Thrive and thrive s Fertilizer?...

Holm_Tanks.

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I have a low-tech planted tank (densely planted) and have been dosing seachem flourish as my fertilizer. I have read that its not very good and I want a better fertilizer. I researched for an easy all in one fertilizer and I came across nilocg. I was wondering whether I should get thrive or thrive s? I have cherry shrimp and amano shrimp and whatever I use I want to be safe with them. I would really like a better fert because I want my plants to grow faster/better.
 
I would use the Thrive S because it doesn't have copper in it, according to their website. I looked because I use Flourish as well and haven't had much luck with it, it seems to only have the micronutrients. I have had better success with tabs I added to the soil than with Flourish. Do you use any sort of Liquid CO2?

From their site(Thrive S):
  • Thrive S is an aquarium plant fertilizer specially designed to support plant growth without putting sensitive shrimp at risk
  • Copper-free Thrive aquarium fertilizer
Thrive S All in One Shrimp Liquid Fertilizer for Aquarium Plants | NilocG Aquatic Labs

The fact that they mention this formulation is Copper-free suggests the others may not be and Thrive All in one does have some copper - Copper(Cu) 0.0002%.
 
I would use the Thrive S because it doesn't have copper in it, according to their website. I looked because I use Flourish as well and haven't had much luck with it, it seems to only have the micronutrients. I have had better success with tabs I added to the soil than with Flourish. Do you use any sort of Liquid CO2?

From their site(Thrive S):
  • Thrive S is an aquarium plant fertilizer specially designed to support plant growth without putting sensitive shrimp at risk
  • Copper-free Thrive aquarium fertilizer
Thrive S All in One Shrimp Liquid Fertilizer for Aquarium Plants | NilocG Aquatic Labs

The fact that they mention this formulation is Copper-free suggests the others may not be and Thrive All in one does have some copper - Copper(Cu) 0.0002%.
Ok thanks! And no I don’t use any liquid carbon because I heard shrimp and vallisnaria can be sensitive???
 
I heard that all though thrive has copper it’s still shrimp safe, how I understood it was that thrive s had less stuff in it so you didn’t have to do the the big water changes as frequent.
 
I heard that all though thrive has copper it’s still shrimp safe, how I understood it was that thrive s had less stuff in it so you didn’t have to do the the big water changes as frequent.
Yes, assuming you dose according to the bottle, it is completely safe for shrimp.
 
I had a lot of problems with several fertilizers in my RO tank. Including Seachem. I decided to make my own. Dosing that is not for everyone. But I can definitely say both thrive and Thrive S are safe for shrimp. i have experimentally doesed my tank with 20PPB of copper. Thrive will provide less than 1PPB (parts per billion). The highest copper level I found in any aquarium fertilizer was about 6PPB. I have blue dream shrimp in my aquarium and they are routinely reproducing. 20PPB of ropper had no detectable effect on them.

Don't worry about copper in your fertilizer. Most of the copper in your aquarium comes from copper water pipes. It is not uncommon for tap water to have 10PPB of copper in it. EPA allows a maximum of 1.3ppm (1300PPB). I had my tap water tested and my water has about 50PPB of copper in it. Have never used tap water in my aquarium. From my research plants need about 6 to 10PPB of copper. Also note that shrimp have copper based blood. they need copper to live. We have iron based blood we have in our bodies.
 
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Great information thanks a lot! So would the normal thrive be better for my plants because it has more nutrients? And does big water changes effect shrimp?
 
Not sure that you can use my experience as a guide for using Thrive because I also have aqua-soil in my 55-gallon tank. I use Thrive every time I do water changes and my low-tech planted tank has gone crazy with plant growth.
 
Not sure that you can use my experience as a guide for using Thrive because I also have aqua-soil in my 55-gallon tank. I use Thrive every time I do water changes and my low-tech planted tank has gone crazy with plant growth.
I dirted my tank and used supplements so I know the soil is good. Are you using the normal thrive? And do you have shrimp?
 

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