# Seachem Flourish Trace Clone



## Happi (16 Jan 2022)

*Step #1: *
1. start with 400 ml Distilled water and prepare Solution #2 and #3 separately
2. add Ascorbic Acid or Vinegar and mix until fully dissolved
3. add Potassium Sorbate and mix until fully dissolved
4. wait few minutes
5. add chemicals, and mix until fully dissolved
6. fill the container to 500 ml with distilled water
7. wait few hours to make sure these solutions are fully dissolved, some of the chemicals take some time to fully dissolve.

*Step #2: *
1. start with 400 ml Distilled water and prepare Solution #1 separately
2. add Ascorbic Acid or Vinegar and mix until fully dissolved
3.  add Potassium Sorbate and mix until fully dissolved
4. wait few minutes
5. add chemicals, and mix until fully dissolved
6. take 10 ml from Solution#2 and add into this
7. take 2 ml from Solution#3 and add into this
6. fill the container to 500 ml with distilled water
7. now you have a Clone version of Seachem Flourish Trace in Solution#1

*#1 Solution, 500 ml Solution*
0.5g  Ascorbic Acid or 5ml White Vinegar
0.2g  Potassium Sorbate
5.82 gram MnSO4*H2O
3.57 gram H3BO3
2.79 gram CuSO4*5H2O
10.6 gram Zinc Sulfate Monohydrate 35.5%

*#2 Solution, 500 ml Solution*
0.5g  Ascorbic Acid or 5ml White Vinegar
0.2g  Potassium SorbateSolution
1.59 gram CoSO4*7H2O
0.842 gram Na2MoO4*2H2O

*#3 Solution, 500 ml Solution*
0.5g  Ascorbic Acid or 5ml White Vinegar
0.2g  Potassium Sorbate
0.630 gram RbCl
0.355  gram VOSO4

0.676 gram NiCl2*6H2O
Or
1.114 gram  (*NH4)2Ni(SO4)2·6H2O* 

*5 ml per 50 gallon will add:*
Mn    0.1
B    0.033
Cu    0.037
Zn    0.198
Co    0.00035
Mo    0.00353
Ni    0.000035
Rb    0.000094
V    0.000023


*Note: this is a cloned version of Seachem Flourish Trace, this Clone is based on the given ppm and the chemicals used by them. if you could only find a different type of chemicals in your country which is not listed above, just let me know.
I would start with 1 ml per 50 gallon which will add 0.02 ppm Mn, you can dose 3x a week if you like or daily, try to maintain 0.07 - 0.15 ppm Mn weekly. you can dose Iron Gluconate like Seachem and maintain about 0.3 ppm Fe weekly or as needed. you can also dose DTPA Fe if you choose that. 

according to Seachem calculator, it says dose 0.0056 Mn as proxy 2x a week, so you decide if you want to follow exactly how seachem dose it or increase the dose as needed. *


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## jaypeecee (16 Jan 2022)

Hi @Happi 

What a coincidence! On another current thread, I think it was @John q who, this evening, said "Seachem are notorious for withholding information regards what's in their products".  And you have managed to obtain a complete analysis of Seachem Flourish Trace! Good on ya!

JPC


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## Happi (16 Jan 2022)

jaypeecee said:


> Hi @Happi
> 
> What a coincidence! On another current thread, I think it was @John q who, this evening, said "Seachem are notorious for withholding information regards what's in their products".  And you have managed to obtain a complete analysis of Seachem Flourish Trace! Good on ya!
> 
> JPC



they are:





but they do provide:
Derived from: copper sulfate, cobalt sulfate, manganese sulfate, boric acid, sodium molybdate, zinc sulfate, rubidium chloride, nickel chloride, vanadium sulfate





if the Rotala Butterfly | Planted Aquarium Nutrient Dosing Calculator is accurate then I did use it to get those ppm, but calculated the needed chemicals and the weight myself to get the recipe going. there is no way to get the "complete analysis of Seachem Flourish Trace" or any other brand in general, but we can always clone them based on the ppm.


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## Happi (17 Jan 2022)

one of my thought is that they might be adding fulvic acid and humic acid to some of their products. I tested this while back and it certainty made the solution smell similar to how some of the seachem product smells like  
fulvic acid was highly soluble while humic acid didn't fully dissolve due to lower PH, the idea was to add them to chelate the micronutrients, this kind of chelation is supposedly better used by plants to deliver the micronutrients and also making them less toxic. 

the main problem I was having with fulvic acid and humic acid was algae and I was only adding about 0.2-0.5 gram into my micronutrient solution, likely due to the organics and type of Nitrogen. 

