiment, it could be said there is anecdotal evidence that it is the sps corals that use it.

Thanks for the common sense Reef. I am sure Layton may be able to accept that as common ground.

Layton you are just being argumentative. The results were what the results were. I think what you may be missing is that the manufacturers claimed variances are the extreme outer limits. They may never get hit, and in this case of real world use, they were not. You also asked another question about my other tests. Happy to tell you, but to be frank, you are simply being an argumentative, aggresive, jerk. Chill a bit and we can discuss this more sensibly. Oh, and a more open mind would not kill you either. I strongly suspect that you have never actually used the Hanna, so why such strong opinions despite my experience I have shared?

Good point it does look like a slime trap. Got a spare impellor for my skimmer Reef? I might butcher one up & make something similer, try it out... 8)

Whoa! That big tank is MEAN!! I think I could fit my tank a few times in his calcium reactor! :lol:

That threadwheel needlewheel looks interesting! Every time I think skimmers have gone as far as they can go, someone improves them!

Layton sorry you are upset I did not answer all your questions! :lol: Please be aware I do not feel compelled to answer every question you ever ask! :lol: For me, it has been a working day, it may be a shock for you but another silly argument with you has not been my no.1 priority! Nonetheless it has been a good and productive day, I am in a good humour, I will answer this one:- Over the first few months since I got the Hanna I wanted to be sure it really is accurate so did a number of things, including some simple experiments. I am no scientist though and nor do I pretend to be, Layton. So these are just simple experiments for my own use, but I doubt they will convince somebody like yourself who has already made up his mind. One of the things I did was test the Hanna on water with a known phosphate content. The only water I can get with a known phosphate content is RODI, phosphate = 0.00. So I'd sit down once in a while and do 3 tests on RODI. Don't really know how many test I did all up, maybe 12 or 15. Also did 3 tests on other peoples RODI. As I understand what you said earlier, you seem to think that the Hanna results could be out by as much as 0.05 per test. It is you saying things like that which is why I am suspicious that you have never actually used a Hanna, because that was certainly not what I found. Out of all the tests I did on RODI, all but 3 came in at 0.00. The other three were 0.01, 0.02, and i THINK 0.17, or similar. The big one was a surprise, so I had a look at the curvette and found a smear on it, so would have to assume this may have interfered with the result, so have to discount that one. Also the 0.02 read was on someone elses water, so I don't know if that says something about the Hanna, or about their water. If what you said as to accuracy was correct, the results on water with zero phosphate would be expected to range from 0.00, to 0.05. This was not the case & is why, argue as you might, I am sure of my facts. There is more too, of my own simple unscientific experiments, which I may share at some point, but don't want to make this post an incredibly long and boring one, or more so than it already is! :lol:

Looking forward till I get mine! Potassium has certainly helped me with my colours.

Some great posts, and some good common sense. One of the biggest struggles for me anyway, is to leave things alone, most of us love to tinker! There is the other side of the coin too though, that pushing the boundaries into new areas may result in disaster, but if nobody ever did push the boundaries, there would have been fewer of the advances that have taken place over recent years. Agree with Cookie also, if you're using NSW, with already a good level of potassium, there may not be much to be gained by dosing it. Having said that, I use NSW but still have got nice visible results from dosing potassium, so I do dose a small amount. People using ASW though, are likely to get more benefit from dosing potassium, some of these benefits will not be visible, but there is growing anecdotal evidence overseas that proper potassium levels go a long way towards preventing TN.

We've been through all that before! :roll: :roll:

Yes, Cracker was good enough to give me some of his potassium, it is potassium chloride in powder form. I have used it & it gives exactly the same result as K Balance. Just I'd recommend anyone using it to go SLOW, to much at once can cause burning of the acro tips. Bychineva, there is a test kit available which I have ordered, may be a few weeks away though, I can test your water then if you wish.

No you still got it wrong Layton. I have run my own comparitive tests, in actual practise the results come in much better than that. I very much suspect you have never used one.

Also, for anyone interested in Hanna colorimeters here is a link to a site selling them http://www.hannainst.co.uk/acatalog/Mul ... eterH.html Hanna supply a range of testing equipment for use in soil testing, hospitals, laboratories, wastewater etc. Not just aquarium.

On the topic of salt mixes and K+ levels. Here is a graph from http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2005/12/aafeature1 that shows most salt mixes (all?) are indeed low in K+. See. I can post a graph too!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Well you seem to have a lot to say on the subject Layton. Can you answer the question he actually asked? Craig, bear in mind you use NSW, and that was your experience, as you had enough potassium. People using mixes that are severely depleted in potassium can be taking risks. Correct potassium does assist corals to produce nice colours, and has some health benefits also, one of the results of potassium being too low is it leaves sps corals prone to TN when other things are wrong also.