is this a good fert or a heavily planted tank?

[DwarfCichlidLvr]

I will have Heteranthera zosterifolia, Ludwigia Repens , and maybe some other plants. Will either of these ferts do? I will also have heavy root feeders in the tank. Light is a Finnex planted + HLC.

Tropica Specialised Nutrition

Easy to use Tropica Specialised Liquid Fertilizer Nutrition for aquarium plants. Easily dispensed with the pump and ensures proper plant growth. 125ml or 300ml bottles Contains nitrogen, phosphor, iron, manganese, and vital micronutrients Suitable for heavily planted aquariums. Great for...

www.aquariumplantsfactory.com

Easy Green All-in-One Fertilizer | Aquarium Plant Fertilizer

Easy Green is the easiest way to feed aquarium plants, and it's safe for fish, shrimp, & snails. Comes with a pump head or drop dispenser for easy dosing.

www.aquariumcoop.com

Thanks all

 

[Byron]

No to the Tropica Specialised Nutrition. It contains nitrate and phosphate. There is little need for nitrate (plants only take up nitrate if ammonia/ammonium is inadequate and with fish that is not very likely) and there is certainly no need for phosphate as there is more than sufficient in fish foods to supply plant requirements. They even warn you in their information that algae can be a problem with this.

The Easy Green looks good. From the ingredient nutrients, they have covered the basics.

 

[DwarfCichlidLvr]

No to the Tropica Specialised Nutrition. It contains nitrate and phosphate . There is little need for nitrate (plants only take up nitrate if ammonia/ammonium is inadequate and with fish that is not very likely) and there is certainly no need for phosphate as there is more than sufficient in fish foods to supply plant requirements. They even warn you in their information that algae can be a problem with this.

The Easy Green looks good. From the ingredient nutrients, they have covered the basics.

That's what I though but just wanted to make sure.

Thanks. I dont know much about liquid ferts. But I DO know about nitrate and phosphate. Ok. I'll go with that one.


Thanks for the help!

 

[Byron]

Couple things I forget earlier...

With liquid fertilizer, it does get inside fish (any substance in the water does automatically) so start minimally and increase if the plants seem to need it. I used to do the twice a week dosing as recommended by the Flourish, then cut it back to once a week and no change, so that was better. Plant response is how to judge any fertilizer supplements.

Second thing is substrate tabs for the heavy feeders planted in the substrate, like swords especially. These will without question improve with substrate tabs over liquid, with or without the liquid depending upon other plants' needs. I use Seachem's Flourish Tabs, but there are I'm sure other quality ones from the UK or EU.

 

[DwarfCichlidLvr]

Couple things I forget earlier...

With liquid fertilizer, it does get inside fish (any substance in the water does automatically) so start minimally and increase if the plants seem to need it. I used to do the twice a week dosing as recommended by the Flourish, then cut it back to once a week and no change, so that was better. Plant response is how to judge any fertilizer supplements.

Second thing is substrate tabs for the heavy feeders planted in the substrate, like swords especially. These will without question improve with substrate tabs over liquid, with or without the liquid depending upon other plants' needs. I use Seachem's Flourish Tabs, but there are I'm sure other quality ones from the UK or EU.

Ok. I was just planning on doing a 1/2 dose and seeing how it goes form there.

I do use those exact ones. My sword is doing well with them.

 

[Retired Viking]

I also use flourish at 1/2 dosage and been happy with the results and also flourish plant tabs. When I QT new plants I dose them at full.

 

[DwarfCichlidLvr]

I also use flourish at 1/2 dosage and been happy with the results and also flourish plant tabs. When I QT new plants I dose them at full.

ok. I think I'll get the easy green though.

 

[DwarfCichlidLvr]

Question: How about this one? Only reason Im asking is that it has free shipping and I'll be getting it form the same website as the stargrass.

 

[utahfish]

Ive used easy

I will have Heteranthera zosterifolia, Ludwigia Repens , and maybe some other plants. Will either of these ferts do? I will also have heavy root feeders in the tank. Light is a Finnex planted + HLC.

Tropica Specialised Nutrition

Easy to use Tropica Specialised Liquid Fertilizer Nutrition for aquarium plants. Easily dispensed with the pump and ensures proper plant growth. 125ml or 300ml bottles Contains nitrogen, phosphor, iron, manganese, and vital micronutrients Suitable for heavily planted aquariums. Great for...

www.aquariumplantsfactory.com

Easy Green All-in-One Fertilizer | Aquarium Plant Fertilizer

Easy Green is the easiest way to feed aquarium plants, and it's safe for fish, shrimp, & snails. Comes with a pump head or drop dispenser for easy dosing.

www.aquariumcoop.com

Thanks all

I use easy green. It has a high dose of nitrogen potassium phosphate and iron but it doesnt have a few trace elements like calcium chlorine sulfur copper so i use easy green to up my nitrates phosphates potassium and iron and use flourish comprehensive to fill in the rest. Also keep in mind the iron in easy green is EDTA iron which wont be absorbed at PH above 6.5.
Flourish iron is derived from ferrous gluconate and is more readily absorbed than EDTA. Never used the tropica stuff.

