# **ADA Liquid fertilizer analysis**



## mrkookm (Apr 4, 2007)

Seems like Tom Bar has taken the time to solve the mystery regarding the 'actual ppm content per dose' for each of ADA's Brightly liquid line with his latest newsletter!

You have to be a subscribed member to download the word doc, but the link with the document is here= *ADA Liquid fertilizer analysis*.

I don't use ADA's fert line but you best believe I had to get my copy to finally see the actual gold content that makes their liquid line so expensive  I guess all this time we were paying for the pump mechanism or was it the seawater  ......maybe it was the the nice bottles  Very interesting read....


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

mrkookm said:


> Seems like Tom Bar has taken the time to solve the mystery regarding the 'actual ppm content per dose' for each of ADA's Brightly liquid line with his latest newsletter!
> 
> You have to be a subscribed member to download the word doc, but the link with the document is here= *ADA Liquid fertilizer analysis*.
> 
> I don't use ADA's fert line but you best believe I had to get my copy to finally see the actual gold content that makes their liquid line so expensive  I guess all this time we were paying for the pump mechanism or was it the seawater  ......maybe it was the the nice bottles  Very interesting read....


I hope wind bag cynics like crow.

With independent 3rd party verification, it's better than anything folks have done to date and similar to environmental quality monitoring for legal cases in law.


Next is the ADA sediment, ADA AS and PS, again with semi 3rd party verification, still at UC Davis, but another sampling lab.

Maybe next month.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

Well, the bottles are really nice.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

I really need a subscription so I can access this (and all the other wonderful articles I can't read)...care to reiterate some of the results for me?

The last comment leads me to believe that...well...I shouldn't speculate...


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

ColeMan said:


> .care to reiterate some of the results for me?


Kind of defeats the purpose of the subscription doesn't it?

Mr. Barr spends a lot of time and money on these tests, and the ten bucks a year price tag is _well_ worth it. I've learned vast amounts of information there (technical stuff you aren't going to find on this forum), plus, you have easy direct contact with the man himself if you have a specific question.:thumbsup: Good stuff if you ask me. I mean, it's a subscription, or a gallon of gas.


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

okay, fair enough. I forgot information isn't free these days...I'll just try to learn somewhere else...


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

Free info is often worth what you pay for it


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## ColeMan (Mar 9, 2008)

good call. I'll remember that the next time I see something I think is informative- I'll say to myself "well, since I didn't pay for this information, it must be useless."


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## mrkookm (Apr 4, 2007)

> good call. I'll remember that the next time I see something I think is informative- I'll say to myself "well, since I didn't pay for this information, it must be useless.


"

I'm sure you understand his point so lets all be nice and move on....


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## CmLaracy (Jan 7, 2007)

This would be very useful to me if it didn't cost $10. I'd really like knowing the concentrations of Brighty K and Bright Step 1 & Step 2. Oh well, I'll consider a subscription for the myriad of material present there.


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## eyebeatbadgers (Aug 6, 2007)

CmLaracy said:


> This would be very useful to me if it didn't cost $10.


It's cheaper than a bottle of ADA Shiny Magic Juice. There is a lot of value there, but I've already voiced my opinion.


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## CmLaracy (Jan 7, 2007)

eyebeatbadgers said:


> It's cheaper than a bottle of ADA Shiny Magic Juice. There is a lot of value there, but I've already voiced my opinion.


Well I did it, dropped the cash for the resources. I read it. No surrprises honestly. And I don't mind spending a bit of cash for ADA to make it easier for me. But see, I'm in this to make a pretty scape, and some healthy, slow growth. I _dont want_ really fast growth, I want something I can manage so I can scape well without trimming every 4 days. I'm very interested in learning all the chemistry involved in this hobby, as I myself am in love with chemistry. But when it comes down to applying my knowledge into the tank, I'm in it for the art, not the biology and chemistry. I'm not in it for optimized growth. Many of you may be saying, "then why do you have all that light?" well currently it's being hung about 20" off the surface of the water... you figure that one out.

I started messing around with my own solutions, and I made them right. Did I apply them correctly, HELL NO. I started dosing with solutions made from powders and I simply couldn't handle it. Slow growing plants + high light + ADA AS + kid who only knows a little bit on how to dose dry ferts = too much for me to handle. _I got algae, for the first time_. I am in no way saying the methods don't work, I'm just saying I really don't have the experience, time, know-how, or patience for it. The "Magic Juices" simplify it for me, make it easier. Thats my goal, maybe not yours. Right now I'm in the process of running as far away from those methods of dry dosing as possible, and going back to my "newbish" ways of following the ADA fert line. Yeah, its more bones, but it makes it easier (atleast for me). I don't have enough patience or time to do it myself. Call it a "waste of money", but for me, it's a time saver, and an easier way for me to manage things and make a pretty scape. After all, thats what I'm in this hobby for.


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## mrkookm (Apr 4, 2007)

To each is own regarding the ADA product line, I won't knock their quality with some of their products but I will however knock their ridiculous pricing thats why I don't use em  I don't like to take another mans food but as Tom has said why charge so much for something that literally cost pennies to make? Is it due to the fact that it grows plants better...really? Does it make growing plants that more simple? Well then, if you think it does... it does and I leave you be.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

CmLaracy said:


> This would be very useful to me if it didn't cost $10. I'd really like knowing the concentrations of Brighty K and Bright Step 1 & Step 2. Oh well, I'll consider a subscription for the myriad of material present there.


Of course it's very useful.
Do you pay for ADA liquids?
Yes, you pay through the nose for them but cannot pay for this.

How much is a bottle of mostly water?

Would spending 12$ offset the 250$ you might save dosing ADA ferts per year? That's the point and the value of the information. 

