Great thread, without going off course - how does my 'all in one' co2 supermarket feet mix deliver ion?
Also, I dose flourish excel alongside this 'all in one' mix, am I wasting my time?
Chelators will be preserved under the right conditions, most cases by keeping the solution out of light reach and stable/acidic (e.g. ascorbic acid, vinegar potassium sorbate, etc).
Using excel in a solution will preserve the solution further. Glutaraldehyde is a sterilisation chemical (e.g. Metricide). One point to consider though is that many manufacturers already confirmed that when Glutaraldehyde is either exposed to air for some time and/or diluted below 1%, it will eventually breakdown. Different concentrations will give different results, but studies have shown that the average life of dosed Glutaraldehyde is around 10h or less.
Most chelates are sold with information about its pH effective range, like EDTA (~pH 7), DTPA (~ pH 8) and EDDHA (~ pH 10). Other chelators have different characteristics: Iron Gluconate is a much weaker chelator that requires low pH and hardness, but allows plants to acquire Iron with much less effort; Fe-HEDTA is used under pH 7 in phosphate-rich water.
In many cases, these chelators will be broken by the pH shift in the tank, specifically a higher pH, as many people use the wrong chelate for their systems. I will not afirm that no interactions between phosphates and iron happens on a tank, but one must understand that the differences in concentration between a 500ml bottle and a 100l tank are quite big.
Nonetheless, dosing in alternate days is a good thing, if people keep it steady. The point is making the ferts available, and balanced against CO2 and light
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