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Potassium supplement


TM

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I'm sorry I didn't explain fully.

Well Deltec for example sell re-badged merck test kits. It's well known. It would be nice to know what the KZ one is, that's all. After all KZ (just like deltec) aren't in the business of water testing.

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Didn't quote you out of context at all. Never have.

I used the principles you stated in another thread, to assist you to answer your own questions in this one.

The meaning of what you said is unchanged. Please don't get all defensive and turn this into another arguing thread.

That's not what you've done. You have completely changed the meaning. I'll PM you why, and keep the details out of this thread.

As for the other questions in your post, I don't know the answers. I told you before I've answered you as fully as I can.

I am not a walking dictionary on all things! :lol:

I wasn't specifically addressing you, it's just some things to think about.

Bottom line, I don't know what potassium does, how it works, and whatever. But dosing it as needed has been shown to give nice results. And you should know me by now, "If it works, I'll use it" :lol: .

That's fine. If you do come across anything interesting on potassium, post it.

Layton

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Layton I'll give you one thing, you are good at searching things out, in fact you enjoy it.

You have asked a heckuva lot of questions in this thread, and I'd be interested in the answers to them myself, as would others. Howzabout you go searching it all out elsewhere, and report back, myself and others will be interested.

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Did you find the answers to any of your questions Layton?

Other than that I've used it I don't really know any more on the subject than you did, so would be interested in anything you have found. As would others. I'll be getting one of those test kits also, so that will be interesting.

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It is generally the iodide ion which is dosed. Elemental iodine is still a relatively strong oxidizer (like ozone or chlorine but not as reactive), not something you usually want to be adding directly to the tank. It serves it's purpose as a dip, but what's added to the aquarium as a supplement is generally iodide.

Many commercial iodine supplements are potassium iodide (Seachem, Red Sea etc).

The iodine you get from the chemist is different, it can be a mixture of different things: elemental iodine dissolved in alcohol and potassium iodide are common.

Why is potassium used over sodium? Well KI is commonly used in medicine, it's used in preference to NaI because NaI is hydgroscopic. KI is less hydgroscopic. Because KI is more widely used than NaI, it's easier and less expensive to get hold of, and that's why i guess most commercial supplements use it.

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Well that's interesting!

What has had me wondering also, is that only a tiny amount is dosed, which I would have thought would make little difference to the total amount in the water, yet it had a very good effect. Bit of a mystery :o

Also, it is not that zeovit have got some secret ingredient in it or anything, because the first potassium I ever dosed was not the zeovit one, just commercially available potassium chloride, a tiny amount, and the effect was quite marked. A few days ago I heard from another respected reefer on this forum who said he tried it, but there was no effect! So - there is still much to learn.

Just one thing I'd say to anyone thinking of trying it, be careful not to overdose, keep the amount tiny. Also, as far as I can tell, it only works if the acros are already showing nice colours, it's not going to colour up brown ones or anything.

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Placebo effect maybe?

Looks like an interesting thread, I'll read it properly tonight.

Looks like Habib answered many of my questions:

Not one of the 9 brands of salts tested for potassium showed a low concentration. As a matter of fact they all had potassium close to natural seawater values:

http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dy...s/1/default.asp

From the scientific data I have seen regarding potassium and corals and from my own data and those of others I have to conclude, so far, that potassium is hardly depleted in aquaria even not if it is fully packed with corals.

Layton

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A placebo effect is when someone is given fake medicine for a headache, or whatever, and they get better, cos it's psychological. They imagined they would get better, so they did.

The nice purples that came about each time I dosed potassium were not imaginary.

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Well I find it interesting that Habib as the owner Salifert, a company which produces both test kits and supplements, has looked at research, and by the sound of it experimented with potassium, shows little interest in producing a test kit or potassium additive.

Randy has stated:

I don't doubt that if potassium were very low, that there might be issues. However, potassium does not seem to typically become depleted in reef aquaria. There is no significant sink for it, and there is a lot in seawater.

Layton

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another thing to be aware of, with all this talk of dosing xxx chloride (calcium, magnesium, potassium etc) is that the chloride component cannot be removed other than by water changes. i think layton suggested dosing magnesium chloride and calcium something? to ensure you're closer to the levels of seawater? sorry cant remember exact name

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Another thing to be careful about is that Potasium Chloride is the mixture used, (At 100ppm) for the LETHAL INJECTION In prisons.

I think that should be 100 meq which is approx 7,400 ppm (7.4 ppt)

Chim, that was when adding magnesium. A combo of sulfate and chloride to try and balance things a little more due to the mass that needs to be added.

For dosing things like potassium, by the sound of how much is generally added, it's a non issue. The amount of chloride added is really not significant relative to the concentration which is already there.

Which makes me wonder where the rumor that the chloride added if you dose potassium chloride causes corals to brown came from.

Layton

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another thing to be aware of, with all this talk of dosing xxx chloride (calcium, magnesium, potassium etc) is that the chloride component cannot be removed other than by water changes. i think layton suggested dosing magnesium chloride and calcium something? to ensure you're closer to the levels of seawater? sorry cant remember exact name

Chimera, not sure if you're aware, but NSW is 60% Sodium Chloride.

In other words most of the water in your tank is a chloride which is a neutral form of chlorine!

Convert it and your tanks history...

but dosing XXX chlorides is a non issue because there is so much chloride any way.

You would probably have to dose for one whole year before you dosed enough chlorides to increase the existing 60% concentration by anything that would be worthy of worrying.

There has been ZERO issues arising from the sole use of chlorides in reef tanks.

I have hunted the web fully.

If you are keen to prove me wrong I would love to read the info you do find and learn some more!

Layton and others have been taking about adding MAG Sulphate, (Epsom salts), in order to balance things with the chloride, but I dont know how imoprtant sulphate is in relation to mag. I know there is a lot of sulphate which I think does help with corals....May have a read later maybe!

Layton? anything?

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