# Different type of Seachem Flourish liquid fertilizers?



## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Plants need about a dozen or more elements to grow. When any of them are lacking the plants will not do well, and may die. When some are present in very low amounts the plants sort of survive, but various types of algae can grow. 
By supplying all the fertilizers and minerals that the plants need they will grow well, and keep the algae and Cyanobacteria away. 

IME aquarium plants use more potassium than other nutrients, and the other one I needed to dose early on was iron. 

If the plants in your tank are keeping the NO3 at the bottom of the test chart (<5 ppm) then I would sure dose nitrogen. Ammonia and nitrites are supposed to be at 0 ppm, but some tests might show a blush of color that means nothing if the tank is well cycled and stable. 

I would dose phosphorus, too. It does not take much, but that little bit is required. 

Absolutely yes potassium, and iron. 

Trace minerals are important, too. If that is the one that you are just calling Flourish, or if it is Flourish Comprehensive, then go for it!

Excel is indeed a way of getting carbon to the plants. If you are already OK for CO2, then no need for Excel. 

If you have only the one small tank, then the Seachem liquids will last you a long time. However they are not really an economical way to buy fertilizers. You are buying water with a teaspoon or two of the minerals the plants need. Buy them once, practice with your tank and see what you need, and how much. Then you might want to look into dry fertilizers, where none of the purchase price is buying water. 
www.aquariumfertilizer.com is one source.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

OK, I will see if that store has any dry fertilizers, if not, I will just get the bottled one first, also, would the iron harm my shrimp?


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

Oh yeah, I'm looking at the http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/index.asp?Option1=cats&Edit=2&EditU=1&Regit=2 but there are many different types of dry fertilizers, I'm trying to save some money here but am also trying to get what I need and what is best for my plants (like everyone else), I have an idea of what to get, such as the Potassium Nitrate, Mono Potassium Phosphate (?), and Iron Chelate, do I need anything else? Keep in mind I already have regular Flourish, not sure what trace nutrients are, but the Flourish I have has a bunch tiny amounts of a bunch of different type of minerals/nutrients, are those trace elements?


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

The bottle of Flourish that lists small amounts of many minerals is trace minerals. Probably does not have enough iron, but everything else is there. Flourish Trace is almost clear, Flourish Comprehensive is dark brown. 

www.aquariumfertilizer.com is a good source. 

I dose this way
Macros: 
KNO3 (Only certain tanks where the plants remove all the NO3)
KH2PO4 (small amount)
K2SO4 (lots)

Micros:
CSM+B (Equivalent of Flourish Trace or Comprehensive)
Chelated Iron

I would suggest starting with a pound of each (or whatever is the smallest amount- I think some are sold in half pound bags) except do not gett he CSM+B at this point. Use up the Flourish product you have on hand. 

Iron is not a problem for shrimp, but copper can be. Do not overdose any fertilizer with copper, just follow the directions. This will not be an overdose unless your water is already high in copper.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

Oh, yes, I think I have Flourish Comprehensive, I went to the fish store today to upgrade my CFL to a CoraLife 20W light, I asked him if they sold dry fertilizers for nitrates, he said yes he could get them, then asked me what for, I told him I had BGA, and he said nitrates are probably what is causing them, so I decided to come back and do more research. He said Maracyn was only a quick fix and that I was probably just going through another cycle and keep doing with my Flourish Comprehensive. What do you think? Thanks for all the help Diana.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

http://lightbulbsreview.co.cc/coralife-5050-mini-compact-fluorescent-light-bulb-20-watt/ Oh yeah, I think I got this bulb, what do you all think?


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

A few years back, I wrote a Seachem fert calculator based on Seachem recommendations that you may find helpful. It is in MS Office Excel 2003 form. You can use it as it or modify it using Excel''s features. It is the attachment at the bottom of the first post. Post 4 has some more info.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilizing/45119-seachem-dosing-calculator-chart.html

The calculator is based on the Seachem chart below.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Some forms of Cyanobacteria can take nitrogen from the air or dissolved in water and do not need NO3, NO2 or NH3/NH4 as plants use it. I have since been told that the most common species of Cyanobacteria in aquariums may not do this. So I do not know. Theory is that a tank that is low in nitrates can grow Cyano. IME this is true. I have it in 2 tanks. One has a small bit that sort of comes and goes. This tank often has low NO3. The other tank, it just showed up and is growing fast. Gotta clean the filter, it has been slowing down. 

Dose enough of all the nutrients that plants need so they can grow well. Do not skimp or there will be leftover nutrients for the Cyanobacteria to grow. 
This specifically includes _adding_ not skimping on nitrogen. 