I also tried the JH Biotech Inc. | Innovation for a Greener Earth and had similar algae issue. this product is similar to adding amino acids, Seachem likely use Amino acids in their product as well.


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## jaypeecee (17 Jan 2022)

Happi said:


> there is no way to get the "complete analysis of Seachem Flourish Trace" or any other brand in general, but we can always clone them based on the ppm.


Hi @Happi 

OK, I now understand. So that's how it's done. Thanks for the explanation. To date, I have just purchased off-the-shelf branded products as my usage of ferts has been low.

JPC


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## JacksonL (17 Jan 2022)

I wish I could find a decent supply of nickel chloride or sulphate here in Australia without having to buy 1kg of it. I would like to try adding urea into my mix but am hesitant to do so without nickel in my trace mix


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## Happi (17 Jan 2022)

JacksonL said:


> I wish I could find a decent supply of nickel chloride or sulphate here in Australia without having to buy 1kg of it. I would like to try adding urea into my mix but am hesitant to do so without nickel in my trace mix


Nickel II (Nickelous) Chloride, Hexahydrate, 10g - Chemical Reagent  | eBay

this is enough to last the next few generation


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## JacksonL (17 Jan 2022)

Happi said:


> Nickel II (Nickelous) Chloride, Hexahydrate, 10g - Chemical Reagent  | eBay
> 
> this is enough to last the next few generation


unfortunately they don’t ship to Australia and the smallest quantity I can find here is 500g


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## Happi (17 Jan 2022)

JacksonL said:


> unfortunately they don’t ship to Australia and the smallest quantity I can find here is 500g


you can probably ask the seller to ship you the small amount, some seller will do that at request.


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## dw1305 (17 Jan 2022)

Hi all, 


JacksonL said:


> I wish I could find a decent supply of nickel chloride or sulphate here in Australia without having to buy 1kg of it.


I'd buy a <"commercial trace mix">, you would only need a very small amount of it to supply the plants nickel (Ni) requirement. I think Yara are a company with <"sales in Australia">. 

It is really strange because (Western) Australia is one of the world's major nickel exporters.

cheers Darrel


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## plantnoobdude (17 Jan 2022)

@Happi have you noticed any difference in growth with the exotic traces?


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## Zeus. (17 Jan 2022)

Nice find, I might just add Rubidium (Rb) and Vanadium (V) to the IFC calculators 'DIYTraceCalculator' seeing we have the target ppms of the standard dose of Seachem Trace as a guideline


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## Happi (17 Jan 2022)

plantnoobdude said:


> @Happi have you noticed any difference in growth with the exotic traces?


honestly no, the plant mainly benefit from Fe, Mn, B, Zn, Cu, Mo far as the micro goes. Co, Ni, Rb, V etc. are not truly needed but can be beneficial.
Ni is beneficial if you use Urea, Co is beneficial similar to Mo which helps Nitrogen Fixation, Rb and V can help activate some of the Amino Acids and chlorophylls but they can be highly toxic at the same time if overdosed.

I also have Aluminum and Titanium which are known to be beneficial for plant according to some articles, which I can include in this recipe. but this time we are focused on cloning the Seachem Flourish Trace. someone working with these metals needs to be super careful because they are highly toxic to plants. 

if you want to further make the above recipe more exotic:

*500 ml solution (add 1 ml to Solution #1)*
0.5g  Ascorbic Acid or 5ml White Vinegar
0.2g  Potassium Sorbate
0.183  gram TiCl3
0.28  gram AlCl3

*Solution #1 *will contain the following ppm if *5 ml per 50 gallon was dosed*
Ti       0.000006
Ai      0.000006


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## JacksonL (18 Jan 2022)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I'd buy a <"commercial trace mix">, you would only need a very small amount of it to supply the plants nickel (Ni) requirement. I think Yara are a company with <"sales in Australia">.
> 
> ...


