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Dupla product fertilizer analysis

> From: George Booth <booth at hpmtlgb1_lvld.hp.com>
> >  I was under the impression that Duplagan might be similar to
> > peat-water (tap water soaked with peat for a few days) but I now think
> > I'm wrong since the peat would remove calcium & magnesium & possibly
> > other beneficial 2+ ions (e.g. Fe, Cu, Mn, Zn).
> 
> The peat tannins will chelate the Ca, Mg, etc and remove them from 
> solution but the analysis would still see them.  I still think 
> Duplagan is mostly peat-water. 

My understanding of chelation is the reverse.  I think it means the
dissolving of a relatively insoluble metal such as Mg or Fe via an organic
acid.  I did some reading in my old university chemistry book and if I
remember, I'll make some notes on the process for here. It was quite 
interesting!

> 
> Here's a repeat of the info for folks who may have missed the last 8
> or 9 postings of it:
Thanks George; I'm sure it's new to many of us including me.

> Duplagan water conditioner
> - --------------------------
> 
> Used at each water change to add organic acids beneficial to slime coat
> production and to add some trace elements that have long term stability.
> Note that the inorganic acids are "natural" versus artificial polymers used
> in Novaqua type products (according to the local fish store).
> 
> Ca  31.0 ppm    Mg 509.0 ppm    Na  54.0 ppm    K   10.0 ppm    P    1.0 ppm

I suspect the interesting bits of this are the organic components,
C, O, N, Cl in whatever complex molecules they are in. An atomic
assay won't tell us much. Could maybe post in sci.chem or the new
sci.chem.analytical to see if anyone knows how to analyze peat water
and the other similar extractions most likely derived from it.

> 
> Duplaplant fertilizer tablets
> - -----------------------------
> 
> Used at each water change to add trace elements that have long term
> stability.  Note: for the analysis, a tablet was dissolved in distilled
> water.
> 
> Ca   5.5 ppm    Mg   0.3 ppm    Na 116.0 ppm   K  2490.0 ppm    P    0.3 ppm
> Al   0.4 ppm    Fe 234.0 ppm    Mn  36.8 ppm    Ti   0.6 ppm    Cu   0.2 ppm
> Zn   0.6 ppm    Ni   3.7 ppm    Mo   0.7 ppm    Cd  <0.1 ppm    Si   5.7 ppm
> Cr   0.1 ppm    Sr  <0.1 ppm    B    6.7 ppm    Pb   0.1 ppm    V   <0.1 ppm

The principal ingredient is potassium! Very interesting. The other
trace elements Fe, Mn, Zn, Mo, B are virtually absent except for Fe.
Interesting that Mg is so low!

> Duplaplant 24 daily drops fertilizer
> - ------------------------------------
> 
> Used daily to add trace elements that are either are unstable or are toxic 
> in large doses.
> 
> Ca   1.5 ppm    Mg  <0.1 ppm    Na 484.0 ppm    K   <0.1 ppm    P    0.7 ppm
> Al   0.5 ppm   Fe 1180.0 ppm    Mn   1.3 ppm    Ti  <0.1 ppm    Cu   0.1 ppm
> Zn   0.1 ppm    Ni   0.2 ppm    Mo  <0.1 ppm    Cd  <0.1 ppm    Si   0.8 ppm
> Cr   0.2 ppm    Sr  <0.1 ppm    B    2.0 ppm    Pb   0.5 ppm    V    0.2 ppm

Only Fe is the only trace element in significant concentration. Again
Mg is virtually absent. Other trace element fertilizers for gardening esp.
roses contain significant amounts of Mg, S, B, Cu, Mn, Mo & Zn. Some 
sulpher is important for all plants, but we don't know how much is in
the Dupla additives since it's not be measured. I suspect that we can
find some sulphates in most of the fish foods we use as part of their 
organic structure. I was also told that it would be beneficial to use
sulphuric acid to neutralize wood ashes for fertilizer use if the local
water was low in sulpher content. This would be true for water which
is obtained primarily from rain in reservoirs as opposed to underground
acquifirs. Underground water has lots of sulpher. That's what gives it
the sweet taste that I remember from my grandpa's well. :-)

I'd say the use of peat or humus to provide humic acids is probably a
pretty good idea in our plant aquariums. In the 75 gallon that I am
currently setting up, I've used vermiculite and humus in the form
of earth worm castings. In my leaching tube, I used fine steel wool
(only a small amount), peat, earth worm humus, white silica sand and
cotton plugs in each end to retain the materials so the entire tube
can easily be removed for maintenance. I'll be watching the Fe 
concentration quite closely to see if it's too high or not effective
at all.

 - Steve