PMDD vs. CSM-B

[ricoishere]

Doing some reading, and have a few questions:

PMDD is composed of equal parts of potassium nitrate, potassium sulfate, CSM, magnesium sulfate.

CSM is composed of 1.50% total magnesium, .10% copper, 7.00% iron, 2.00% manganese, 0.06% molybdenum, 0.40% zinc.

PMDD is recommended for the advanced user. Why?

What are the benefits of using one or the other?

[krisw]

Rico, I don't think PMDD should be compared directly to CSM+B. PMDD is more of an old approach to dosing before EI and PPS came around. PMDD should be more compared to them.

CSM+B is simply a trace mix. It's more appropriate to compare it to other trace-element-suppling products like Seachem Flourish, Kent's version, Tropica's line, etc...

In truth, since PMDD really just stands for "Poor Man's Dosing Drops," we're really using PMDD anytime we're using EI or PPS. You can use CSM+B as your trace component of that routine.

[Ben Belton]

Also PMDD= Poor Man's Dupla Drops

Dupla was all we had back in 96 or so and it was expensive. A little 10ml bottle of drops was close to $10 I think.

My first CO2 set up was Dupla and it only cost $700 because I figured out you could get the regulator and CO2 bottle from a welding place. Otherwise it was going to be close to $1000.

[Rick Dotson]

Anybody remember Ferro-vit? I loved that stuff and when the two bottles ran out they weren't selling it anymore. I got it at TFW in Gaithersburg. I switched to PMDD for a while.

It was still a couple years before Seachem started selling Flourish.

Things are much better today.

[Ben Belton]

I had Ferro-vite. It was mentioned in "Aquarium" magazine (doesn't exist anymore) and everyone had to have it to grow our plants under T-12 Vit-a-lites.

Ugh... things are so much easier now.

[ricoishere]

Cool, thanks