Any potassium test kit in the market?

[squall99e]

Search through the forum but yet to see any test kit for potassium if there one in market?
Or we normally dose potassium according to the guidelines set with the product?(overdosage will not cause alage)

P04 test kit is to measure phosphorus right?

And i see that most of the forumers mention that calcium test kit is not necessary, is it woth the $. Around $15

Also what about nitrogen test kit?NO3?

I am having a pH meter, kh, gh and Fe testkit at the moment.

Hope someone can clear my answer.

[DEA]

in the market, yes, in the aquarium trade market, no
potassium testing is quite convoluted and involves reading of the turbidity of the solution
not much point imo

[jameshoftiezer]

In the US there is a test kit in the aquarium trade of dubious quality at ~$15US.
There is a really good kit from LaMotte for ~$45US, but as mentioned above it is a difficult kit to use. K is just plain hard to test for.

Normally you can inlcude a taget of 20ppm of K in a regular fert regiment, but recently I have been discussing with others that overdosing may in fact be causing issues. These are not severe but we are discussing them as a matter of diagnosing issues with particular plants. Excessive K and/or Mg may be leading to issues with Ca uptake. This is anecdotal and not conclusive.

[Allen_1971]

The thing to remember with potassium is that your tank can tolerate really high levels of it... and also your plants will show if you lack it... In other words, just dose a healthy 20-40ppm each week, and you would probably never see a deficiency except in the most densely planted tanks

[squall99e]

Allen
The reason i want to know is because my red plants(Rotala indica) is developing green leaves. I want to know what could be missing.
I dose Seachem potassium and iron according to the direction given.
Tank 4ft x 1.5ft x 1.5ft
pH= 6.0
NO3= 20mg/L
kH= 35.8ppm
Fe= Slightly higher 0.5mg/L
Temp 27 deg c
Lighting 36w x 4 Fresh water lamp 11 hrs/day
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : tank
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): reactor

Fish 50 cardinal , 30 rummy nose, 3 discus , 6 sae, 4 pencil fish , i sucker fish

Could calcium be the problem?

[PeterGwee]

Lower your NO3 to 5-10ppm...you should see more red but don't let it get too low though.

[vinz]

From my experience, R. indica needs a lot of light to turn red. Usually only the top most leaves of mine are red.

[Allen_1971]

I agree with vinz. If its the redness you are worrying about then potassium is the wrong nutrient to worry about. R. Indica needs lots of light... in most home setups, its hard to get it the blood red you see in aquariums... thats cuz most of these plant. The best I got my indica was an orangy red.

Like vinz said, up your lights, that will help. Also, a low N and P may help, though usually thats not the best way to go...

[squall99e]

Just notice that my co2 is 1 bubble in 2 second and increase it to 2 per sec. Will it help?
Also my pH is surpisely low now 5.8.
May be it because all the plants are new.

Wonder which of the fishes are pulling my gloso out daily?
I have to plant them back when i come back from work in the evening

[vinz]

what fishes do you have? list them and someone might be able to guess the culprit from past experience.

[unknown]

my guess is the sucker fish

[freemann]

this is a site that sells a K test, cheap one actually (Barr refers to it together with lamott)
http://www.fishvet.com/store/itemdet...09202001163549
I am following closely the talks on K Ca interaction and there maybe something there, K can really burn plants in the fields if added in high doses so why not affect plants in water?