Flourish Comprehensive

[An t-iasg]

I opened a new bottle of Flourish Comprehensive yesterday. The color was vastly different than my old bottle. The old solution was very dark, almost black. The new solution is extremely light - it's not clear, but it's very light beige. Has anyone else seen something like this?

 

[JDogg]

I opened a new bottle of Flourish Comprehensive yesterday. The color was vastly different than my old bottle. The old solution was very dark, almost black. The new solution is extremely light - it's not clear, but it's very light beige. Has anyone else seen something like this?

hummm.... i have only ever bought one bottle and it was a lighter tan in color...

 

[JRagg]

Does that have to do with the Iron in it? Over time (older bottles) the iron may corrode more and turn the mixture into a darker/rustier color.

Just a guess.

 

[Zezmo]

The stuff is light when fresh, and turns dark as it ages. The lighter color means it is fresher. Also, the packaging should indicate that color variation from batch to batch is normal.


Edit: FWIW I buy Flourish in a 2 liter bottle and refill the 250ml bottles that I keep at each tank. Keeping it in the fridge will keep it lighter longer. This does not affect potency.

 

[Jman17H]

Does it degrade it's quality as it gets darker?

I have a gallon of it that will last me a long time with my 2-20's, 30L & 75 using it twice a week. I had recently noticed that it is so darker that it is hard to read the marks of the syringe I use to measure and just thought assumed I had been oblivious to that fact until now?

Do I need to hurry up and start dosing more and pawning to friends? or will it work all the same just be harder to read the measurement?

 

[Zezmo]

They sell it in gallons?
According to the manufacture the darkening has no effect. In my expereince, the darkening has no effect.

On a side note.... to me, Flourish smells like soy sauce, once it is dark it looks like soy sauce. Maybe it is just that...soy sauce <jk>

 

[Purrbox]

So far all of the trace mixes I've used (Flourish Comprehensive and CSM+B) have started out fairly light brown when fresh and then slowly darkened with time. I've seen no difference between an older and newer solution as far as potency.

 

[An t-iasg]

Thanks, everyone...I have only bought two bottles of Comprehensive - the old one and this new one. I don't remember the old bottle being light when I first got it. It lasted about a year and a half. I did keep it in the fridge all the time. Now that I have more tanks, I'll probably go through this new bottle a little faster.

So, THAT'S your secret, Zezmo - some soy sauce!

 

[czcz]

From Seachem's FAQ http://seachem.org/support/FAQs/Flourish_faq.html

Q: I recently purchased my second bottle of Seachem Flourish (regular) and I noticed that the liquid in the bottle was a yellowish almost apple juice colour whereas the original bottle I purchased contained a much darker liquid. Which one of these two colours should Flourish be? and is there anything good/bad for the aquarium as a result of the colour of the Flourish?
A: It is normal for the color of Flourish to vary from batch to batch as this is dependent on the temperature that this product was blended at. This is of no consequence to the function of the product.

On a side note, my ~1.5yr old CSM+B+Extra Fe (this is a discontinued mix from Greg Watson) is consistently green when first mixed now. It used to be closer to brown...