Nothing is stopping *you* from doing the analysis yourself and spending the time, work and money to do it? Keep paying the high retail prices and spend a dime to save to save a nickel. :redface: 
I will not lose sleep over that.
Folks in the hobby do this often, I've done it, we all have.

Sell one batch of plants here on the swap and N trade, there's the $ needed.
Use "plant dollars". We use this same concept to help folks build plant clubs as well.

I do not like advertising.
There's none on my site, most sites use it for the bills.
I donate $ to this and several other sites to help them.
I do not keep a dime from my web site. 

Would you pay for TFH, ADA aqua journal etc when you know you can the information elsewhere? Information in and of itself is not "knowledge".
You can make the same argument for those mags, or a book as well.

Still, Dupla did not give us much surprise either. Folks not in the know always add a bit magic and unknown mystique to the ADA line(or dupla in the past). Then try and argue based on ignorance and semantics, faith etc.
Same old thing there, but the solution is fairly clear.

So now folks can know.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

mrkookm said:


> To each is own regarding the ADA product line, I won't knock their quality with some of their products but I will however knock their ridiculous pricing thats why I don't use em  I don't like to take another mans food but as Tom has said why charge so much for something that literally cost pennies to make? Is it due to the fact that it grows plants better...really? Does it make growing plants that more simple? Well then, if you think it does... it does and I leave you be.


Now I do fully support the ADA aqua soil, I support the tanks and a lot of other products that I think are well worth the added cost, but yes, you can DIY, but it's a lot more difficult to do, and those items are one time cost, not residual items folks can easily DIY and customize to suit their needs.

It's just some things, much like Seachem's Phosphorus, fine if they sell it ec, and I support that, but we all know KH2PO4 is fine as a cheap ingredient.
Still, I strongly support Seachem and ADA.

But like heating cables, I really cannot support Dupla on that point, they did bring CO2 gas to a wide range of hobbyist however, that I can support.

and so the wheel of plants goes on...........

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2008)

CmLaracy said:


> Well I did it, dropped the cash for the resources. I read it. No surrprises honestly. And I don't mind spending a bit of cash for ADA to make it easier for me. But see, I'm in this to make a pretty scape, and some healthy, slow growth. I _dont want_ really fast growth, I want something I can manage so I can scape well without trimming every 4 days. I'm very interested in learning all the chemistry involved in this hobby, as I myself am in love with chemistry. But when it comes down to applying my knowledge into the tank, I'm in it for the art, not the biology and chemistry. I'm not in it for optimized growth. Many of you may be saying, "then why do you have all that light?" well currently it's being hung about 20" off the surface of the water... you figure that one out.
> 
> I started messing around with my own solutions, and I made them right. Did I apply them correctly, HELL NO. I started dosing with solutions made from powders and I simply couldn't handle it. Slow growing plants + high light + ADA AS + kid who only knows a little bit on how to dose dry ferts = too much for me to handle. _I got algae, for the first time_. I am in no way saying the methods don't work, I'm just saying I really don't have the experience, time, know-how, or patience for it. The "Magic Juices" simplify it for me, make it easier. Thats my goal, maybe not yours. Right now I'm in the process of running as far away from those methods of dry dosing as possible, and going back to my "newbish" ways of following the ADA fert line. Yeah, its more bones, but it makes it easier (atleast for me). I don't have enough patience or time to do it myself. Call it a "waste of money", but for me, it's a time saver, and an easier way for me to manage things and make a pretty scape. After all, thats what I'm in this hobby for.


I'm with you on this. I know they cost more, but for me it is just SO EASY to simply pumps in ferts each day and be done. (plus I really do like the easy to use pump bottles!)


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

I think the point is (part of the point, anyways), that thanks to Tom's article, folks could make their own chemically identical (or very close anyways) "Brighty X" or whatever, and then refill their fancy shmancy bottles or simulacrums and follow ADA's easy dosing scheme that ADA "followers" (yeah Tom, there is enough faith and worship involved that makes me almost want to call it a cult!) are using, except do so for pennies on the dollar.


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## captain_bu (Oct 20, 2007)

macclellan said:


> I think the point is (part of the point, anyways), that thanks to Tom's article, folks could make their own chemically identical (or very close anyways) "Brighty X" or whatever, and then refill their fancy shmancy bottles or simulacrums and follow ADA's easy dosing scheme that ADA "followers" (yeah Tom, there is enough faith and worship involved that makes me almost want to call it a cult!) are using, except do so for pennies on the dollar.


x2... if you like the bottles and already have a set re-fill them... nothing magic about the contents.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Well, here's the other thing, this applies to EI, PMDD, ADA, Dupla every chemical nutrient solution..........you can and should tweak the contents/dosing, and it's very easy to do, most folks have KNO3/KH2PO4/K2SO4/Fe traces etc, and they have DI water........

you just vary the amounts......ratios/dosing routines/concentrations.

So making this is not hard, (unlike making the ADA aqua soil DIY)..........and you can customize it a bit if you so chose. As with most advice and methods, they are never meant to be blindly followed with cult like following. Unfortunately, many do. There's no "magic". A good salesman will keep the magic alive as long as they can (as well as the sales). Many claimed my tap water was magic in the past also, but a wise person tested it and realized I had high PO4 that they where not adding in the belief it caused algae. there was no magic, only our own fear, ignorance and bad assumptions. We all have them.

"Magic" is just something you have not yet figured out how to do yet or why it's that way etc. Fear, the unknown, ignorance, a perception are great ways to sell politics, business, agenda, religion, you name it. Some suggest they'd rather be fearful and ignorant but so many are not aware of it when it's happening to them. Kinda of sad. 

Then they argue strongly in favor of it 
Blows me away sometimes. 

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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