It is strange and a bit annoying. I think there must be some sort of controls on the sales of nickel chloride as it is impossible to find in small quantities. I have sent out some emails and hoping some of the chemical supply places will do me a solid and sell me some.
we do indeed have Yara products here but it seems the micronutrient mix they distribute in Australia is APN, which doesn’t contain nickel, and not Tenso Cocktail.
I think I may have to buy Seachem traces for the nickel content when I try urea in my fert mix


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## Zeus. (18 Jan 2022)

JacksonL said:


> sales of nickel chloride



@X3NiTH might be aware of some places that sell it


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## medlight (18 Jan 2022)

JacksonL said:


> It is strange and a bit annoying. I think there must be some sort of controls on the sales of nickel chloride as it is impossible to find in small quantities. I have sent out some emails and hoping some of the chemical supply places will do me a solid and sell me some.
> we do indeed have Yara products here but it seems the micronutrient mix they distribute in Australia is APN, which doesn’t contain nickel, and not Tenso Cocktail.
> I think I may have to buy Seachem traces for the nickel content when I try urea in my fert mix



Have you tried to locate nickel sulfate hexahydrate? This is usually sold in small quantities and more affordable


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## MichaelJ (19 Jan 2022)

Hi @Happi, I am wondering if the Rubidium, Nickel and Vanadium in Seachem Flourish Trace is just collateral from the water source or impurities in the major elements they are adding.... It almost make me think it is, given the small quantities, for instance Vanadium is 0.000002% so if your following their dosing instruction 10 ml per 20 US gallon/wk  (10 ml 80 L or 0.125 ml/l) your getting what amounts to 0.0000025 ppm - which is like 2.5 Parts Per Trillion ..  I'd say shake well before use! 

Anyway, on a sidenote I suggest the mod's (@LondonDragon , @Tim Harrison  et al.) start putting some of @Happi's carefully crafted fertilizer clone recipes up as sticky topics in the fertilizer section. This is invaluable information for the fert-nerds among us!

Cheers,
Michael


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## Happi (19 Jan 2022)

@MichaelJ it very well could be but I do know that some fertilizer do add Ni which doesn't come from impurities, for example take a look at Vimi line of fertilizer. As of now I didn't leave anything out far as the seachem Flourish trace clone goes. So at this point adding Rb, V etc. Complete the clone version. 

It would be great to have these recipes as sticky so others can benefit from it.


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## MichaelJ (19 Jan 2022)

Happi said:


> @MichaelJ it very well could be but I do know that some fertilizer do add Ni which doesn't come from impurities, for example take a look at Vimi line of fertilizer. As of now I didn't leave anything out far as the seachem Flourish trace clone goes. So at this point adding Rb, V etc. Complete the clone version.


Yes, your probably right. And adding it completes the clone.  I was just wondering about it. There is probably more Radium in our water here where I live than Vanadium 


Happi said:


> It would be great to have these recipes as sticky so others can benefit from it.


I strongly believe so - For starters this DIY saves a lot of money! Have you by any chance broken down the cost?  I remember when starting DIY with my remineralization and NPK I realized that the compounds I bought would literally last for half a decade (At EI level dosing) for my two 150 L tanks!

Cheers,
Michael


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## Happi (19 Jan 2022)

MichaelJ said:


> Yes, your probably right. And adding it completes the clone.  I was just wondering about it. There is probably more Radium in our water here where I live than Vanadium
> 
> I strongly believe so - For starters this DIY saves a lot of money! Have you by any chance broken down the cost?  I remember when starting DIY with my remineralization and NPK I realized that the compounds I bought would literally last for half a decade (At EI level dosing) for my two 150 L tanks!
> 
> ...


Honestly I have lost track of the cost, I did spent close to $1000 but that's me collecting all kinds of chemicals to play with. For those who just want to make a simple Micro/Fe they could be spending anywhere between $80-$100, but this is one time cost and you can probably make enough fertilizer solution for your self and others for decade. Some of them will last you even when you become a great great grandpa. Fe and Mn will be mostly where you might spend some extra money after few years.


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## Happi (19 Jan 2022)

Some of the chemicals that I use are ACS grade chemicals which cost more money.

Glossary of Common Chemical Grades


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## dw1305 (19 Jan 2022)

Hi all,


MichaelJ said:


> I am wondering if the Rubidium, Nickel and Vanadium in Seachem Flourish Trace is just collateral from the water source or impurities in the major elements they are adding





MichaelJ said:


> which is like 2.5 Parts Per Trillion .. I'd say shake well before use!


I'm pretty sure they are impurities. I assume when they ran the sample through an <"ICP / MS"> these came up as "present" so they added them to the label.

cheers Darrel


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## dw1305 (19 Jan 2022)

Hi all, 


Happi said:


> I use are ACS grade chemicals which cost more money.


