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Too much Potassium Gluconate?
>3. What are the effects of overdosing an aquarium if a (Potassium
> Gluconate) dosing mistake is made?
Never one to do things in half-measures, I threw a bunch of
Potassium
Gluconate tablets in the tank, and the next morning there was a fine,
shimmering, silky growth all over the front glass. I assume the two
events were related. For each 99 mg of potassium, there's about half a
gram of gluconate that comes along with it in a 550 mg tablet. I think
maybe some kind of bacteria really liked all that organic stuff(?) It
was a minor, transient problem, but maybe K2SO4 is the better choice for
a big dose? Potassium gluconate is certainly a lot easier to find.
(BTW, I see at the Seachem site that they have announced "Flourish
Potassium" will be available soon.)
Here's a chem question: How does the pharmacy get "Equivalent
to 99 mg
of Potassium" in a 550 mg tablet? If the gluconate moiety weighs in at
195 (C6=72, H11=11, O7=112), and the K at 19, then the total is 214.
19/214 = 8.9% potassium. 8.9% of a 550 mg tablet is 49 milligrams, not
99, and that's not even allowing for the binders and stuff. What have I
got wrong this time?
-- Sherman Lovell, whose aquarium will never get Osteoporosis, Anemia,
or a Potassium deficiency as long as there's a Rite-Aid pharmacy down
the street.