 

[utahfish]

I also use planted aquarium concepts, root tabs. They are 2$ a piece compared to 1$ a piece for the flourish tabs but they have more in them. Flourish tabs are mostly calcium and sodium neither of which my plants need a ton of, where as concepts root tabs are higher in nitrogen phosphate potassium by a bunch 5.18% to flourish .16 calcium in concept tabs is .22% flourish is 14.8% everything else is about the same except concepts doesnt have copper or any sodium and adds a trace amount of nickel which flourish doesnt have any. Plants need more potassium than calcium. Potassium is consideted a macro nutrient calcium a micro so its odd that flourish tabs would have so much calcium and so little potassium. And while plants need trace amount of copper its provided in the liquid fert i dont need more copper especially in the substrate where snails and shrimp hang out.

 

[Byron]

I also use planted aquarium concepts, root tabs. They are 2$ a piece compared to 1$ a piece for the flourish tabs but they have more in them. Flourish tabs are mostly calcium and sodium neither of which my plants need a ton of, where as concepts root tabs are higher in nitrogen phosphate potassium by a bunch 5.18% to flourish .16 calcium in concept tabs is .22% flourish is 14.8% everything else is about the same except concepts doesnt have copper or any sodium and adds a trace amount of nickel which flourish doesnt have any. Plants need more potassium than calcium. Potassium is consideted a macro nutrient calcium a micro so its odd that flourish tabs would have so much calcium and so little potassium. And while plants need trace amount of copper its provided in the liquid fert i dont need more copper especially in the substrate where snails and shrimp hang out.

There are some misunderstandings here. Calcium is a macro-nutrient, not a micro-nutrient, essential for cell structure. The Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement and the Flourish Tabs are low in calcium because most areas have calcium in their water supply. I have zero GH/KH here, and calcium has in the past been insufficient even with just the liquid, but using the tabs as well improved my swords and cleared up the calcium deficiency. I was using Equilibrium to provide the calcium (primariy) but when a marine biologist suggested this was not good for my fish, I switched over to the tabs and found they did the job.

Potassium is, I agree, also a macro-nutrient. However, plants absorb potassium from the water and not from the substrate via roots. Hiscock hypothesizes that potassium in the substrate may increase the availability of ammonium to plant roots.

Copper is a micro-nutrient, and a key part of enzymes that facilitate respiration inplants. Plants absorb copper through their leaves and roots, although humic acids and organics in the substrate often bind with copper and other metals, making them unavailable for uptake by plants. Tap water may contain sufficient copper, but obviously not in very soft water or RO.

Nickel is another micro-nutrient, used by aquatic plants as an ion in extremely tiny amouonts in the production of the enzyme urease which breaks down the nitrogenous compound urea into ammonia. Apparently it is normally present in tap water and excesses or deficiencies should not occur in the majority of aqwuaria.

Sodium is odd, I had not bothered about this previously, but your comment sent me searching and I think it is necessary. The website of the Royal Society of Chemistry has this about sodium (Na):

Sodium is essential to all living things, and humans have known this since prehistoric times. Our bodies contain about 100 grams, but we are constantly losing sodium in different ways so we need to replace it. We can get all the sodium we need from our food, without adding any extra.​

I can see that plants being living things are unlikely to be getting sodium unless we add it.

 

[DwarfCichlidLvr]

How about Seachem Flourish? I know there is a little bit of phosphate but do that matter too much?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00025696M/?tag=ff0d01-20

 

[Byron]

How about Seachem Flourish? I know there is a little bit of phosphate but do that matter too much?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00025696M/?tag=ff0d01-20

I had to go and check their data because I didn't think they added phosphate (from previous correspondence with them) but it does list 0.01% phosphate. I've been using this comprehensive supplement for over a decade now. I've not had any issues one could possibly attribute to phosphate, but I may just look into Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti. I have frequently said these two were much the same, but FM does specifically state it does not contain nitrogen or phosphate. And neither of these should ever be needed beyond what is naturally occurring from fish and being fed. Interesting, now I have to find a local dealer or go online as I don't think anyone here carries the BA line.

 

[DwarfCichlidLvr]

I had to go and check their data because I didn't think they added phosphate (from previous correspondence with them) but it does list 0.01% phosphate. I've been using this comprehensive supplement for over a decade now. I've not had any issues one could possibly attribute to phosphate, but I may just look into Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti. I have frequently said these two were much the same, but FM does specifically state it does not contain nitrogen or phosphate. And neither of these should ever be needed beyond what is naturally occurring from fish and being fed. Interesting, now I have to find a local dealer or go online as I don't think anyone here carries the BA line.

So you wouldn't use it?

 

[Byron]

So you wouldn't use it?

I am using it, and have been for over 10 years. Now that this has come to light, I will give it some "deep thought." I may get a bottle of the FlorinMulti next time I need a new bottle (may be a while, I just bought a small bottle of FC last week as I was getting low). But if you are asking my advice, I would in honesty say to use the FlorinMulti if you can get it, rather than Flourish Comprehensive. But in the final analysis, either will likely do the job. How's that for being indecisive!