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Source of microelements for PMDD recipes



I would like to share with the people on the list another source of
microelements for a PMDD recipe, which I have now been using successfully
for several months (since last July). Apologies if I missed the fact that
others posted this info before.

It is called Compound 111 and it is made by Peters Professional, which is a
branch of Scotts corporation. For customer assistance and for locating a
dealer close to where I live I called 1-800-243-6560. Other 800 numbers:
548-3071 (Northeast), 233-1298 (Southeast), 233-1297 (West).

From the information sheet I got the following data:

Compound 111 guaranteed analysis:

Mg (total, water soluble)    0.74%
Boron                              0.232%
Copper, chelated              0.1136%
Iron, chelated                   1.5%
Manganese, chelated        0.74%
Molybdenum                     0.0242%
Zinc, chelated                  0.075%


Derived from magnesium sulfate, boric acid, Cu EDTA, Fe EDTA, Mn EDTA,
sodium molybdate, Zn EDTA. Contains a color dye tracer.

Since it is low in Fe, I supplement it with Iron Chelate DP made by Miller
(iron DTPA 10%). Both ingredients dissolved in H2O very easily, and I have
not noticed signs of precipitation in the solution bottle. I had however to
buy a big bag of Compound 111 (at ~ 5$/pound), and I will be glad to share
it with anyone interested (just e-mail me privately).

I did not post this information any sooner because as far as I know nobody
had used it, and I did not feel it was appropriate to send out completely
untested information. Even my experience should however be considered
limited and in need of confirmation. 

I have chosen Compound 111 for two reasons: I could not find anything else
(!! simple, eh?) but also I did not feel totally comfortable in using mixes
with elevated copper content (such as Microplex, with 1.5% Cu) since I am 
keeping invertebrates in some of my tanks. Although I know that Microplex
users are very happy with it and report no problems (water changes should
reduce the risk of accumulation), I preferred to keep a larger safety margin
on the basis of chronic toxicity considerations. 


Dionigi