# Seachem Flourish Comprehensive enough?



## kevmo911

With very low light, that's probably true, assuming you've got some fish that poop regularly. However, it won't be enough if your lighting is anything higher than very low light.

Flourish has a tiny amount of macros (though apparently no potassium). It will cover your micro needs, and help a bit with macros. Fish do the rest.


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## mjbn

So if i plan to get plants that need more lighting, i would have to dose with a macro-supplement?


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## OverStocked

kevmo911 said:


> With very low light, that's probably true, assuming you've got some fish that poop regularly. However, it won't be enough if your lighting is anything higher than very low light.
> 
> Flourish has a tiny amount of macros (*though apparently no potassium*). It will cover your micro needs, and help a bit with macros. Fish do the rest.


Potash is a Potassium salt. 

Soluble Potash	
0.37%

For low light, low tech, smaller tanks, flourish works great.


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## kevmo911

mjbn said:


> So if i plan to get plants that need more lighting, i would have to dose with a macro-supplement?


Yes. But don't go overboard. If you venture past the low-med light range into solid med, you're gonna need CO2 in addition to comprehensive ferts. So be very careful unless you're just looking for a reason to go pressurized 

Good to know about the potassium. I thought I'd remembered that Flourish had a bit of K, but didn't see it on the breakdown. I'll have to remember that.


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi mjbn,

When I first started out I used Flourish Comprehensive with excellent results. Here is a picture of my 45 gallon with 96 watts of CFL, natural gravel, and DIY CO2. I dosed Seachem Flourish Comprehensive and Seachem Excel and that was it.


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## mjbn

:O That's a nice tank! haha Should i pick up Excel too, then? Or is that not TOTALLY necessary?


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## mjbn

&I don't really wanna setup a CO2, btw.


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi mjbn,

Plants will grow their best with an available source of carbon molecules for cell building. CO2 or Seachem Excel will both provide the necessary carbon.


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## mjbn

What if i just use Excel and not a CO2 system, since excel is a carbon supplement? Would it be worth the money and time to dose it every week, or would there be no real difference if i didn't have a CO2 system?


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi mjbn,

Plants need a source of carbon for growth, if not CO2 then Seachem Excel is an alternative. No source of carbon will result in poor growth.


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## mjbn

Okay, I'll get some Excel when I sell some of my shoes haha


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## jone

Not to cut here but what about dosing Flourish and Excel with shrimp??? any shrimp like CRS,RCS and others??


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## mjbn

@Jone, You have just asked a question that i forgot to ask. Haha I'm curious about the answer to that too, since there is a trace amount of copper in the supplements.?


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi jone,

If you do a search here or on APC you will find many threads that address your question.


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## driftwoods

I think the copper issue has been asked before and the amount is to small to matter. At least that is what I thought I read. Someone else chime in here and correct me if I am wrong.


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## kevmo911

To the OP: Excel is *not* a substitute for CO2. It will supply the demand for carbon up to a point, but it will absolutely not do the trick beyond medium lighting. That said, Excel will assist in growth, but as it is actually a sanitizing agent that we also use to kill off algae, overdosing with it is not an option.


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## mjbn

kevmo911 said:


> To the OP: Excel is *not* a substitute for CO2. It will supply the demand for carbon up to a point, but it will absolutely not do the trick beyond medium lighting. That said, Excel will assist in growth, but as it is actually a sanitizing agent that we also use to kill off algae, overdosing with it is not an option.


Ooo, thanks for this. I do not plan on going beyond medium lighting, so i should be okay, right? And I'll probably just dose every other day, so would that be fine?


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## mjbn

&Thanks driftwoods, i'll look it up rightnow!


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## Fishly

Why is Excel not enough for higher light? I've never seen this explained thoroughly.


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## Patriot

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Hi mjbn,
> 
> When I first started out I used Flourish Comprehensive with excellent results. Here is a picture of my 45 gallon with 96 watts of CFL, natural gravel, and DIY CO2. I dosed Seachem Flourish Comprehensive and Seachem Excel and that was it.


I love how there is a mixture of tall and short plants in the foreground...do you have a journal for this tank.


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## fusiongt

I really think most of the posts here saying you definitely need co2 is really talking about if you want the plants to grow as super-fast as possible. If that's the case and you want it to grow super-fast then yes you need direct co2. On the other hand, if you don't mind the plants growth to be a bit slower, then I think using flourish and excel will work. The main thing here is to find a good balance of plants, lighting, fish, and nutrition - you're bound to run into algae problems if you dose too much so starting off I would take it easy on that.

As long as you're using excel and flourish, I would consider adding in the seachem Iron supplement too (not much more work, just add it in when you do the flourish). Right now I'm doing that with my small 10g tank and it's working well. The plants with deeper roots do better if you go this route so keep that in mind when you're deciding on plants. I also probably have high lighting (if you consider 36 watts on a 10 gallon tank high which I think it is) so I'm not sure about the comment on only having low lighting is necessary. Again, it's all about balance.


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## mjbn

fusiongt said:


> I really think most of the posts here saying you definitely need co2 is really talking about if you want the plants to grow as super-fast as possible. If that's the case and you want it to grow super-fast then yes you need direct co2. On the other hand, if you don't mind the plants growth to be a bit slower, then I think using flourish and excel will work. The main thing here is to find a good balance of plants, lighting, fish, and nutrition - you're bound to run into algae problems if you dose too much so starting off I would take it easy on that.
> 
> As long as you're using excel and flourish, I would consider adding in the seachem Iron supplement too (not much more work, just add it in when you do the flourish). Right now I'm doing that with my small 10g tank and it's working well. The plants with deeper roots do better if you go this route so keep that in mind when you're deciding on plants. I also probably have high lighting (if you consider 36 watts on a 10 gallon tank high which I think it is) so I'm not sure about the comment on only having low lighting is necessary. Again, it's all about balance.


Thanks, makes sense to me. How needed is the Iron supplement though?


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## Patriot

Iron is a trace element necessary for photosynthesis in all plants


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## mjbn

Patriot100% said:


> Iron is a trace element necessary for photosynthesis in all plants


Seachem Comp has 0.32% Iron. Is this not enough on it's own for the plants?


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## Patriot

you don't need much iron because it's used in small amounts.


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## mjbn

Thank you, SO I don't need to get Seachem Iron Supplement because the Flourish Comprehensive already contains trace amounts of iron?


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## Patriot

All of my iron loving plants have been doing good just using Flourish Comprehensive along. I myself use the Seachem Iron Supplement after a water change to replace what could have been lost, but that's it. Iron is mostly taken up through the roots anyhow.


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## TexasCichlid

Depends on your plants, honestly. Do you have a lot of stems? If so, you might be better off using root tabs that contain iron in them. Root tabs, in general, are terrific for stems. I've seen an enormous improvement in plant health by using them.

If you have a lot of red plants, it might be worth going beyond the comprehensive and dosing extra iron as needed to bring out the reds. If you are dosing extra iron in fluid form, might inject it into the substrate using a syringe around your iron hungry plants.


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## mjbn

I might just get the root tabs that contain iron, Seachem flourish comp, and seachem excel then. I do/will have a decent amount of stem plants and the mosses and floaters will mainly go to my shrimp tank that i will lightly dose as well.


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