What's in KZ's Sponge Power?

[Koen Vervaeke]

What is your best guess? And what does it do? Could it be a carbon source for denitrifying bacteria?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I do not know what it is. Sorry.

It almost certainly contains organic matter is some form.

 

[TerraFerma]

I've heard silica is the magic ingredient. My sponge growth has been explosive since I started dosing it. But I also started adding large amounts of phyto at the same time so it's impossible to say which did what.

There is definitely some sort of vinegar type thing in it was well.

 

[elysics]

Has anyone ever sent in an icp of it? It does claim to enhance the color violet according to their site, and i mainly heard such claims connected with trace elements. And it also claims to help sponges, ascidians and mussels. I wonder if vanadium is the or one of the main ingredients. The FM knowledge base thing claims vanadium is important for sponges and tunicates and that a lack of it can lead to slow sponge growth and they vaguely link it to the colors red and blue.

That assumes that the color stuff isn't just creative writing of course, but i found several additives from several companies that all contain vanadium and all claim to enhance violet.
Tunicates at least definitely take up vanadium.

Other elements linked with that colour (according to FM at least) are potassium and bromine, but i haven't read anything about those and filter feeders yet.

 

[Reefahholic]

Other elements linked with that colour (according to FM at least) are potassium and bromine, but i haven't read anything about those and filter feeders yet.

A friend of mine has had high Potassium (470) out of nowhere and one thing he started dosing a few months ago was Sponge Power. So….

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

That assumes that the color stuff isn't just creative writing of course, but i found several additives from several companies that all contain vanadium and all claim to enhance violet.

The probably all copied the same original source, right or wrong.

IMO, it's very unusual to be able to connect any particular element to a specific color, and that is mostly in the imagination of marketing folks.

Vanadium itself can be lots of different colors (perhaps the original thought or misthought), but I'd be surprised if there's enough vanadium that the vanadium ion is directly causing any detectable color in a reef scenario.

That said, vanadium is important for some organisms, including some bacteria.

Here's an interesting discussion in general for the biological roles of vanadium:

Checking your browser - reCAPTCHA