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Seachem Flourish Trace Clone

Happi

Member
Joined
15 Jan 2012
Messages
775
Location
UTAH, USA
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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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
 
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:
1642375623095.png


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

1642375713174.png


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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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.
 
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
 
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
 
Hi all,
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
 
@Happi have you noticed any difference in growth with the exotic traces?
 
@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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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 really strange because (Western) Australia is one of the world's major nickel exporters.

cheers Darrel
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
 
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
 
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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@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.
 
@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 :)
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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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!

Cheers,
Michael
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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