# Planted Tanks > Fertilisation and Algae >  Please recommend most common & proven fertiliser regime

## gid

Hey bros, 

I am using a really uncommon brand of fertiliser now: Dymax Flora and Dymax Iron Essentials, plus excel too of course.

Dymax was a brand that came reccomended with the LFS when I started off as a total noob. They have been working well, but I'm thinking of switching to the more mainstream brands.

I have 2 tanks, both are low tech tanks, with 16w light, New Amazonia soil, GEX Slim HOF.


*Tank A*
Sakura Shrimps - 15 adults
Amber Tetras - 5
Otto - 2

Glosso
Mini Nana
Windelov Fern
Flame Moss

*Tank B*
Green Neon Tetras - 14
SAE - 1

Jap Hairgrass
Blyxia Japonica
Luwidja Bevipes


Please reccommend the most popular combi of ferts. Like, is there some sort of 101 regime and proven brand that everyone uses?

----------


## diazman

You could try using the Seachem ferts. they are quit good but $$. Alternatively you could try using lusgro products. Both brands have served me well. lusgro can order online and have them delivered to you

----------


## Kenng

> You could try using the Seachem ferts. they are quit good but $$. Alternatively you could try using lusgro products. Both brands have served me well. lusgro can order online and have them delivered to you


What are the basic Seachem needed in priorities?
Flourish, then K then P and trace or?
Please help to advise. Thank you

----------


## gid

> You could try using the Seachem ferts. they are quit good but $$. Alternatively you could try using lusgro products. Both brands have served me well. lusgro can order online and have them delivered to you


Thanks Diazman, I was thinking of seachem too. $ is not an issue, my tanks are small anyway.

Will the most basic combi be Flourish, Florish Iron and Excel? I have seen this their Plant Pack Fundamentals kit before, it comprises these 3 products and they say its good for basic beginner tanks,

----------


## cherabin

Hi gid, Flourish comprehensive is essentially trace elements. If you going for premix range of fertilizers from Seachem, then I would think you need the macros N, P, K, followed be trace by either Flourish comprehensive or Equilibrium. Iron will be good too especially for stem plants.

If you thinking of DIY, I can spare you some dry fertilizers from Dr Malick's.

----------


## gid

> Hi gid, Flourish comprehensive is essentially trace elements. If you going for premix range of fertilizers from Seachem, then I would think you need the macros N, P, K, followed be trace by either Flourish comprehensive or Equilibrium. Iron will be good too especially for stem plants.
> 
> If you thinking of DIY, I can spare you some dry fertilizers from Dr Malick's.


Hello Cherabin

Thanks, but I thought most of the macros are naturally available in the tank? If I were to go for N P K, then I will have a whole suite of at least 6 bottles of ferts!

Will Flourish Comprehensive, Florish Iron and Excel be good enough?

Oh and thanks for the offering the dry ferts! I will sms you if I wanna go DIY.

----------


## cherabin

I use dry fertilizers for dosing of P and K. N is supplemented by Seachem Nitrogen while Fe, of course from Seachem Iron. Trace by Seachem Equilibrium. Daily dosing of Excel.

So far so good and all my tanks are low maintenance with mainly water top-ups.

----------


## diazman

> What are the basic Seachem needed in priorities?
> Flourish, then K then P and trace or?
> Please help to advise. Thank you


Seachem's ferts are good but if you need macro, you have to purchase them separately. You will end up like 5-6 bottles of ferts.  :Opps:  for plant growth you need the essential NPK followed by the micros. Seachem have them all.

----------


## diazman

> Thanks Diazman, I was thinking of seachem too. $ is not an issue, my tanks are small anyway.
> 
> Will the most basic combi be Flourish, Florish Iron and Excel? I have seen this their Plant Pack Fundamentals kit before, it comprises these 3 products and they say its good for basic beginner tanks,


I used to dose my low techs with flourish only  :Grin:  As bro cherabin says, its mainly trace compounds. If you need macro, you will have to get the NPK bottles separately. Used to have seachem ferts but there were too many bottles of them, so i switched for Lusgro Macro, Lushgro Micro and their dry fert KH2PO4.  :Grin:  Dry fert is good as you can mix them a couple of times. 100g of those can last you a long time compared to liquid commercial brand

----------


## gid

Hey Cherbin & Diazman, but is it true that we do not need macro ferts as N P K are naturally available from the fauna's poop?

----------


## diazman

> Hey Cherbin & Diazman, but is it true that we do not need macro ferts as N P K are naturally available from the fauna's poop?


I'm not really sure on that though. Usually i will dose them even if it's in a small quantity because i understock all my tanks  :Razz:

----------


## dc88

> Hey Cherbin & Diazman, but is it true that we do not need macro ferts as N P K are naturally available from the fauna's poop?


In general most tank are short of micro because these trace elements usually got locked up quickly by the natural compounds in the tank soil, water, etc. The commercial micro (e.g. Seachem Flourish, Lusgro Trace, etc) has the trace elements held in suspension chemically and slowly releasing (broken down by action of light) to make available for the plant.
As for the Macro (N, K, P) if you have good soil and ample fishes (and fish food) there are always some amount in the tank, but it depends how hard you drive the tank (light level). If the plant is hyper-driven with very strong light level, and you add CO2, then the next thing that will run out usually the Macro (assuming you add Micro). Check out Seachem website there is a list to describe plant's nutrient deficiency. Also there is "good" nutrient vs "bad" nutrient (e.g. ammonia) which the later (from excess fish foods) will promote algae bloom. Hence we normally feed the fish sparingly and administer the macro for the plant to the level we can control.

----------


## cherabin

Hi gid, dc88 has summed it up very appropiately. 

