Seachem flourish vs advance vs comprehensive

[Divinityinlove]

Hi. Can anyone explain the difference between seachem flourish, advance and comprehensive?

They all state micronutrients and say to use the individual Seachem NPK, bottles for macronutrients.

Also, where does seachem iron come into use when the micro nutrient list on the above consists of iron as well?

Lastly, seachem excel bottle back says it reduces iron to a state plants can absorb... So what's the use difference between seachem excel and seachem iron?

I'm trying to decide which to starts with. My plants currently have the flourish tabs. They're helping but thinking I can add a bit of something to the water instead of tabs next time round.

All plants could use more green but Tiger lotus is very leggy and bolted with long stems to the surface, and has more stem than leaves. Someone told me here that this happened with the tabs for their red tiger lotus and I can see there is some reason for that. It could alsp be redder. I'm thinking I can change something up to improve this and my stem plants overall from being a bit yellowish.

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience.

 

[Naughts]

Others will know a lot more but I use Seachem Flourish Comprehensive - and the flourish tabs- and that is most often recommended on here as you do not need to know which nutrients your plant is missing, it has everything needed. As with all things science it can get complicated so if, for example you used iron you may then inadvertently effect uptake of other necessary nutrients. And the excel I believe is a liquid Carbon dioxide which is often not recommended as the chemical (polycycloglutaracetal) is toxic stuff that can have an adverse effect on fish.

I read that if you cut the bolting stems back on Tiger Lotus it will stay short and this worked on mine, you could argue that it's nature is to have leaves on the surface but if you don't want them, you could try that.

 

[connorlindeman]

Seachem Flourish is one of their product lines. Comprehensive and Advanced both fall under flourish.
All you need to have healthy plants in a low-tech tank is comprehensive. If you have root feeders, get the flourish tabs.

 

[Essjay]

Seachem Flourish is a range of products of which Comprehensive and Advance are two.

Seachem Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium, to give it its full name, contains a number of ingredients

Nitrogen, phosphate, potash, calcium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, chlorine, cobalt, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, sodium, zinc

Seachem Flourish Advance contains

Phosphate, potash, calcium, magnesium.
Alanine, γ-amino butyric acid, glutamic acid, mannitol, ascorbic acid, phytohormones for use as horticultural enhancement.

Comprehensive contains almost all the minerals needed by plants. Advance contains a few of those minerals plus a number of what they call "non-plant food ingredients"

 

[StevenF]

Seachem Advance contains potassium phosphate and calcium and magnesium and a lot of vitamins that healthy plants make on their own. Soil hot it has 4 of the 14 nutrients plants need.

Flourish comprehensie has 13 of the 14 nutrients plants need.

I personally don't see why they are selling Advanced.

 

[Divinityinlove]

What purpose do the "non plant food" ingredients serve?

 

[StevenF]

What purpose do the "non plant food" ingredients serve?

Not purpose other than advertising. People know that vitamins are good for people and apparently some also believe they are good for plants. But a healthy plant will produce all the vitamins it needs. The fact is if you supply all the essential elements a plant needs plus CO2 water and light the plant will be healthy.

 

[Divinityinlove]

Not purpose other than advertising. People know that vitamins are good for people and apparently some also believe they are good for plants. But a healthy plant will produce all the vitamins it needs. The fact is if you supply all the essential elements a plant needs plus CO2 water and light the plant will be healthy.

CO2 is necessary or created within the tank?

 

[Essjay]

CO2 is created in a tank. The fish, shrimps, snails etc respire making CO2. Plants also respire making CO2. Bacteria in the substrate break down waste making CO2. Unless the tank is very heavily planted with very fast growing plants, this CO2 is enough.