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

[mandarin man]

Is it important or required to dose potassium into the reef tank? I mostly have LPS - scoly, favia, acan, blasto, mushroom...

I do 5-10% water change every week with reef crystal. Thanks advance for your help....

[marie]

It's never a good idea to dose things you don't/can't test for...for what it's worth I've never dosed potassium or felt a need to

[banditpowdercoat]

Never dosed it helre either. Mostly what you have, check the Ca, Mg and Alk

[xtreme]

Even with the potassium test kit from KZ its really hard to get an accurate reading, and like mentioned its not the best idea to dose something if you don't know where your level is at.

[mandarin man]

I understand that dosing without testing is not good, but let's say if I measure and the potassium is low; I am wondering if dosing is required?

What does potassium do to the LPS or coral in general? I did some researches on line but go minimum info on potassium.

[Jason McK]

More and more the level of Potassium is becoming main streem. I belive within the next couple of years you will see more and more test kits on the market. With level in NSW being measured at or around the same levels as CA, it must play a role in the reef environment. Origonally the Zeovit system put a lot of stock into the level of Potassium and there fore Reefers Best Salt also was created with good levels of Potassium. Now also Deltec H2O salt clames higher levels of Potassium.
So the long and short of it is I think it plays a role. That role is yet to be determined and it might just be on the edge of becoming another important ellement of your water

J

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

From having messed around with it while on the ZEO system, I found color is much nicer once K+ is at the right levels. Once I finally got it within a good range, colors got mush better even though I had thought they were already good before. When I let the levels drop again, color went back to how it was. Many people on the ZEO forum seem to have found the same thing.

Im not sure what it effects for sure (not sure who does) but you may as well keep it at NSW levels. I still test for it once a month now. Its easy to keep levels high once you get them there.

I agree with Jason, it will become way more mainstream eventually.

[globaldesigns]

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]

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]

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.