Does anyone know of a good DIY solution for a potassium additive? I have a lot of monties and I seem to need to add about 10-15ppm a day to keep it stable. Any input would be great!
Looking for a DIY additive solution for potassium...
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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Sorry, that's very hard for me to believe. 10-15 ppm per day?
Can you explain exactly what you did to get that number?
There are good DIY, such as potassium chloride from iherb, but I would not recommend adding anything close to that amount.
Can you explain exactly what you did to get that number?
There are good DIY, such as potassium chloride from iherb, but I would not recommend adding anything close to that amount.
OP
OP
I have been testing with the red sea potassium test kit. But the spread is a little unnerving. I have seen a 40ppm spread between 4 tests a day (All of this may just be a ton of user error). I came to this number by doing 4 consecutive tests per day for 4 days. I am getting the 10-15ppm a day from the decrease in the high values of my tests. I have just been doing weekly water changes to replenish it for now but I would like to dose it to help spread out the number of days between water changes.
I have a Triton water test getting checked to make sure my values are correct before I am doing any additive adding.
I am also going to borrow my buddy's KZ potassium test kit to check my results as well.
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Ok, and I'd watch it a lot longer than 4 days. At least a couple of weeks. Potassium doesn't deplete at all in mytank, but when folks see it, it is much lower than 10-15 ppm per day.
If you think it low, it if fine to give it a one time boost, but then watch it for a good while before dosing again.
The I herb NOW potassium chloride is a fine way to go.
If you think it low, it if fine to give it a one time boost, but then watch it for a good while before dosing again.
The I herb NOW potassium chloride is a fine way to go.
OP
OP
Ok, and I'd watch it a lot longer than 4 days. At least a couple of weeks. Potassium doesn't deplete at all in mytank, but when folks see it, it is much lower than 10-15 ppm per day.
If you think it low, it if fine to give it a one time boost, but then watch it for a good while before dosing again.
The I herb NOW potassium chloride is a fine way to go.
Yah I will wait till the Triton Test comes back to see if my test kit is still good. I will work on getting my tests more consistent and go from there and see if I can get the trends of my tank and see if it is truly dropping that much.
thanks a ton for the help!
Randy Holmes-Farley
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You're welcome.
Good luck and let us know what you find.
Good luck and let us know what you find.
OP
OP
Also just a side thought, would there be any benefit of doing a similar thing with the DIY magnesium additive 3 parts potassium sulfate to 5 parts potassium chloride?
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The 3:5 ratio is way over stuffed with sulfate specifically to offset all the chloride coming from the calcium chloride when using a DIY two part.
For a stand alone magnesium supplement, it is 1:10 sulfate to chloride, So pure chloride for magnesium alone is not much of an issue.
Finally, most people add way less chloride via potassium than magnesium additives.
For a stand alone magnesium supplement, it is 1:10 sulfate to chloride, So pure chloride for magnesium alone is not much of an issue.
Finally, most people add way less chloride via potassium than magnesium additives.
If it were me, I'd be using the difference between the average of the replicate tests, not the maximum.
OP
OP
just did the math for average and min values and the change is still in the 10-15ppm rage per day
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How much alkalinity are you supplementing, in, say, dKH per day?
OP
OP
last time I remember reconfiguring my CA reactor, I think is was about .75 dkh a day but it was a few months ago. I will turn my ca reactor off and reconfigure it and see. As for the potassium, I got my buddy's kit and it is measuring much more consistent. I am getting a 5 ppm spread over the redsea's 40ppm spread. So i will give it a few days to monitor the trends. From yesterday and today the change is nominal that it could be just test accuracy. Based on the average of the 4 tests I did yesterday and the single test today the change was 1-2 ppm.
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I'd watch more than a few days since the depletion will be slow relative to the measurement variations of any potassium kit.
FWIW, your calcium depletion is only about 6 ppm per day, and it depletes a lot faster than potassium in ordinary reef tanks.
FWIW, your calcium depletion is only about 6 ppm per day, and it depletes a lot faster than potassium in ordinary reef tanks.
OP
OP
Just a follow up. Definitely was a bad potassium test kit. I am seeing 1 ppm depletion every 2-3 days. Also, with swapping from IO purple over to AquaForest's new salt, my potassium is staying in the 465-470 range.
Thanks again for the input!
Thanks again for the input!
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Thanks for the update!
Happy Reefing.
Happy Reefing.
