Re: Composition of Green Light Stump Remover

[Chuck H <grendel at usit_net>]

James wrote:

>It would be nice to know the % of "blood meal" in the product. That's an
>organic fertilizer but I don't know how wise it would be to introduce dried
>animal blood (literally) into an aquarium. Plants use inorganic ions as
>nutrients and the approximately 80-90% crude protein in blood meal would
>have to be processed by a whole series of bacteria in order to become useful
>to the plants as a Nirtogen source.


Yeah, I wouldn't advise tossing powdered blood into a tank.  The nitrogen 
in the blood meal in the Green Light product seems to have already been 
turned into NO3-, though.  My nitrate test picks it up well enough.



>Aren't "fertilizers" regulated in the U.S.? That _ought_ to provide a
>starting point - at the very least an MDS, although to be truthful I've
>looked at a lot of those documents which don't contain very much
>information - in many cases not even the chemical formula is listed.


The feds regulate, but I think its up to the individual state govs to 
control the fine details.  Washington has a good program, but they're 
really only concerned with leachable metals and the like.  My experience 
with MSDS's has been the same as yours.  I've asked for a current one from 
Green Light anyway, but I doubt it'll show much.  After trying several 
times to find details on various fertilizers, I've come to the conclusion 
that a comprehensive assay is the only way one can get a decent idea of 
what's really in a fertilizer, and we aren't likely to see that on most 
stuff.  I guess there are some exceptions out there.



>While on the subject of off beat fertilizers, does anyone know the general
>difference in purity levels between "farm grade", "field grade" and most
>importantly "greenhouse grade" chemicals? It seems that most of the
>hydroponics retailers (at least the ones here in Canada) are primarily
>selling "greenhouse grade" chemicals. It seems to me that if its pure enough
>to use on tomatoes destined for the table it ought to be pure enough for an
>aquarium but thats still only a guess.


The info on purity I've come across deals with fine chemicals, not 
fertilizers per se.  Here's a list of purity grade descriptions as used by 
Tennessee Reagents (aka Reagents, Inc.): 
http://www.reagents.com/products/reagents/grades.html
I'd guess that most hydroponics fertilizers are technical grade or so.
--
Chuck Huffine
Knoxville, Tennessee...hoping I remember to never turn my back on a camel! ;)