Seachem flourish?

[FroFro]

My Anubias are turning somewhat yellow along the edges and I’ve been wanting to try a liquid fertilizer. I’ve read some mixed reviews that that seachem flourish can harm scaless fish especially and that it can cause ammonia spikes? Is this true?

 

[Sgooosh]

My Anubias are turning somewhat yellow along the edges and I’ve been wanting to try a liquid fertilizer. I’ve read some mixed reviews that that seachem flourish can harm scaless fish especially and that it can cause ammonia spikes? Is this true?

my cories are totally fine from flourish and plants love it
never caused an ammonia spike for me
i dose like monthly tho so maybe thats why

 

[FroFro]

my cories are totally fine from flourish and plants love it
never caused an ammonia spike for me
i dose like monthly tho so maybe thats why

Ah, the bottle recommends every other day dosing. My tank is 60 gallons, would a half dose be safe enough as a test?

 

[Sgooosh]

Ah, the bottle recommends every other day dosing. My tank is 60 gallons, would a half dose be safe enough as a test?

o no mine says every week
can i see the bottle?

what id do is do a full dose and see the floating plants if they get greener
duckweed really likes flourish, if there is any yellow leaves i pop some in there and they "flourish"

 

[Essjay]

There are several products with the word 'flourish' in the name. So that we know we are talking about the same one, what are you all using?


I use Flourish Comprehensive Supplement and my fish, snails and shrimps have never had a problem with it. My bottle says to dose once or twice a week. This is a trace element product.

Flourish Excel says to dose "every day or every other day". This can be harmful, especially if overdosed. It contains a glutaraldehyde derivative, and glutaraldehyde is a powerful disinfectant. It is so-called liquid CO2.

Flourish Advance says to dose "daily or as required". This contains "phytohormones, minerals and nutrients"

Then there's Flourish Iron, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Trace........

 

[Sgooosh]

is Advance a good chemichal and is it safe for fish?
ive heard it boosts growth

There are several products with the word 'flourish' in the name. So that we know we are talking about the same one, what are you all using?


I use Flourish Comprehensive Supplement and my fish, snails and shrimps have never had a problem with it. My bottle says to dose once or twice a week. This is a trace element product.

Flourish Excel says to dose "every day or every other day". This can be harmful, especially if overdosed. It contains a glutaraldehyde derivative, and glutaraldehyde is a powerful disinfectant. It is so-called liquid CO2.

Flourish Advance says to dose "daily or as required". This contains "phytohormones, minerals and nutrients"

Then there's Flourish Iron, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium, Trace........

 

[Essjay]

I can't say from experience as I've never used Flourish Advance.

Comprehensive contains the three macro-nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), the hardness minerals (calcium, magnesium) and some micro-nutrients. Advance has 2 of the 3 macros, the hardness minerals, and some non-plant food. Trace contains only micros, and slightly different micros from Comprehensive.

 

[Colin_T]

Comprehensive contains the three macro-nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), the hardness minerals (calcium, magnesium) and some micro-nutrients. Advance has 2 of the 3 macros, the hardness minerals, and some non-plant food. Trace contains only micros, and slightly different micros from Comprehensive.

Well, to me that says it's a terrestrial plant fertiliser, not an aquarium plant fertiliser.

You don't need to add nitrogen to aquariums because the fish, shrimp and snails produce heaps of it, and so does the fish food.

You don't add phosphorus to aquariums because it encourages algae. Phosphorus is mainly used for root development and most aquatic plants get nutrients through their leaves.

Potassium is used for fruits and flowers and aquarium plants don't normally produce these.

I personally would not use this fertiliser in an aquarium.

 

[Essjay]

It is the most often recommended one for aquariums. The amounts of NPK that it contains are very small, so small as to be almost negligible. it's the one I use and have virtually no algae (the only place it grows is on the heater and filter cables right under the surface)


It's difficult to compare it to other fertilisers as so far, I've only found Seachem who what's in their fertilisers.

 

[Byron]

As a basic supplement for aquarium (aquatic) plants, Flourish Comprehensive Supplement is one of the best. As is Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti which is for all intent and purposes identical. There is also the TNC line available (so far as I know) only in the UK, the TNC Lite is preferable to the TNC Complete as the latter also has the nitrogen and phosphates but the Lite does not.

The "hard" minerals are minimal in all of these because they are just supplements and the manufacturers clearly assume hat most people have sufficient calcium and magnesium in their source water. For those of us who do not, it depends upon the plant species whether we need to add these over what is in the mentioned supplements.

I agree that nitrogen and phosphorus should never be added to a fish tank, at least not one that is a low-tech or natural planted method. [High-tech is another issue.] The plants take up ammonia/ammonium as their nitrogen, so nitrates do nothing but bother the fish and may affect the biological system, and there is enough phosphorus in fish foods to provide what plants need in such tanks. This is why I like the TNC Lite, if one is in the UK.

Again I stress, all of these are supplements, not intended to be "the" sole source (aside from a few of the micros). And they contain the nutrients aquatic plants require according to botanical studies.

 

[FishHobby99]

this product does not appear to affect my fish

 

[Sgooosh]

Well, to me that says it's a terrestrial plant fertiliser, not an aquarium plant fertiliser.

You don't need to add nitrogen to aquariums because the fish, shrimp and snails produce heaps of it, and so does the fish food.

You don't add phosphorus to aquariums because it encourages algae. Phosphorus is mainly used for root development and most aquatic plants get nutrients through their leaves.

Potassium is used for fruits and flowers and aquarium plants don't normally produce these.

I personally would not use this fertiliser in an aquarium.

fish would think it is nasty i agree
fish and bacteria would protest
"we are the makers of nitrogen not some fertiliser "

 

[itiwhetu]

I am just surprised how much of this stuff you throw at your tanks. We are professional gardeners and fertilize plants twice a year if needed, if the plants are doing fine, we do nothing. I don't understand this every second day once a week fertilizer trick. The manufacturers of these products have got you all hooked.

 

[Colin_T]

I don't understand this every second day once a week fertilizer trick.

This part is due to the plants using up trace elements quickly and potentially running out. The manufacturers want people to keep the trace elements at certain levels so the plants don't run out of nutrients. However, they don't tell people to test the water for these trace elements, nor do they tell people to do a huge water change before adding more nutrients. If you just keep adding more and more nutrients without testing for them or doing big water changes, you can overdose and poison the fish.

When adding any aquarium plant fertiliser to an aquarium, you should monitor the iron level and other things going into the water. Plants that have been starved of nutrients for a while will often use up all the nutrients within a day or two of them being added to the water. Then they have to wait a week before more nutrients get added. If you monitor levels, you can add more as soon as the plants run out, and they won't be deprived of the nutrients they need.

This happens with terrestrial plants too and most plants that are not fertilised regularly, will take up nutrients rapidly when they have access to them. The nutrients are used to repair damage to the plant and build up reserves. After about 3 or 4 doses of fertiliser (given 1-2 weeks apart), the plants start to show new growth.

Having said all this, if you only have a few slow growing plants in the aquarium, you probably don't need to add any fertiliser.

If you have lots of fast growing true aquatic plants in the aquarium, and they get a reasonable amount of light, then you could add some aquarium plant fertiliser.

 

[FishHobby99]

I am an unprofessional gardener and remember to fertilize my plants, both land & water, maybe once in a Blue Moon. Not even in Full Moons when I can hear a certain TFF member howling across the seas.