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Re: Dupla analysis
> Wow! Thanks for the analysis. I have a friend who works with such a
> spectrometer at Dow. Asked if he could sneak in such an analysis and he
> said it would cost about $10,000.
Gee, the Soil Tsting lab at Colo. State U. charges $15 for each test...
I don't think your friend really wants to do it :-)
> My question is has anybody tried to replicate the Dupla stuff and market
> it at a more realistic price?
There are all kinds of commercial products that make the same claims
Dupla does. Some people "swear" by them. I think Dupla has taken the
approach of supplying an entire system to the plant&fish tank owner.
"Do it our way and be successful". Others, like Tetra, do little odds
and ends that may work for some folks due to fortunate pre-existing
conditions.
> Why is the stuff so expensive?
I think they do lot's of R&D and need to fund their efforts. I'm sure
the chemicals and packaging involved are mouse-nuts. Buying larger
quantities of the stuff brings the price/dose down to the point where I
don't have an incentive to do any DIY work. And I wouldn't want to
make any of our four tanks guinea pigs.
> Of course, some of the make-up of Dupla could be to work with co2 and
> might not be as good as Tetra in a low tech tank. Any thoughts?
I doubt it. I think it's just a more complete, better balanced and
well-thought out formula. I have to think they are right in using
"daily drops". Iron oxidizes in water; if you added enough to last
two weeks, you would have wildly varying levels over that period. I
tried Sera <something> that you added once every two weeks. Right
after dosing, the iron level was 5 mg/l. A nice way to make algae
happy.
There is something called "Hoagland's Solution" used by plant
researchers that supplies the majority of the elements needed by
plants (including N & P). It's been around for a long time and is
cheap and easy to make. I think Paul Krombholz (just joined the plant
mailing list) knows what it is.
Regards,
George