Potassium hydroxide / potassium acetate / potassium carbonate

[ripped tide]

Been doing a little reasearch on these chemicals. Anyone have experiance with these chemicals in an aquarium?

I've got some speculations. I'd like to see if any of our chemistry guys have any experience here.

 

[reefstinger]

Over my head Dillion?? lol

 

[nholderried65]

Potassium hydroxide- rapes your ph over time....but what are you trying to do that you need them?

 

[ripped tide]

nholderried65;791848 wrote: Potassium hydroxide- rapes your ph over time....but what are you trying to do that you need them?

Nothing just yet. just learning. Have you tried it?

 

[nholderried65]

ive seen it done...its not a stable form for dosing but you can use it in to regenerate gfo in the right form .... if you looking for dosing a tank potassium chloride 100% is all you need and is stable in the tank

 

[ripped tide]

I'm not so much interested in dosing it for the potassium. More the hydroxide. And potassium hydroxide reacts with co2 and results in bicarbonate.

 

[ralph atl]

And.....?

 

[nholderried65]

lol....prob kill your tank.

Edit: baking soda!

 

[ripped tide]

Lol I am not planning on using this. Just looking around at different things.

 

[nholderried65]

if you have chem ? go over to reef central and ask randy holmes... he will be able to tell you why it cant be used and what can be used

 

[ripped tide]

Ok so here is my orgional thought process:

Some people have a low ph due to excess co2. Much like limewater, dilute a minute amount of potassium Hydroxide in top off water, and drip it through out the day. It would give a small amount of potassium, raise the ph, convert co2 to bicarbonate, And might help stabilize the ph.

 

[nholderried65]

it would make the ph go sky high...ur better off reducing the co2 around the tank

i know if does something else just cant think of it

 

[ripped tide]

How about potassium acetate? Should be more stable on the ph

 

[nholderried65]

not sure about that but i do know acetate at high level will drop the o2 level fast because it feeds bacteria...i know you can dose a tank with ca acetate...still i would just look for the reason you have a high co2 level....add more air to the tank many ways to do it.

 

[acroholic]

Dylan,
You are talking about Potassium Lye, similar to sodium lye. I use sodium hydroxide to make Reef Napalm, which kills about any reef life it touches. I use it in a 2N solution which is very strong. What affect it has on a reef tank is all about the concentration you are using.

I'm not sure if "rapes your ph over time" is supposed to be "raises your pH over time", but using any type of hydroxide will raise your pH, but not significantly if you are careful about how much you use.

If my KH, mag and calcium are all within normal limits, then I don't worry about a lower pH in the tank. It has never seemed to be a factor. Alternately, you could use a CO2 scrubber and get the same result. I think JeF4Y uses one.

You should take a look at a SeaChem AquaVitro product called Balance. It is a blend of sodium hydroxide and potassium hydroxide, and is supposed to raise pH without affecting calcium or alkalinity. But it is a very dilute blend compared to Reef Napalm, for example. All the chemical action explanation is on this page. Hope this helps.

 

[ripped tide]

Dave, That's what I was interested in. Thanks for the link. The ratios of sodium to potassium are a little bit more than I was hoping.... Either way, good to know.

Jeff's soda lime co2 scrubber is the safest route, (potassium hydroxide is an ingredient) but I was interested in removing co2 that is already in a system. I've noticed that dripping calcium hydroxide stabilizes the ph, but with a calcium reactor, I don't want to creat any kind of imbalance from too much CA. That led me to be curious about the potassium hydroxide. I dose potassium chloride/sulfate mix daily. If I could achieve the same results without the increase in calcium, thAt would be nice.

 

[skriz]

Ripped Tide;791871 wrote: Dave, That's what I was interested in. Thanks for the link. The ratios of sodium to potassium are a little bit more than I was hoping.... Either way, good to know.

Jeff's soda lime co2 scrubber is the safest route, (potassium hydroxide is an ingredient) but I was interested in removing co2 that is already in a system. I've noticed that dripping calcium hydroxide stabilizes the ph, but with a calcium reactor, I don't want to creat any kind of imbalance from too much CA. That led me to be curious about the potassium hydroxide. I dose potassium chloride/sulfate mix daily. If I could achieve the same results without the increase in calcium, thAt would be nice.

I've never had a more stable tank with explosive growth and colour than when I ran a calcium reactor and Kalkwasser together.

 

[ripped tide]

Skriz;791876 wrote: I've never had a more stable tank with explosive growth and colour than when I ran a calcium reactor and Kalkwasser together.

Since I've added the Kalk(calcium acetate), I've really liked the results.


I guess I am bored more than anything. Potassium hydroxide seems to be a LOT cheaper than potassium chloride/sulfate. Instead of doing the calcium acetate every time, switch it up with something else, and still get the benefits of the hydroxide.

 

[mph84]

you guys have entirely too much time on your hands... haha

 

[mschum]

I think dosing lye would raise salinity. I remember reading that somewhere.