Aquahumic
a Water Supplement
by Loren E. Willis II
from www.boxlotfish.com
Aquarticles
AQUAHUMIC is a Boxlotfish.com exclusive product that will change your fish tank
forever. This solution contains all natural ingredients and is completely water soluble.
AQUAHUMIC acts as a chelating agent that allows nutrients into the fish's body, and cleans
your water at the same time. The Humate factor is possibly more important to tropical fish
water than hardness and pH.
What it is:
Environmental Engineering at its best, Humate is a very old organic carbon -
"dinosaurs probably ate it first." Humates are the result of prehistoric plants
that were broken down by microbes (bacteria & fungus) and cannot be broken down any
more except in the very long term.
Humates are now being used in the agriculture business to help absorb nutrient
fertilizers into plants and retain moisture in the soil. One quart of the stuff replaces
200 to 500 pounds of dry humate material or 7 to 8 tons of manure in the field. Now that
is powerful stuff! Many so-called "Black Water Extracts" are made from peat
(tannin) tea and are the watered down humates that have been used in the tropical fish
hobby for many years.
Agriculture grade Humates (typical 13% Fulvic acid and 4% Humic acid) are mined from
the ground in only a few places on the earth and come from shale-like materials. It is a
type of carbon that is not the same thing as filter carbon commonly used for filtering
water. Humate is not acid that causes a very low pH. Humates are special molecules that
take on three different forms or sizes of molecular weight, humic, fulvic, and ulmic
fractions.
These three acids (salts) interact with water chemistry in different ways, with pH and
temperature being the most commonly active determinants. Aggregation or clumping happens
as the pH goes down, calcium & magnesium go up, or the temperature goes up, thereby
"filtration improves." In addition, oxygen and sunlight activate humic acids to
produce hydrogen peroxide, naturally, and at a low level of release. Extra electrons
provide static charges, "electrolytes and cation exchange" that attract small
particles and other molecules. Look it up on the INTERNET and see what a great thing Humic
Acid is.
CAUTION: Please consult with your supplier if you decide to make your own. "Humic
Acid mixtures are extremely unlikely to burn or explode unless subjected to extremely high
temperatures or mixed with extreme acid or alkaline solutions. Aquahumic can cause mild
electric shock."
This electrical energy; the result of the combination of humic and microminerals, is
good for newly laid eggs, and the general health of the fish. When combined with Humate,
the microminerals are easily absorbed by different membranes for the most natural way of
doing things; all-natural Chelation Therapy for your fish and plants. It is estimated that
natural rivers have a 50% combination of tannin tea and humate acids (salts) that make 95%
of the dissolved materials. When you consider that a fish is a high protein animal and
drinks its water through its skin by osmosis, then soft water fish do better with their
most natural water, as do hard water fish. Microminerals (trace elements) are added to
this mix in very heavy concentrations.
CAUTION: Can react when mixed and my supplier has provided me with a special Nitrate
free product to avoid this problem. No Nitrates or snake oil added!
AQUAHUMIC Ingredients include: Water, Homogenized Fulvic Acid and
Humic Acid concentrate from dry humate. -- Minerals and trace elements including; Natural
Hormones, 21 Amino Acids, Vitamins, Chelated Magnesium, Chelated Zinc, Chelated Iron,
Chelated Manganese, Boron, Molybdenum, Combined Sulfur, Molasses.
What is the Molasses for? High energy sucrose to reduce parasitic attraction to weak
plants. I am not sure about how this Pheromone/infrared aura concept works with fish but
who knows? Aquahumic will not raise conductivity, lower pH, color your water, cure all
diseases, or cause excess bacteria.
The Need:
Stripped down reverse osmosis water needs something to get it started. R/O water kills red
blood cells on contact. De-ionized water has the same problem but with a few other things
like Sodium that you don't want. City water with chlorine or ammonia combined with Humic
causes cancer in humans so it must be stripped of all Humic before it gets to our homes. I
don't know if this stripping solves the problem of cancer (probably not since we drink
iced tea with chlorinated water) but Humic should be replaced for our fish that don't have
the chlorine and ammonia in their water.
Consulting with several experts I found that the Amazon River system covers a large
area so the exact formula for discus water is as different as the number of streams
feeding the river. I discovered that the typical carbon content (humate) is 0.5 to 1.0
grams per 100 gallons and pH is anything from 7.2 to 4.0 depending on where you look.
Typical trace elements vary almost as much and the heavy metals like Uranium, Copper and
Lead are everywhere.
Natural Humic from roots and leaves "locks up" the heavy metals and protects
the fish from them. Natural Humic also serves for a large number of other antibiotic/anti
fungal/anti parasite protections for organic life of the Amazon River. No Humic in the
water means that fish in the wild can be subject to disease, parasites, low levels of
slime coat, poor health and color. One common problem on Florida farms is in the transfer
of tropical fish from mud ponds to well water vats. Fish quickly lose their slime coat and
are exposed to diseases. Chemicals such as Acraflaven and Copper are commonly used to
combat these diseases after this change. Humate and all the acids and substances in it,
provide one of the most powerful and easily assimilated supplements for overall health.
AQUAHUMIC can potentially replace activated carbon or inorganic adsorbent to clean your
water with a simple sponge filter. You will still need to clean your sponges and change
water.
How to use it:
This part is somewhat experimental at this time.
I would recommend one drop per 10 gallons of water for starters. This represents a 0.5
percent organic carbon solution that might represent a minimum water content in nature.
Two drops would represent a 1.0 percent solution that might represent a maximum in nature.
There is probably no such thing as a destructive overdose but top of the river or bottom
of the river is the natural question.
I have found that my bacteria are established in new tanks much quicker, however; fish
are healthier, and eat more, so the ammonia can spike quickly. There may be an ammonia
problem when your tank is first established but then there always is.
Please don't over dose. Just remember that a quart of this is equal to 4 tons of manure
and there is a considerable amount of CO2 generated by heavy bacterial
action (stink) in old organic laden water. Wood eating Plecos can be suddenly affected by
sudden changes in humic content of the water unless they have a good diet of wood to
offset the changes. The established bacteria are healthier. Other fish like Discus and
Angels will want to breed at a younger age so they should have plenty of space to claim as
their own. The pH is buffered somewhat but not to the full extent of tank water stability.
Generated low levels of Hydrogen Peroxide can increase plant root growth and decrease
unwanted Algae growth. It is a skill or art to get what nature provides into a small tank
and hold it there. Maybe that is part of what the hobby is all about.
Perhaps this product advances the hobby, or just makes things more complicated.
AQUAHUMIC will advance our understanding of nature, but I don't think you will see it in
your local pet shop soon. You should see a difference in the color and activity of your
fish within a week. Your water will be polished by better filtration and have a clear
shine about it (no brown).
Please give me plenty of feedback to better advise others: discuswet@cs.com
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