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Re: Trace element supplementation/fertilization



This message never posted to the list back whenever for some reason, and
since it's the same subject, and because things are a little boring right
now, I'll try to stir up an argument.

> James Purchase wrote:
> 
> >"PMDD can work very well - IF you know what you are doing. If you DON'T
> know
> >what you are doing, it is better to stick with commercial preparations
> which
> >are designed for aquariums."
> 
> Tom Wood wrote:
> 
> >The trouble is, commercial preparations that don't disclose ingredients
> >leave you in a state of perpetually never knowing what you are doing,
> >whether you think you do or not.  I moved quickly to PMDD to overcome
> that
> >commercially enforced state of ignorance.  At the time I didn't know any
> >more about what I was doing than what I gleaned from the Sears-Conlin
> paper.
> >Plant fertilizer is really simple stuff once you know what is in each
> >component of a fertilizer regime and why it is there.  
> 
> Karen Randall wrote:
> 
> "The thing that amuses me about this sort of statement is that I have yet
> to
> hear of any of the PMDD advocates actually formulating their own trace
> element mix.  People simply use whatever hydroponic mix they can get their
> hands on, whether the ratios of different elements make sense for our
> purposes or not, and use it.  While it makes a great deal of sense to me
> to
> fine tune the dosing on N, P & K based on your own tank conditions,
> (calcium and magnesium too, depending on your local water supply) to think
> that you are doing things "more scientifically" by mixing your own
> hydroponic trace element mix with distilled water is only fooling
> yourself.
>  Now if you're doing it because you want to save money, or because you
> can't find a well balanced commercial trace element supplement in your
> area, those are legitimate reasons.  But if you're using _anybody's_
> "trace
> element mix" and you think you are "fine tuning" in any way that you
> couldn't with a commercial product, your just fooling yourself."
> 
> Allow me to retort:
> 
> I never said I was fine tuning anything.  I don't play the 'aquatic
> gardening as rocket science' game.  I just want to know what I am putting
> in my tank, and why.  Although I do have to trust that Paul knew what he
> was doing when he and Kevin chose the Plantex CSM trace element mix, I
> doubt it really matters all that much.  The amount needed is "some", with
> iron acting as a proxy for measuring. And even then, the iron test kits we
> use are unreliable because of the chelants.  My point was that when using
> a commercial fertilizer, there is no way of knowing what is being added if
> it isn't disclosed.  But more important, the very exercise of working
> through the PMDD regime yields a great deal of understanding as to why
> each component (both micro and macro-nutrient) is included.  The
> concoction that I now add each day would have been impossible to devise by
> random chance using commercial products of unknown composition.  I test
> now and then to make sure I'm staying in the same ballpark, but it's a far
> cry from 'fine tuning'.  This doesn't have to be all that complicated. 
> 
> Tom
> 
>