What is K?
 

I am new to this. Could someone tell me what K is?

Tim

What is K?
 

K is the symbol for the element potassium.

What is K?
 

SLEngst wrote:
: K is the symbol for the element potassium.

and, as an adjunct to this, is it in fact turbidity that is the measure of
potassium in water? i always wondered what turbidity was. are there
other factors contributing to turbidity?

thanks,
-david

What is K?
 

"David Marshburn" wrote in message
...
SLEngst wrote:
: K is the symbol for the element potassium.

and, as an adjunct to this, is it in fact turbidity that is the measure of
potassium in water? i always wondered what turbidity was. are there
other factors contributing to turbidity?

I believe that there was a post a few days ago that contained a comment
about using a turbidity test to determine the level of Potassium in a tank -
this might be the source of your confusion.

Potassium is difficult to test for. Chemical methods designed to "snag" the
Potassium in order to quantify it in a test tend to also "snag" other ions
in the water as well, and it is difficult to isolate the K from the
interference. The only chemical method which is adaptable to hobbyist level
test kits uses the turbidity of the sample (after reagent chemicals have
been added to it) as a measure of the level of K. This isn't the same thing
as the turbidity (cloudiness) of the water in your aquarium. Turbidity tests
can be very difficult to read - they depend upon having a good eye and
knowing how to compare a sample with a standard. If you have the money, you
can buy more sensitive electronic testers for it but they are not really
necessary for hobbyist purposes. Potassium is a macronutrient, needed by
plants in relatively large amounts. It does not appear to have adverse
effects over quite a wide range of concentrations. I have only ever heard of
one instance of an excess of K causing problems and I believe that the
levels in that case were in the order of 10X "normal". Anything in the 10-30
ppm range ought to be O.K., with the upper end of the range being more
appropriate in extremely high light, CO2 enriched tanks.

James Purchase
Toronto

What is K?
 

James Purchase wrote:
: "David Marshburn" wrote in message
:
: and, as an adjunct to this, is it in fact turbidity that is the measure of
: potassium in water? i always wondered what turbidity was. are there
: other factors contributing to turbidity?

: I believe that there was a post a few days ago that contained a comment
: about using a turbidity test to determine the level of Potassium in a tank -
: this might be the source of your confusion.

Yes, that's the case and why I asked. Thanks, all for clearing that up!

cheers,
-david