AEFW tank treatment with Potassium chloride

Bblinks · #1 12-17-2014, 04:33 PM

This article came originally from a Taiwanese forum called ph8.4, they had a discussion about the way potassium attacks and the affects on bacteria and it seems the consences are it doesn't harm any nitrifying bacteria but it does kill all the fish and crustaceans including pods, hermits, all other types of worms in the tank. With that said, some larger pistol shrimps survived. Anyways, this process seems to be the only way you can treat it without having to remove corals from you display tank so it's worth a try if the tank isn't loaded with fish and crustacean. Good luck everyone.

christyf5 · #2 12-17-2014, 04:40 PM

LOL, I was wondering about side effects. I guess its one way of getting rid of that pesky fish you can't catch. Sheesh, who has a reef tank without fish/crustaceans/non-coral animals in it? (asking rhetorically, I know theres some of you out there

).

That being said, its a hell of an easier time getting the fish out than removing all the encrusted corals. Is there any data on the half life (if there is one) of the active KCl or is it removed only via waterchange with monitoring (do K test kits test for that??).

albert_dao · #3 12-17-2014, 08:02 PM

Wow, now I have a use for the 40+ kg of Potassium Chloride I have lying around. Great writeup Rich!

Proteus · #4 01-21-2015, 06:51 PM

Is there a recipe for a dip... Grams or tbsp per litre kinda thing

Bblinks · #5 01-21-2015, 07:24 PM

Need to test your tank's potassium level than elevated to around 1500ppm.

Proteus · #6 01-21-2015, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bblinks

Need to test your tank's potassium level than elevated to around 1500ppm.

Yes.. I don't want to do tank treatment.. Just as a dip.. But I believe it's 11grams per litre will give you 1500ppm

Bblinks · #7 01-21-2015, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Proteus

Yes.. I don't want to do tank treatment.. Just as a dip.. But I believe it's 11grams per litre will give you 1500ppm

Just make sure you get a good test kit, the one we used just couldn't go that high even though we cut the volume of test water down by half. I did raise the potassium level pretty high without an ill effect to the corals. FYI