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Sears/Conlin system
Paul wrote:
> Go back and read the article Kevin and I wrote at the start of
>the "PMDD" idea. I began with my own mix. I use commercial stuff now,
>because it is a lot less trouble and I don't have time to do a lot of
>(any?) experimenting. If you look at information on the amounts of trace
>elements in plant materials in plants, that will tell you roughly the
>proportions to use. There is quite a bit of room for error.
OK, I should have been a little more specific. I know _you_ guys did your
homework, and I think you know I know it. I think the work you did was
great, and it's been a life saver for many people who can't get or can't
afford a good quality trace element mix specifically made for planted
tanks. But I still think the _main_ point of your paper, and certainly, I
think, the most _important_ thing to take away is that N & K and possibly
even P need to be looked at individually and dosed as needed, and that a
tank kept P limited can take fairly heavy doses of N without any algae
problems.
You know that in the beginning I was a "hard sell" on the idea of adding N
to the water column. I have come (slowly... I'll admit readily to being
very conservative when it comes to "experimenting" with new ideas!<g>) to
agree fully that you can add N (and K, although that's never been much in
issue) with relative impunity if P is limiting. I still don't add it WITH
my trace elements in the same mix. however, and I believe you've gotten
away from that as well?
When this re-post was first posted, my response was toward people who were
"puffing" about how their method was more scientific in "fine tuning" TRACE
ELEMENT supplementation. They were _not_ making their own trace element
mix, they were simply using a hydroponic mix. As I said before, there are
several valid reasons for doing this, but IMO the idea of "fine tuning" is
not one of them. As you said, there's quite a bit of room for error. IMO,
the fine tuning that needs to be done is with macronutrients.
As to labeling, if you look in the archives, I think you will find that
time and again, I have railed against those companies that do not
adequately label their supplements, and I vote with my feet. I use one
that does, Tropica Mastergrow. It used to be kind of hard to get here in
the states, (although I managed) but it's not anymore. I use TMG rather
than PMDD for two reasons. First, I'm lazy, and it TMG comes pre-mixed.
Second, I'm lazy, and TMG uses good enough chelates that it doesn't need to
be added on a daily basis. Oh, I guess there's a 3rd reason. It also
works very well for me.
I've used PMDD in the past, and it works fine. If I couldn't get TMG, I'd
probably use it again. But not because I thought I was "fine tuning" my
trace element supplementation with it.
BTW, the reason I titled this post "Sears/Conlin system" rather than "PMDD"
is that I think it's a disservice to you guys to stick such good work with
such a yucky name. Your system goes beyond what Dupla does. It doesn't
need to be known as the WalMart version, whether it costs more or less.