Can I freeze ChaetoGro?

[aquariusgine]

I bought too much ChaetoGro because they didn’t update their website.

Iron is listed as 0.1% on the website but it was updated to 0.32% on the bottle. (Potassium iodide is also now removed.)

Each bottle has an expiration date and now I got enough to last 6 years.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If you are asking about preserving it that way, I wouldn't. If you are asking about it freezing accidentally in shipping, that's probably OK.

The thing to remember about freezing is that only water freezes and pushes the chemicals steadily into the remaining water, until almost none is left and the concentration gets very high. At that point, they will precipitate as solids. I am not certain of all of the chemical details of what is there, and what precipitates will probably be able to redissolve by adequate shaking, but I cannot be 100% certain.

 

[Dan_P]

If you are asking about preserving it that way, I wouldn't. If you are asking about it freezing accidentally in shipping, that's probably OK.

The thing to remember about freezing is that only water freezes and pushes the chemicals steadily into the remaining water, until almost none is left and the concentration gets very high. At that point, they will precipitate as solids. I am not certain of all of the chemical details of what is there, and what precipitates will probably be able to redissolve by adequate shaking, but I cannot be 100% certain.

What about freezing a small volume and see what happens?

 

[aquariusgine]

If you are asking about preserving it that way, I wouldn't. If you are asking about it freezing accidentally in shipping, that's probably OK.

The thing to remember about freezing is that only water freezes and pushes the chemicals steadily into the remaining water, until almost none is left and the concentration gets very high. At that point, they will precipitate as solids. I am not certain of all of the chemical details of what is there, and what precipitates will probably be able to redissolve by adequate shaking, but I cannot be 100% certain.

Thanks for the reply! I was afraid of something like that.

I will just refrigerate what I got for now rather than freeze.

One last question: do you know why this particular supplement has an expiration date? The only other one I know that does is Seachem Flourish (comprehensive), the freshwater equivalent. Seachem also recommends that Flourish is refrigerated.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don’t know if there is a chemical stability reason for an expiration date on it. I’ve seen calcium carbonate tablets with an expiration date, and as long as the tablets don’t fall apart, they will never go bad.

Organic materials with things like vitamins will certainly go bad, and there may be organic chelators in chaetogro, but I’d expect those to be quite stable in a closed container. I expect the limiting factor may be the entry of O2 into solution through the walls of the container, potentially changing the chemical forms.

I personally would not worry about expiration of it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What about freezing a small volume and see what happens?

Seems reasonable. If done, look for any solids that remain after melting.