How bad is 460 ppm potassium ?

tenurepro · Sep 7, 2017

Been dosing potassium nitrate for a few months to test effect on sps colors. Tried to maintain no3 at 5 ppm. First the corals colored up nicely, and things looked great all of last month, but last week, I started noticing gradually loss of colors. All parameters tested within range, except for potassium which is 460 ppm (salifert). It measured 380 ppm before I started dosing KNO3
Would high levels of potassium cause sps browning? Any known or theorized adverse effects at this level?

Thanks for your advice.

Parameters are:
Salinity 35 ppt, temp 79 f, Alk 9.3, ca 450 ppm, mg 1300 ppm, no3 5 ppm, p04 < 0.01 ppm

jason2459 · Sep 7, 2017

You probably need more phosphates now. I would have just fed more and would have helped both nitrates and phosphates.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 8, 2017

I'm not sure what level of potassium is a problem, but some folks have claimed it is an issue even in that range. That said, they have no proof that potassium was the culprit in their situation.

That said, definitely switch to sodium salts for dosing.

sghera64 · Sep 23, 2017

tenurepro said:
Been dosing potassium nitrate for a few months to test effect on sps colors. Tried to maintain no3 at 5 ppm. First the corals colored up nicely, and things looked great all of last month, but last week, I started noticing gradually loss of colors. All parameters tested within range, except for potassium which is 460 ppm (salifert). It measured 380 ppm before I started dosing KNO3
Would high levels of potassium cause sps browning? Any known or theorized adverse effects at this level?

Thanks for your advice.

Parameters are:
Salinity 35 ppt, temp 79 f, Alk 9.3, ca 450 ppm, mg 1300 ppm, no3 5 ppm, p04 < 0.01 ppm

If I'm remembering this right, Justin Credible said he has taken his potassium levels as higher as 900 ppm. He says it really brings the bright green out of green colored corals.

sghera64 · Sep 23, 2017

tenurepro said:
Been dosing potassium nitrate for a few months to test effect on sps colors. Tried to maintain no3 at 5 ppm. First the corals colored up nicely, and things looked great all of last month, but last week, I started noticing gradually loss of colors. All parameters tested within range, except for potassium which is 460 ppm (salifert). It measured 380 ppm before I started dosing KNO3
Would high levels of potassium cause sps browning? Any known or theorized adverse effects at this level?

Thanks for your advice.

Parameters are:
Salinity 35 ppt, temp 79 f, Alk 9.3, ca 450 ppm, mg 1300 ppm, no3 5 ppm, p04 < 0.01 ppm

If I'm remembering this right, Justin Credible said he has taken his potassium levels as higher as 900 ppm. He says it really brings the bright green out of green colored corals.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 23, 2017

sghera64 said:
If I'm remembering this right, Justin Credible said he has taken his potassium levels as higher as 900 ppm. He says it really brings the bright green out of green colored corals.

I've heard of people with problems in the upper 400's. Don't know which, if either, is correct.

sghera64 · Sep 23, 2017

sghera64 said:
If I'm remembering this right, Justin Credible said he has taken his potassium levels as higher as 900 ppm. He says it really brings the bright green out of green colored corals.

Found it: MACNA 2014

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...D3B6BBCFBAD492C31D7AD3B6BBCFBAD492C&FORM=VIRE

The trick is go slow. Maybe > 400 is bad when fast.

tenurepro · Sep 23, 2017

Interesting... thanks guys. What do you make of seachem vibrant sea salt which has potassium at 500 ppm; you would think that that would be within a safe range

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 24, 2017

I'd personally be wary of it until there are a lot more user reports. They say 500-550 ppm at sg = 1.023, so it would give 630 to 675 ppm at 35 ppt salinity.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 24, 2017

FWIW, 390 ppm of additional potassium added to seawater (bringing total near 790 ppm) is known to have effects on sea urchin larvae:

Induction of metamorphosis of larval echinoids (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis and Echinarachnius parma) by potassium chloride (KCI)
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07924259.1994.9672420

