Your feeling on potassium, iodine and strontium.

[Paolissimo]

I have seen article mentioning these three elements. Personally I never cared too much about them, and infact i don't have any test kits that measure them. My salt, ESV, replenishes minor trace elements. Potassium, iodine and strontium are part of those minor trace elements. How many people test for these three elements? What are the signs of lack of them? If you had to pick one, which one would you test regularly? Do most salt mixes replenish potassium, iodine and strontium?
Thank you

 

[Mattl22]

Gotta say this is a great topic! I've been looking at red sea color care program which is basicly test kits for these 3 elements and the 3 elements themselves to dose when needed!

So what's the deal should we test for these all 3 tests r pretty expensive??

 

[mbg75]

Red sea test for trace does not work well. The iodine test is ok. Potassium test can be off by a lot, and the iron test always reads 0 except within 2 hours of dosing.

 

[Paolissimo]

Red sea test for trace does not work well. The iodine test is ok. Potassium test can be off by a lot, and the iron test always reads 0 except within 2 hours of dosing.

Yeah on RC and R2R some of the threads I read said that potassium can be hard to test and that red sea potassium kit is off.

 

[shiladitya1991]

Get a Hanna Checker..Worst Investing IMO.

 

[Paolissimo]

Get a Hanna Checker..Worst Investing IMO.

Wait i am confused, you are saying NOT to get a Hanna checker? I only use the phospate test from them, all my other kits are from salifert.

 

[shiladitya1991]

Sorry I read potassium as phosphate.. my bad Hanna also has a potassium check as well for soils ,dont know how good will it work for water... BTW what is the reason for testing potassium anyway?

 

[Paolissimo]

Well from what I read potassium deficiency can cause pale colors, poor growth, but those symptoms can be cause by soo many other factors. Plus potassium seems to be replenished with water changes. It doesn't seem an element that can be completely depleted, that's why I don't test it.

 

[Boomer]

Paol

Do most salt mixes replenish potassium, iodine and strontium?

Yes they do. The issue is do you need to sup them. IMHO no.

Sr++

Is only adsorbed by coral because it is there. Corals also have Uranium in their skeleton. So, should we start to dose that too ? It is pretty much just a sales gimmick as there is zero evidence that they need it. Sr++ is a substitute ion. Meaning, if it is there it fits into the Aragonite crystal lattice real nice, just like Calcium. What about Magnesium ? Hope it does not fit into the Aragonite crystal lattice. However, it does fit into the Calcite crystal lattice real nice and Strontium does not fit into the Calcite crystal lattice. Why ? It has to do with the ionic radius of the ion and the "cell" structure of Calcite and Aragonite. For Calcite, Sr++ is to big and for Aragonite Mg++ is to small. That tells you what ? That Ca++ is right in the middle on ionic radius.

IR Mg++ = 1.64 A

IR Ca++ = 1.97 A

IR Sr++ = 2.15 A



Iodine

First, it is not Iodine, heaven forbid but mostly Iodide, with a tad of Iodate. Is it needed ? Yes. Do you really need to sup it ? No. Why ? Most tanks seem to have actually to much of it, above NSW levels. And most do not sup it at all and many have spectacular reef tanks without it. Last, almost all marine life really do not adsorb it but get it from their "food".

One theory throw out there, haphazardly, is shrimp need it. Shrimp get it from their food. You over dose with "Iodine" or get it to high you will drive them into a continuous cycle of Ecdysis, which will kill them and the same for other Crustaceans.

Zenia: My theory is you dump in "Iodine" to get them to pulsate more is they are pulsating as you pissed them off and they are trying to get rid of it. Pulsating vs non-pulsating is mostly a water flow issue. Ask yourself the question, why do some pulsate and others do not ?

Potassium, K+

Mostly a Zeovit kick, because of the way they run those systems. And most non-Zeo system are near NSW. It is due to a K+ deficiency, where you may see a washed-out appearance in Acro's, especially a loss of blue coloration. IMHO if one does normal WC it should not be need.



I have no issue if one wants to keep any of these at NSW levels or any ion. If you want to do so then test for it. If I had to choose one it would be K+. However, testing procedures for this ion are not easy and can be way off. And it would be nice to know what the iodide level is at. For Sr++ it is a waste of money.

 

[ducati335i]

I also read that people that dose it and it makes no difference,. I think if you change a little water once a week, have a mature tank, good flow, and offer food to them, they should thrive.. (and of course alk, mag, calcium)
I could b wrong, I would love to add something special as well but so far I have been very happy.. Once a week I feed the entire tank at night and let it sit a little the corals love it!

 

[NL146]

At the swap I asked Dr. Mac what additives he uses in his systems and he said he only does the big three (Mag, Calc, Alk) and gets amazing results.

 

[Paolissimo]

Boomer as usual your explanation is awesome and very informative, I understand most of your explanation and I can say I am satisfied with the answer. I am not gonna waste money buying test kids for these three elements.

 

[MIKE NY]

I was dosing all three along with AAs for awhile to bring out better SPS colors and the only difference I saw was an algae outbreak and AEFWs. The added Pot was just fueling the algae and the iodine I've read helps in the AEFW reproduction cycle. I'm only dosing 5ml of Stron a week now to bring it up to NSW.
I decided just to increase the nutriants by adding more fish so I have to feed heavily and of course my water quality husbandry increased also.....seems to be the answer for me as everything is looking better....