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I think fishyface's linked product is super cool and I want, so 'case anyone else in the US is interested, here's the cheapest I found after ten minutes on google (my trek got me to using "dispenser bottle graduated"):

http://sciencekit.com/dispenser-with-adjustable-volume/p/IG0025964/


This looks tasty too. Trims says its a couple months or less before you see ADA or Orlando or Cal Aqua or Malaysia market this :)
http://sciencekit.com/liquid-reagent-dispensers-teacher-developed,-classroom-tested/p/IG0020159/
 

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It is best to use a container that lets no light in when using any chelated iron in solution, but one alternative to using an opaque container is to just make really short lasting mixes (say, a week to two weeks) and keep the bottle in a cupboard between dosings. The other trick here is to make such a dilution with big doses to make your life easier and lower your margin of error when using a target.monitoring based dosing system like PPS: make your mix for doses of say 15mL (1 TBL) or more.

But like anything you can makeshift a workaround with the opaque bottle thing, of course. For example, when I used to reuse the Tropica Master Grow bottles (which is the same traditional two chamber dosing bottles as linked by Brilliant), I ripped the bottom off a ginormous cozy I got from Vegas and slipped it over the bottle. Tape works. If someone who loves you knows how to knit, those kinds of little cozys can be cute.

DTPA and EDTA Fe exposed to light/allowed to go to Fe +3 will fall out as a brown precipitate. However, if using CSM+B I would first try making a mix using DI or RO water. There is always some stuff in CSM+B that doesn't fully dissolve, and for this reason its better to use it in the type of bottle you bought (or the traditional two chamber setups) than, say, the stuff fishyface and I are interested in. Right now I squirt out of a colored ketchup thingy like you find at a fast food joint. Lots of other trace mixes go close to full solubility after good shakes though (ex: Miller Microplex).

(Though I should state I have never used regular CSM or made it CSM+B. I have only tried the "CSM+B+Extra Fe" mix Greg Watson made a few years ago -- 2004? -- for about a year then it sat for a while and now I still use it sometimes.)

But lots of folks don't take these things that seriously. But anyone can see the Fe+3 percipitate thing with most any trace mix and a sealed container out in sunlight. Its just that many commercial bottles are opaque and say shake well first ;)

If you're more interested in this, here's a good study Clemson did with easy to understand language that will get you started: http://www.clemson.edu/hort/sctop/bsec/bsec-04.php Note claims of 85% of chelated Fe becoming unusable Fe+3 after 10 days when exposed to radiation (light) but 0 loss when in darkness.
 

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Guys who makeshift containers laying around and make it work in such a way that they keep their dosing up are smart. As said, if you get what the plants need in the tank thats the only thing your tank cares about, of course.

But just as using a scale feels a little more hardcore but is unnecessary vs levelled teaspoons, those who have been doing this for a while realize the stuff they spent a little more coin on is the stuff they keep for years in a hobby where the aesthetic has some value. When you're going to do something everyday for a few years, its nice to do it with something nice, and especially sweet when you can do it for $10 more than the other thing you're using. Everyone surely must understand this.

But, for the sake of making my first post of the new year on APC a little more special, I propose for you this test. If you think this is awesome and makes you want to search (reach?) for your old TI/HP/etc and make some mixes, or you think, "Hey, that C is for clear not control!", you're probably the kind of nerd who'll like using equipment that is a little more precise than makeshift (but more than adequate) solutions. And even if you don't think this is awesome, you're still a nerd, nerd. ;)

 

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So shipping during the holidays sucks, but guess what just walked into my office? (along with many a confused person wondering why I'm building a meth lab at work... ) Please excuse our mess :)

I bought two 1L and 1 500mL. It would be more attractive if slightly smaller.


It comes as this quick to assemble kit, with the glass bottle/beaker, then the tubing already threaded to the stopper, and the syringe in a sealed container, along with instructions.


The 1L's bigger syringe has measurements from 0-30mL with 1mL increments. The other side is 0-1oz with 1/8oz increments. The 500mL has a syringe from 1-10mL with 0.2mL increments. Reading *is* sexy.


We'll see how it goes :)
 

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The 1L with the plunger down (or even partway up) fits under my 40g/standard 3ft tank stand. But in my case I keep my non-light sensitive dry ferts in (what I think are) nice glass containers meant for spices and nuts and bolts and stuff out on a table in my kitchen since I was dry dosing before getting these new bottles. (I keep my light sensitive stuff on its own half a shelf in one of my kitchen cupboards.) The bottles that are out look good out on the table, too. Since reentering the hobby I don't mind having this nerd stuff out and neither do the ladies, and it is much more convenient for me. I hide my spare pipes and plumbing and pumps and anything ugly in a drawer though. Too much information? Sorry :)
 

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As I remeasured a new batch, I figured it was time to post some quick thoughts of this solution after a year (much of it away from this hobby, though):

Sometimes I wish the join between the flex tubing into the stopper was tighter as it flops around, but a bonus of the design is on a new batch (lots of liquid) I can pull much of the pump body out and to the side.

Clear containers really remind you how many impurities are in our fertilizers :) In these cases pulling out the syringe some distance from the bottom prevents it from clogging.

I've only had one syringe clog (really at the union between the flex tubing and the syringe) and easily fixed but pumping in and out tap water. Syringe bodies are easy to clean. Small mouthed bottles not easy.

The glass has a nice weight and I've not been tempted to replace.

Have thought about using glass in the out tube just because it would look cooler.

All in all very happy and still think I will use them for years. Everybody who sees it and any ferts make ask/make a half serious meth-lab question/joke, and really, I would too. I think this bonus. :)
 
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