Potassium chloride (KCI) added to filtered seawater induced larval metamorphosis of the regular urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis and the irregular urchin Echinarachnius parma in the absence of any other stimulatory substance, although the sensitivities of these two species differed. Larvae of S. droebachiensis were not affected by concentrations below 80 mM (above normal seawater levels), whereas 10 mM was enough to induce significantly more larvae of E. parma to metamorphose than a filtered seawater control (used to assess spontaneous metamorphosis in the absence of any inductive cue). Relatively high concentrations of KCl (i.e., above 60 mM), which did not appear to adversely affect larvae of S. droebachiensis, were toxic to larvae of E. parma. Presently, some 15 species of marine invertebrates (representing five different phyla) have larvae which are known to react (i.e., settle, attach, or metamorphose) in response to elevated K+ (KCl) levels. K+ (KCl), which is thought to induce larval metamorphosis via depolarization of externally accessible cells (Baloun and Morse, 1984), appears to be fairly non species-specific as a metamorphic inducer.

jason2459 · Sep 25, 2017

sghera64 said:
If I'm remembering this right, Justin Credible said he has taken his potassium levels as higher as 900 ppm. He says it really brings the bright green out of green colored corals.

I would question if this is a species specific tank. Color type of coral specific tank. Coral type specific. Or what other inhabitants are in the tank with those corals. And how well those other species did?

I've seen other coral growers "force" corals to do many things. I've seen many threads of people 6 months after owning some designer coral wondering what they've done wrong because their corals don't look the same as when they first got them.

Not really for this section but is pushing levels of certain elements like zinc or in this case potassium to get different colors out of corals any better them dying them?

morpheas · Sep 25, 2017

Following Justin's advice on the coral coloration seminar he gave with mr saltwater tank i gradually increased my potassium to it's current level of ~650 ppm. I did that over a period of 1 month with a medical grade infusion pump all while monitoring potassium every 2-3 days. By doing so i noticed what was advertised more vibrant coloration.

I'm not saying everyone should do that but I'm saying that 650 in my specific case was not detrimental. Just wanted to add this piece of information to the pot.

tenurepro · Sep 25, 2017

Thanks - helpful info guys

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 25, 2017

morpheas said:
Following Justin's advice on the coral coloration seminar he gave with mr saltwater tank i gradually increased my potassium to it's current level of ~650 ppm. I did that over a period of 1 month with a medical grade infusion pump all while monitoring potassium every 2-3 days. By doing so i noticed what was advertised more vibrant coloration.

I'm not saying everyone should do that but I'm saying that 650 in my specific case was not detrimental. Just wanted to add this piece of information to the pot.

Can you describe what is in the tank (corals, fish, snails, etc.) and what exactly you observed?

morpheas · Sep 25, 2017

I have a shrimp, snails, crabs, lps and sps. I have a coral beauty angel, two clowns and a hawk fish.

The main difference i saw was that the vibrance of the pink birds nest, and my various stylos was increased. They were a little washed out and their colors became more vibrant. The green on a candy cane also become bolder. That happened over a period of a week or so (initial potassium 380ppm and after a little over a week it was about 500ppm then i pushed the envelope higher but at a slower pace). From the lps my green hammer was a little more perked up i think, if that makes sense but this could be a biased observation.

In the months that I've had elevated potassium i have not seen any other differences either positive or negative.

rkpetersen · Sep 25, 2017

tenurepro said:
All parameters tested within range, except for potassium which is 460 ppm (salifert).

My potassium is also currently higher than I'd like, around 500. It's not awful but I cannot figure out the source. It's not the salt I'm using. The only additive I'm using that appears to have any K in it is SeaChem Reef Plus, but according to a SeaChem rep, dosing at the normal amounts should have no effect on measurable potassium levels. I've tested a few other things I use occasionally (bag water that pods come in, CoralRx solution, etc), but none show elevated levels. I have wondered whether BSI cyanoacrylate frag glue could be contaminated with excess levels of K, but have no way to check this. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

morpheas said:
i gradually increased my potassium to it's current level of ~650 ppm.

If I may ask, what are you using to measure potassium concentrations above 470? Do you have a high range test kit or meter, or are you diluting a sample and using e.g. the Salifert or Red Sea test?

morpheas · Sep 25, 2017

I use the salifert kit with 30% dilution. I make a "stock" sample of 7cc aquarium water and 3cc RODI and then use that in my test. I have a table that correlates the raw reading to my diluted reading.

I have found the salifert kit to be the most straight forward and easy test to use.