# Ok to mix Flourish and Flourish Excel in one bottle?



## jmhart (Mar 14, 2008)

In short, you can mix them with no issue...and in long it actually can be of benfit. Excel acts as an algecide and fungicide, so in a micro mix which is oft to grow fungus when left to sit for too long, a mixture of Flourish and Excel can delay the growth of the fungus.


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## steveo (May 25, 2012)

I would contact Seachem technical support. Answering technical questions about their products is what the 'excel' in.


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## jdcook72 (Aug 18, 2011)

Well, that just makes too much sense. I will do that and report back what I find.

Thank you for the suggestion.


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## kalawai2000 (Jan 15, 2011)

It all good just don't mix it up and put it in the coffee pot.


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## longgonedaddy (Dec 9, 2012)

I just read a similar question on Seachem's forum last night. They do not recommned do ing it, as the Excel will cause precipitation in the Flourish. The support tech was pretty firm about keeping all of their supplements separate until ready for use. 

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/showthread.php?t=4116


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## viwwo (Jan 15, 2010)

This post is old! But I have the same question.
I am really bad with keeping up with dosing so I hacked a fish feeder to put liquid in it. I would like to use Flourish but I just found 2L of Excel in the house lol. And god knows I can use some Excel in my tank. And I would have to refill the feeder every week.
Has anyone ever tried this with bad outcome?


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Why don't you mix a small amount of the two in a cup and let them sit for a week and see what happens?


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## Linwood (Jun 19, 2014)

Fishly said:


> Why don't you mix a small amount of the two in a cup and let them sit for a week and see what happens?


How would you know if doing so impacted the effectiveness of one or the other negatively? 

I mean, if they explode into purple slime you know it was a bad idea, but if the fert causes the glut to break down 50% would you even notice?


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

The first sign of a problem would be cloudiness. But the real test would be if you used it for 2-3 months and your plants started growing poorly.

I forgot to mention the excel is light-sensitive and would need to be kept in a closed opaque container.


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

In general, I wouldn't suggest mixing them for anything longer than short-term storage and expect to get the effects of both. Glut has fairly specific pH requirements to be stable in storage, and even then it does break down over time. I doubt that Flourish has the right pH.

Mixing a small amount of glut into micronutrient mixes to prevent mold growth is fine, it shouldn't harm the micros... However I wouldn't count on this as a mechanism for dosing glut, as the glut will probably degrade faster than normal.


If you really want an authoritative answer, ask Seachem... They are generally pretty good about getting back to you in a few working days.

http://www.seachem.com/support/Contact.html


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## Linwood (Jun 19, 2014)

mattinmd said:


> If you really want an authoritative answer, ask Seachem... They are generally pretty good about getting back to you in a few working days.


They've answered these before as "not recommended" pretty consistently, though they are then inconsistent in some "but if you must" answers. I've searched out many of them before, here's a sampling: 

Here they say Excel can go in the same container as Iron or Trace. 

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/archive/index.php/t-1871.html

Here they point out Excel and Iron can precipitate other products and "are not to be combined": 

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/archive/index.php/t-4116.html

Here they loosely say not recommended but "try it and see": 

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/archive/index.php/t-3895.html

And here is a bit ambiguous one as it is not clear if it means "dose at the same time" or "mix together then dose" but the answer is you can mix them all together except Phosphorous (though the final clarifying comment is a surprise to me as it says don't dose Phosphorous within 30 minutes of iron): 

http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/archive/index.php/t-233.html

Bear in mind it is much easier to prove a positive effect (e.g. mix A and B and you die) than a negative one (nothing bad happens). Especially all the combinations. Just from a financial and liability aspect it would surprise me to see Seachem invest in the testing required to safely say "it is safe".


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## Linwood (Jun 19, 2014)

Well, today looking for something else, I found a Seachem posting that seemed to contradict most of the other postings. See here:

http://www.seachem.com/support/FAQs/Planted.html

Short version: Flourish, Excel, Trace, Iron and Potassium are OK to mix together, though should be diluted.

The answer appears to depend on who at Seachem is answering. :confused1:


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