Which Seachem plant supplement should I get?

[thang45]

Can anyone pleae tell me what kind of Seachem plant product I should get?

1. Seachem Flourish
2. Seachem Flourish™ Excel
3. Seachem Flourish™ Iron
4. Flourish Tabs

[judy]

flourish excel, for the carbon. Iron, which you may use occasionally if you have amazon swords and no laterite in your substrate.
Don't bother with either of the others. plants get most of their nutrients from the water column, so the tabs aren't terribly helpful.
If you want a broad spectrum plant supplement, get one that has NO PHOSPHATES in it. Otherwise, you're letting yourself in for huge algae headaches.

[thang45]

flourish excel, for the carbon. Iron, which you may use occasionally if you have amazon swords and no laterite in your substrate.
Don't bother with either of the others. plants get most of their nutrients from the water column, so the tabs aren't terribly helpful.
If you want a broad spectrum plant supplement, get one that has NO PHOSPHATES in it. Otherwise, you're letting yourself in for huge algae headaches.

Thanks Judy,

I have swords. So just get Seachem Flourish™ Excel and Seachem Flourish™ Iron and ignore the rest?

[judy]

For seachem products, yes. I use Kent Pro-Plant supplement without phosphates, and find it adds greatly to plant growth-- provided you are using C02. If you are not using C02, there is no point adding any more fertilizer than just the carbon and occasional iron, as your fish waste products will be providing more than enough, and the plants would need more C02 to effectively uptake the nutrients in the added fertilizer. Algae, however, would LOVE you for adding it... and you don't want algae!

[thang45]

For seachem products, yes. I use Kent Pro-Plant supplement without phosphates, and find it adds greatly to plant growth-- provided you are using C02. If you are not using C02, there is no point adding any more fertilizer than just the carbon and occasional iron, as your fish waste products will be providing more than enough, and the plants would need more C02 to effectively uptake the nutrients in the added fertilizer. Algae, however, would LOVE you for adding it... and you don't want algae!

No I don't use CO2. Most of my plants are in a pot. If you tried Kent Pro-plant and you see results then maybe I should get the same thing instead of seachem products.

[judy]

No, the Pro-plant's only useable by the plants if there's additional CO2 being injected. Without Co2, all you'll do by adding Proplant is encourage algae growth. I use CO2.

[Harriett]

THang 45!
I don't think it's cut and dried in terms of a 'formula for success with ferts'--at least in my tanks. Seems like I have had to try different products through the years to see what works and doesn't and to tell the truth I am still experimenting a bit. Be careful with the EXCEL: it is a heavy carbon base that is like a little miracle for clearing algae from the tank, but if your discus happen to swim through it when you are pouring it into the tank, BIG trouble...several have lost discus pretty immediatelyfrom this and as of last weekend, I am in their ranks--lost 2 five year old big turks who thought I was going to feed them a treat and zoomed in the first time I dosed with it.....3 survived, 2 didn't out of the discus who took the hit. On the upside, I have never seen my tank so free of every speck of algae, though...geez I am amazed.
In my big planted [CO2 injected] I also use FLourish root tabs for some plants--they are great for heavy root feeders like the swords--in my tanks they are much more effective than just water column dosing.
I use Flourish and Flourish iron daily, not sure about the EXCEL: still shaken from that; I also add every other day PPMD with added K+, KSO4, some Mg++. I agree with Judy on skipping the phosphates. I think you need to understand the basics of macro and micro nutrients and then just fool around until you hopefully get it right--every tank is unique. There are a lot of good products out there!
THat's my experience, anyhow
Best of luck,
Harriett

[GrillMaster]

Judy an Harriet gave you very lucrative answers! But.....It depends on the size of the tank, what kind of plants you have in the tank, what kind of lighting you have in regards to the size and what substrate.

The reason I say this is every tank is different! To make an educated guess to what you need or how to maintain it, all this info should be obtained...:)

tc
Mark

[thang45]

No, the Pro-plant's only useable by the plants if there's additional CO2 being injected. Without Co2, all you'll do by adding Proplant is encourage algae growth. I use CO2.

Hi Judy,

Thank you for clearing up the confusion.



THang 45!
I don't think it's cut and dried in terms of a 'formula for success with ferts'--at least in my tanks. Seems like I have had to try different products through the years to see what works and doesn't and to tell the truth I am still experimenting a bit. Be careful with the EXCEL: it is a heavy carbon base that is like a little miracle for clearing algae from the tank, but if your discus happen to swim through it when you are pouring it into the tank, BIG trouble...several have lost discus pretty immediatelyfrom this and as of last weekend, I am in their ranks--lost 2 five year old big turks who thought I was going to feed them a treat and zoomed in the first time I dosed with it.....3 survived, 2 didn't out of the discus who took the hit. On the upside, I have never seen my tank so free of every speck of algae, though...geez I am amazed.
In my big planted [CO2 injected] I also use FLourish root tabs for some plants--they are great for heavy root feeders like the swords--in my tanks they are much more effective than just water column dosing.
I use Flourish and Flourish iron daily, not sure about the EXCEL: still shaken from that; I also add every other day PPMD with added K+, KSO4, some Mg++. I agree with Judy on skipping the phosphates. I think you need to understand the basics of macro and micro nutrients and then just fool around until you hopefully get it right--every tank is unique. There are a lot of good products out there!
THat's my experience, anyhow
Best of luck,
Harriett

Hi Herriett,

Sounds like you had bad experience with Excel. I have a 10g tank with fluorite red as a substrate bed and a 90g tank with potted plants. I guess I will buy a couple of seachem products to try it out on my 10g tank first and if certain product works better then the other then I will continue to use it.



Judy an Harriet gave you very lucrative answers! But.....It depends on the size of the tank, what kind of plants you have in the tank, what kind of lighting you have in regards to the size and what substrate.

The reason I say this is every tank is different! To make an educated guess to what you need or how to maintain it, all this info should be obtained...:)

tc
Mark

Hi Mark,

I think you are right. I will have to try it and see.


Thank you all for helping.

Thang

[Harriett]

Best regards and good luck!

[diamonddiscus08]

I would recommend seachem flourish tabs these are great for any rooted plant such as the amazon sword in which i mainly have in my tank. It helps the roots grow toward this tab creating a great root system for these plants and allows them to grow quite quickly.

[Darrell Ward]

I've learned from others that if you dilute Excel with water before you pour it into your tank, it greatly reduces the toxic effect on fish. :)