Dosing supplements and nutrient springs

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: Dosing supplements and nutrient springs
From: James Purchase <jpp at inforamp_net>
Date: Fri, 29 Nov 1996 14:02:24 -0500
Hi, 

Dupla recommends that it's basic fertilizer, Duplant, be added to the
water with every water change and that the micronutrient supplement,
Duplant 24, be added on a daily basis.

I am wondering is either (or both) additives could be placed in an IV
style dosing bag and added to the tank in a slow, continuous drip (the
additives would be diluted with an appropriate amount of pure water in
the dosing bag. The unit I am thinking of specifically is the Accudose
from R.J. Hunter ($14.95). 

Or would the additives oxidize while being held in the doser in a
diluted form? If it would work, it would certainly be simpler than
manually adding the drops every day and cheaper than a dedicated dosing
pump.

While on the topic of the Accudose, in The Optimum Aquarium mention is
made of "nutrient springs" as a continuois source for nutrients in
tropical streams. I cannot find any reference to such inputs as being
important in "The Dynamic Aquarium" but that may not mean much. I
haven't been wading in any tropical streams, but I have done a lot of
sloshing through temperate ones and know that springs, both above the
water line and below it, are very important parts of many aquatic
environments. I have noticed very lush plant growth downstream from
underwater springs in several brooks in my native province of Nova
Scotia (Canada).

Could a "nutrient spring", such as is discussed in TOA, not be simulated
in a large aquarium by using an IV doser held above the water line, with
the input being introduced through a length of air-line tubing that is
run underneath the gravel to a single release point somewhere in the
substrate? 

The flow rate could be adjusted to release a very small amount of
nutrient solution into the substrate on a continuous basis, ensuring of
course that the flow rate is not powerful enough to physically disturb
the gravel and laterite (or whatever other substrate additive is being
used).

Just a thought. I'd like to have some of your thoughts on this.

Thanks

James Purchase
jpp at inforamp_net