Flourish stability in deionized water for pump dosing - Seachem

Freemann · 12-02-2004, 07:44 AM

I am mixing 127 ml Flourish with 2000 ml deionized water and I am dosing it in a period of 3 months in my 100 gal by dosing pump. My problem is that after some time fungus growth fills the surface of the storage bottle and inside the solution, maybe bacteria also I am not sure still solution looks really dirty and the materials of the solution seem to coagulate. Is there some way to stabilize the solution so it last through the 3 month period?

JLudwig · 12-02-2004, 10:47 AM

Add a few drops of HCl (hydrochloric/muriatic acid) Since there is no buffer in the DI water it should crash the pH real low, so low the bugs have trouble getting to it.

Jeff

Freemann · 12-02-2004, 11:14 AM

JLudwig I am aware of the HCL approach from pmdd. I was wondering though won't HCL effect any of the chemicals in the solution by interacting with it. Do you know if that can be the case?

Seachem · 12-02-2004, 02:00 PM

Well, yes, dropping the pH might help. However, part of the stability of Flourish is not only its low pH but also its concentration of its components. This concentration acts as its own means of stability. You could try dropping the pH - its not a bad idea and it shouldn't degrade anything. However, it is my guess that the dilution is so strong that you still may have issues with bacterial growth in the container or mix.