Improve the water movement. Whether it is the increased oxygen or the physical damage from the water hitting it, Cyano does not usually grow in areas with lots of water movement. 

Maracyn (erythromycin) will kill Cyanobacteria. So will Hydrogen Peroxide. But if the conditions remain the same it will come back. 
Correct the conditions. (ferts, water movement, CO2... ) When the Cyano (or any other algae) is not growing any more (it might be holding still) THEN go kill it somehow. The chances of it coming back, when it had pretty much stopped growing are a lot lower than if you kill it without changing the conditions.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

I think the problem is water movement, because it's off to the side, and only one side gets movement, and the other side is completely still and has a lot more growing there.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

VincentK said:


> http://lightbulbsreview.co.cc/coralife-5050-mini-compact-fluorescent-light-bulb-20-watt/ Oh yeah, I think I got this bulb, what do you all think?


You aren't going to like this saltwater bulb. It is 50% Actinic blue and 50% white.

Here are some various 6500K screw-in compact fluorescent bulbs to pick from at Lowes. The ones that will fit your fixture will do a better job that the saltwater bulb above. Some that may work are much cheaper too.
http://www.lowes.com/SearchCatalogD...1&N=0&newSearch=true&Ntt=6500+kelvin&x=21&y=9


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

Thanks Left C, I will go to Home Depot and try to find one, since there really are no Lowes near me, but just because I'm curious, what is the difference between a bulb like the one you showed, and the CoraLife?


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

Umm, turns out, that I can't return the light, and I don't want to just throw it away since it cost me $25.00, would my plants turn into an epic fail if I don't get another bulb? It's just in a 5.5 gallon and I mostly just got it for my dwarf hairgrass, since most of my other plants are pretty lowlight. I really don't want to waste this bulb =(


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

VincentK said:


> Thanks Left C, I will go to Home Depot and try to find one, since there really are no Lowes near me, but just because I'm curious, what is the difference between a bulb like the one you showed, and the CoraLife?





VincentK said:


> Umm, turns out, that I can't return the light, and I don't want to just throw it away since it cost me $25.00, would my plants turn into an epic fail if I don't get another bulb?


The 6500K bulb has light that is 100% usable by plants. However, with the Coralife bulb that you linked, 50% of the light emitted is actinic light, which plants cannot use. As such, you effectively are losing half the light.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

Hmm, would 10000K be highlight? Because if it is, I will look for a 10000K bulb because I heard dwarf hairgrass needs highlight.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

VincentK said:


> Thanks Left C, I will go to Home Depot and try to find one, since there really are no Lowes near me, but just because I'm curious, what is the difference between a bulb like the one you showed, and the CoraLife?


Walmart, Homeless Depot, ACE Hardware, etc may have them.

Hoppy has written quite a bit of information on the spiral fluorescent bulbs.

Anthony answered your question about the saltwater bulb that you purchased. It will make your aquarium look OOOG-A-LEE!


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

Ahh, that's too bad, I guess I will just keep it in case I ever decide to start a saltwater tank or something.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

How well would plants do with only a 10000K bulb? Because I like the white light.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

VincentK said:


> Hmm, would 10000K be highlight? Because if it is, I will look for a 10000K bulb because I heard dwarf hairgrass needs highlight.


No one jumped on this one.

Highlight doesn't mean increasing the Kelvin valve which is its color temperature. Going from 6500K to 10,000K doesn't make it highlight.

Highlight means more wattage, more bulbs, increased PAR, etc.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

VincentK said:


> How well would plants do with only a 10000K bulb? Because I like the white light.


The general answer is we can use bulbs from 5000K to 10,000K for our planted aquariums.

5000K bulbs are white with a slightly yellow tint and 10,000K bulbs are white with a slightly blue tint.

Rex's take: http://www.rexgrigg.com/light.html


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

Oh, thanks for the help Left C, Diana, and Dark, there appears to be no screw in, compact 10,000K bulbs that I can find, so probably just a 6,500K one. Oh, and this is kind of off topic, but does anyone know a plant that stays pretty small in terms of width, but gets med high (5.5 gallon tank high?)?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

What kind of plant are you looking for? Blyxa japonia stays relatively narrow, and can grow relatively high. Dwarf Hairgrass looks like blades of grass, so I suppose that would be considered very narrow...


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

Back in the day of my planted tank infancy I cured my cyano after getting new bulbs.


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## VincentK (Dec 16, 2009)

bsmith said:


> Back in the day of my planted tank infancy I cured my cyano after getting new bulbs.


Just got a proper bulb, 6,500K, from Lowes, hopefully that should help


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

Ruh-roh!


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