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Originally Posted by StirCrazy
on a side note if stores and such are pushing stuff to help get the perfect water levels why are they still telling you that you need over 400ppm of Ca? the average NSW for the world is 380 to 400 so why are people trying to get 450 when it is actually hard on the corals.. oh and there is research that shows that also. (Simplified version is that the coral has to expend more energy to remove the Ca from equilibrium in its cells to deposit it as a skeleton for new growth)
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Old dogs don't learn new tricks would be my guess. People use to think the ideal parameters were = nature plus. Remember seeing vets telling beginners to autopilot their CA reactors to hit kH 10+ and CA 450 ppm? I hardly think that this is a malicious sales ploy, but rather just a vestige of old advice that hasn't gone away. I'm still telling people every day to lower their kH values...
Quote:
Originally Posted by StirCrazy
the problem I have with this K thing is generaly people who are hard core SPS are running massive amount of Ca reactor material, one of the most popular is Carb sea which is a ballanced media. so I could see on initial set up making sure everything is deicent then checking for K maybe every couple months.. and for the record for the last year my SPS take was running I did test for K twice.. it was a little over 400 each time. this is why I don't understand how it gets depleted on a sps tank running a Ca reactor. oh and I was running IO (the only salt I will use) and had zero phosphates and nitrates.
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I don't really have an answer to this, but the fact of the matter is that people do end up in situations where their potassium levels are severely depleted. I suspect manifold causes including lack of, as you said, proper maintenance in the form or routines or equipment/media, feeding, salt mix, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by StirCrazy
On a side note, I read my original post and it could be taken as I am against the use of K or anthing like that.. no I am not.. if you need it you need it, but befor you run out and waist a bunch of money make sure you need it. I was pushing the importance of Mg quite a while befor people actualy started to worry about it so yes there are things we take for granted and assume we have a proper level. go in with people on a K test kit and maybe spread out the testing and only add if it is realy needed.. I am dead against the blind dosing of tanks. as it can cause major problems. K is a highly reactive material which is why you can only get it bound to another one.. I have seen a overdose of a purer form of K wipe out an entire 300+ gal sps tank, so be carfull of what you buy and how you use it.
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Touche. It WILL wipe out fish and corals readily if dosed blind, that's for sure!
Quote:
Originally Posted by StirCrazy
another point is I am not against new methods or chemicals either.. well maybe zeo as I still think it is way to much work for what it is..
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Without Zeo, you are not running a reef tank - only a soulless husk of a skeletal remnant of a glass box with water and sodium chloride in it. Without Zeo, your fish do not sleep at night. Without Zeo, your corals know only what it is to long for the real ocean. Without Zeo... Without Zeo... I love Zeo....