Preservatives for pre-mixed fertilizers

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*Ci*

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Can we discuss this topic, please? I use dry ferts and since I have large tanks it is easy to shake up the amounts I use in a bottle of water and just pour them in each time I dose. However, I am thinking of doing a custom micro mix and dosing smaller amounts more often, as well as contemplating adding a small high tech planted tank or two to my collection , so I am seeing the benefits of pre -mixing my ferts, especially the micros and dosing by the millilitre from there.

So, as far as preservatives go, I have heard of adding Excell, or glutaraldehyde, ascorbic acid or vitamin C, and vinegar. Are there any others and which of these are the best options?
Can we come up with proper amounts to add of each option to a given amount of pre-mix?
 
Can we discuss this topic, please? I use dry ferts and since I have large tanks it is easy to shake up the amounts I use in a bottle of water and just pour them in each time I dose. However, I am thinking of doing a custom micro mix and dosing smaller amounts more often, as well as contemplating adding a small high tech planted tank or two to my collection , so I am seeing the benefits of pre -mixing my ferts, especially the micros and dosing by the millilitre from there.

So, as far as preservatives go, I have heard of adding Excell, or glutaraldehyde, ascorbic acid or vitamin C, and vinegar. Are there any others and which of these are the best options?
Can we come up with proper amounts to add of each option to a given amount of pre-mix?
I've been making custom micros for years and add 0.4g of potassium sorbate and 10 ml distilled white vinegar for every 1000ml. Works great no problems ever with mold or anything else. Be sure to store in a dark place like a closet or in a cabinet. And it helps to start with distilled or RO water.
 
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Its pretty straight forward. Adding any acid will lower the pH of the solution. This is how we acheive adding Macros and Micros into All in One Solutions with success. After each salt addition it will either raise or lower said pH and sometimes we have to add a bit of acid to stabalize the solution as we go through the list of salts. Most common ones are Ascorbic Acid aka Vitamin C, Vinigar, Battery Acid - Sulfuric Acid etc.
Potassium Sorbate is used as a mold / growth inhibitor. Its stops all life from happening. This goes for Glute or Excel if enough is added.
 
Its pretty straight forward. Adding any acid will lower the pH of the solution. This is how we acheive adding Macros and Micros into All in One Solutions with success. After each salt addition it will either raise or lower said pH and sometimes we have to add a bit of acid to stabalize the solution as we go through the list of salts. Most common ones are Ascorbic Acid aka Vitamin C, Vinigar, Battery Acid - Sulfuric Acid etc.
Potassium Sorbate is used as a mold / growth inhibitor. Its stops all life from happening. This goes for Glute or Excel if enough is added.
Yes, thank you. Can you share the amounts to add to, say, 1000ml of mixture, for ascorbic acid, sulfuric acid and Excell?
Gregg has already covered potassium sorbate and vinegar. I just would like all the detailed information together in one thread for preservatives, so it is easy to reference.
 
Here ya go. This is the defacto or OG of where it all started. He pretty much cloned the Tropia solutions and this is the results of that. Mind you this was way back 5-10 yrs ago.
It's what all All in One Solutions are based off of now. Yes the more you up the amounts the more ascorbic acid and potassium sorbate you have to add but it is a great starting point.
Use the Rotala Butterfly calculator to give solubility limits if your severely changing amounts of salts.

 
After struggling to keep my micromix powder in solution (oddly even with vinegar added) I'm experimenting with adding dry micromix directly to my tank every day after the pH drops. For this volume I needed about 0.33 g daily of the mix which translated to 1/8 tsp. almost exactly. Measuring by dry volume is easy, but I always mix the micro powder a bit with a dry spatula and get scoops from a different part of the bag each day, to try even out the ratios.
Probably not feasible for smaller tanks but for me it feels like less effort, one less step. I don't see any deficiency
 
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