We must give all credit to Muzzy and tcblue over at Ultimatereef for this, they have found a good estimate for the amount of Potassium Chloride to dose using JDieck’s Reef Chemistry Calculator.
KCl is 52.5% Potassium by weight, using this percentage and the dosing for anhydrous calcium chloride we are able to get [...]
We must give all credit to Muzzy and tcblue over at Ultimatereef for this, they have found a good estimate for the amount of Potassium Chloride to dose using JDieck’s Reef Chemistry Calculator.
KCl is 52.5% Potassium by weight, using this percentage and the dosing for anhydrous calcium chloride we are able to get a rough estimate for the amount of KCl to dose… just multiply the number given by the calculator for the anhydrous calcium chloride by .7 to find the amount of KCl to add.
Some users are using iHerb KCl with good results. We have not tried it, but if you are a bit skeptical be aware that Warner Marine makes a balanced ion potassium supplement that is not too rough on the wallet.
To get an idea of where your K levels are at, look into a test kit. Currently only Korallen Zucht and Fauna Marin make kits for this parameter. After reading reviews on both it seems like Fauna Marin’s is the easier of two to use… For an indepth look at the FM kit check out StonyReef.com’s write up.
Whichever K supplement you should choose, always start slow and observe your animals for any reactions.
6 Comments
Curious if you guys have heard of anyone using Seachem’s FW Flourish Potassium supplement? According to the website it is 50,000 ppm potassium derived from potassium sulfate, and it can be had fairly cheap.
Hi Brandon,
Funny you should say that
I was just looking into it. I would imagine it could be mixed with KCl in the same ratio as the DIY Mag supplements in order to balance the sulfate and chloride ions in our systems. Then again with the frequent water changes most ULNS reefers use the sulfate isn’t likely to cause much harm.
I have yet to hear of anyone using it, but there are some seachem FW products (such as Flourish K) that I see could cross over to our reefs.
What is iHerb KCl? I used to work at a company called iHerb in Irwindale, CA. They sold vitamins & herbal supplements and such …
Too funny Jeffry, that would be them.
Seachems Flourish Potassium is a liquid KNO3 or Potassium nitrate, not KCl. Its plant food, algae fuel, wouldn’t be good in a reef IMO.
@Sam, Seachem Flourish Potassium is Potassium Sulfate (K2SO4) while their Flourish Nitrogen is Potassium Nitrate (KNO3). HTH.