They <"certainly do">.

cheers Darrel


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## medlight (20 Jan 2022)

According to James


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## X3NiTH (20 Jan 2022)

Zeus. said:


> @X3NiTH might be aware of some places that sell it



I sourced my Nickel Sulphate from eBay, came all the way over from Poland, it was the only cost effective source I found.



(Originally I posted Nickel Chloride, I forgot it’s the sulphate I’m using so I edited the post)


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## X3NiTH (20 Jan 2022)

dw1305 said:


> I'm pretty sure they are impurities.



I’ve said the same for a while, it’s a convenient way to differentiate your product with all the others, it’s a plant available nutrient so mention it and it makes your compound ‘more’ than the others and also becomes harder to clone because sourcing these elements individually may be problematical or way too much of an expense.

As a side note Iron Sulphate used to make Iron traces comes with added mercury and arsenic as impurities in the parts per trillion also but nobody is putting that on their packaging even though the content amounts are safe for human consumption!


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## MichaelJ (20 Jan 2022)

X3NiTH said:


> t’s a convenient way to differentiate your product with all the others, it’s a plant available nutrient so mention it and it makes your compound ‘more’ than the others and also becomes harder to clone because sourcing these elements individually may be problematical or way too much of an expense.


I wonder why they didn't list Gold as well... In freshwater Gold is typically available at around 2-5 parts per trillion (much more in seawater) and have been found in plant leaves ... Imagine a Flourish Trace bottle with Gold lettering  

Cheers,
Michael


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## dw1305 (20 Jan 2022)

Hi all,


MichaelJ said:


> Imagine a Flourish Trace bottle with Gold lettering


Just don't suggest it to them, pretty soon it will appear, no doubt with the endorsement of several Youtubers.


MichaelJ said:


> I wonder why they didn't list Gold as well.


Not gold (Au), but we have been detoured down the <"diamond route before">.

cheers Darrel


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## Hufsa (20 Jan 2022)

dw1305 said:


> Not gold (Au), but we have been detoured down the <"diamond route before">.


Speaking of diamonds, I once saw a womens shampoo advertising that it contained "real diamond extract"..

They were selling it for about 3.5 pounds a bottle, which I found especially impressive 😏


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## arcturus (20 Jan 2022)

Hufsa said:


> Speaking of diamonds, I once saw a womens shampoo advertising that it contained "real diamond extract"..
> 
> They were selling it for about 3.5 pounds a bottle, which I found especially impressive 😏


You can also get <room sprays infused with gemstones> (whatever that means). But in this case there more than gemstones in the bottle…


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## John q (20 Jan 2022)

Hufsa said:


> Speaking of diamonds, I once saw a womens shampoo advertising that it contained "real diamond extract"..
> 
> They were selling it for about 3.5 pounds a bottle, which I found especially impressive 😏


Was it any good? 🙂


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## arcturus (20 Jan 2022)

John q said:


> Was it any good? 🙂


It was brilliant.


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## JacksonL (23 Jan 2022)

X3NiTH said:


> I sourced my Nickel Sulphate from eBay, came all the way over from Poland, it was the only cost effective source I found.
> 
> 
> 
> (Originally I posted Nickel Chloride, I forgot it’s the sulphate I’m using so I edited the post)


Good to know it’s not just me that could not find it locally!


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## JacksonL (23 Jan 2022)

Would ammonium nickel sulfate be useable? it is the only nickel powder I could find available in 100g or less.
*Ammonium Nickel Sulfate crystals
(NH4)2Ni(SO4)2·6H2O*
I realise the ammonium part could potentially be an issue but wonder if the tiny amounts I would be adding would discount that risk?


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## Happi (23 Jan 2022)

JacksonL said:


> Would ammonium nickel sulfate be useable? it is the only nickel powder I could find available in 100g or less.
> *Ammonium Nickel Sulfate crystals
> (NH4)2Ni(SO4)2·6H2O*
> I realise the ammonium part could potentially be an issue but wonder if the tiny amounts I would be adding would discount that risk?


Yes that should be fine as well.
Add 1.114 gram  (*NH4)2Ni(SO4)2·6H2O* into solution #3


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## JacksonL (23 Jan 2022)

Thanks Happi


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## X3NiTH (23 Jan 2022)

Yeah Ammonium Nickel Sulphate totally fine to use, at the concentration you will be targeting for the Nickel the Ammonium concentration will be negligible.


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