Anybody have had trouble with liquid ferts and their fish?

[tpl*co]

Maybe it is a bad bottle but everytime I add a liquid fertilizer to my tank Sampson gets stressed out and looks like heck. (this is my 50 gallon bow low tech planted tank with Sampson and Goliath).

I stopped using it for a while but used it again about a month ago to green up my anubias and Sampson again put out his stress bars and was a little dark and stopped eating (Goliath was fine though). I've tried metro in the tank for Sampson, and his bars are going down but it is the strangest thing is that he seems to have waves of proper color/darker color going over him that seem to change as you look at him (kinda like those pictures of octopuses that you see changing color?) He's starting to eat again too.

I'm definitely throwing away those ferts, but was wondering has anybody else seen this before? What could it be? The iron in the ferts?

Tina

[AmberC]

I've never had any issues with it. I always use seachem flourish. I would assume it would be the iron. What kind are you using?
Amber

[scans]

I do DIY from Greg Watson for micros and macros. Never showed any stress.

[tpl*co]

It was both Seachem Flourish and I believe Excel (the one that adds carbon and the fertilizer). I've been doing a little Surfing in that it is Toxic if you overdose and there is a warning not to overdose? I've had my bottle in the fridge and the liquid is dark. Maybe it has concentrated over time and I ended up overdosing my fish?

Looking on line it seems that an overdose is anything 3x the recommended dose of Excel could be deadly to fish :(. I'm so glad Sampson looks like he'll recover. Perhaps I'll do a major water change tonight (have been doing 50+% since it happened and he's finally coming around :(. Any more could have killed him?

Tina

[PRESTON4479]

I use Kent Pro-Plant and Kent Freshwater Plant supplements. They work great! No problems with fish.

Preston

[Dood Lee]

It was both Seachem Flourish and I believe Excel (the one that adds carbon and the fertilizer). I've been doing a little Surfing in that it is Toxic if you overdose and there is a warning not to overdose? I've had my bottle in the fridge and the liquid is dark. Maybe it has concentrated over time and I ended up overdosing my fish?

Looking on line it seems that an overdose is anything 3x the recommended dose of Excel could be deadly to fish :(. I'm so glad Sampson looks like he'll recover. Perhaps I'll do a major water change tonight (have been doing 50+% since it happened and he's finally coming around :(. Any more could have killed him?

Tina


There is warning on the Excel bottle about overdosing. Flourish excel is a carbon source, so putting more than the recommended dosage could kill your fish (depending on how much plants you have in your tank). The liquid shouldn't be dark though. Flourish excel is a clear liquid.

Flourish is a fertilizer that doses trace elements. Again, there is a dosing suggestion on the bottle (1 cap per 50 gallons I believe?). This liquid is dark, and I keep mine in the fridge.

[tpl*co]

Just checked my bottles yes the one in the fridge, flourish is a very dark color while the Excel is a golden amber color (not refrigerated). I probably shouldn't use it in the tank anymore since Sampson seems sensitive to it?

Tina

[Dood Lee]

The excel is supposed to be dose one capful everyday. If your discus is sensitive to it, perhaps your batch of excel is an old one? Excel isn't even real CO2, it's only a carbon source. It shouldn't have any effect on fish at all if dosed properly.

[pcsb23]

Just checked my bottles yes the one in the fridge, flourish is a very dark color while the Excel is a golden amber color (not refrigerated). I probably shouldn't use it in the tank anymore since Sampson seems sensitive to it?

Tina
Tina,

Excel should be clear not amber, suspect its off, but not sure how. Mines a new bottle and its definitely clear.

It may be worth testing for Fe, they can get sensitive to it, excel does increase Fe, Flourish does.

hth,

[diablocanine]

Flourish Excel contains a glutaraldehyde compound. Glutaraldehyde is a chemical that is very similar to formaldehyde.

Dosing trace elements can be tricky because they will surely raise your TDS and affect your GH. What I did was to check the GH of my water right from the RO spigot and then added some PMDD mix, yes it did raise the GH significantly. I have determined that an acceptable TDS level for my discus tanks is 250. When I reach that I do not dose anymore until after the water change.

[tpl*co]

Maybe what happened was (besides a bad batch) since Sampson was the one majorly affected and none of the others seem to be was maybe Sampson was closer when I dosed and got covered in it when I added it :(. I don't think I want to use something as iffy as this again. Like playing Russian Roullette with my fish :(.

Tina