Anyway, since the Dymax are working very well for you as shown in the lastest pictures update of your tanks, is there any compelling reason to switch to a mainstream brand?

I'm a believer of 'if it ain't broken, don't fix it'  :Smile:

----------


## gid

Thanks dc88, from what you say, I think I will not need macro for now.

Hey Cherabin, yes I get where you are coming from. There is no reason to change actually. But it just feel weird not using the mainstream brand. My tanks are small so money is not an issue. I just wanna get the best of everything. But this mentality is quite amatuer-ish right? haha.

Things work well now, im just wondering if it can get better!

----------


## diazman

> Thanks dc88, from what you say, I think I will not need macro for now.
> 
> Hey Cherabin, yes I get where you are coming from. There is no reason to change actually. But it just feel weird not using the mainstream brand. My tanks are small so money is not an issue. I just wanna get the best of everything. But this mentality is quite amatuer-ish right? haha.
> 
> Things work well now, im just wondering if it can get better!


haha, whatever brand you choose, make sure not to take in the "ista" fert brands though. I tried it in my tank and it became an algae farm  :Laughing:

----------


## bettarism

Dry fertiliser based on EI dosing is still the best!

----------


## gid

Ok i finally made my decision to buy a new set of ferts. Cos I have actually been having some problems with my current regime. Plants are doing superb, but fauna can do better. In one tank, my sakuras seem to getting smaller in size even in adulthood, and there has been alot of shrimplet deaths, even though overall population is still growing. My other tank has got SAEs and neons jumping out every week. 

This is my new set, all from Seachem:

*Florish 
*Florish Excel
*Florish Iron
*and Prime for water conditioning during WC

What do you guys think of this regime?

----------


## diazman

If you need seachem iron and nearby my area can get from me FOC. not using. still 90% full. Save $ money for you  :Grin:

----------


## gid

> If you need seachem iron and nearby my area can get from me FOC. not using. still 90% full. Save $ money for you


Eh bro, now then you say. I just bought it yesterday! But thanks man.

----------


## diazman

> Eh bro, now then you say. I just bought it yesterday! But thanks man.


Ack! i thought you still planning the purchase..  :Grin:

----------


## cherabin

Hi gid, do keep everyone posted on how the tanks progress after the change in fertilizers brand and regime.

By any chance you overdose Excel?

----------


## Sharkfin

Just a question. Since OP is using Amazonia New for his subtrate, and it is well known for a very high ammonia content. With that, would it utimately be high in Nitrate as well after cycling? Wouldn't dosing Nitrate ferts create an algae boom due to over-dosage?

----------


## gid

> Hi gid, do keep everyone posted on how the tanks progress after the change in fertilizers brand and regime.
> 
> By any chance you overdose Excel?


Sure of cos, i hope it works! 

No i dont overdose excel, except for once when i was trying to manage a bba outbreak.

----------


## gid

I just realised that the seachem series is much more concentrated. For Comprehensive, the direction is 5ml for 250L. 

My tanks are only 16L each, which means I have to dose 0.32ml. How do I measure such a small amount?!

Pls help.

----------


## cherabin

Use a syringe. You can measure 0.3mL.

----------


## gid

> Use a syringe. You can measure 0.3mL.


Thanks bro, i didnt know that syringer can measure such small amounts. I thought they are usually in 1ml marks.

Where can I get one? I was just at C328, none there.

----------


## diazman

> Thanks bro, i didnt know that syringer can measure such small amounts. I thought they are usually in 1ml marks.
> 
> Where can I get one? I was just at C328, none there.


go over to guardian. ask for baby syringe (the plastic type). they sell about $0.50 - $1.00 each. i use them to dose my nanos  :Grin:

----------


## cherabin

Head to any pharmancy and ask for a 1mL syringe with 0.1mL denotions. Will serve well in your nano tank fertilising.

----------


## DeadEnd

NPK are important nutrients beside CO2. Nitrogen and phosphate can be derive from fish food and poop but the potassium is something the tank is always lack of. Adding trace element is good when your tank is flourish with plants to reduce competition

For my tank with only Japanese hair grass and moss, I dose potassium sulfate with CO2 injection. So far so good

----------


## felix_fx2

> go over to guardian. ask for baby syringe (the plastic type). they sell about $0.50 - $1.00 each. i use them to dose my nanos


Watson also... they have so many. Plus not very costly since we reuse.

----------


## Goodfish

A pipette at c328, use for feeding too.about $1

----------


## gid

> A pipette at c328, use for feeding too.about $1


Oh yes I say this pipette at c328, but there are no ml markings, how do you gauge?

----------


## diazman

> Watson also... they have so many. Plus not very costly since we reuse.


I bought too many lol! 5 to be exact. Now at most only use 2  :Laughing:

----------


## Goodfish

> Oh yes I say this pipette at c328, but there are no ml markings, how do you gauge?


Have marking,from 0.5ml to 3ml, look closely. :Wink:

----------


## cherabin

I believe Gid needs to measure 0.32mL and a 1mL syringe with 0.1mL denotions/divisions is the best choice.

----------


## gid

Thanks bros!

Anyway Cherabin, I have gotten my syringe from ntuc pharmacy. 0.1ml marking up till 5ml, 20cents each! I bought one syringe for each of my chemical.

----------


## dc88

Other than using syringe, can also use a drop bottle (e.g. Recycle a PH tester bottle)
I measure about 20 drops = 1ml.
So 0.32ml is about 6 drops.

----------


## gid

Oh ya the drop method sounds promising! But are drops consistent?

----------


## dc88

+/- close enough I guess.
Had been using this method to dose micro tank (2L) in the past.
And now regularly when top up evapourization water (fresh tap water into a coke bottle & add 1 drop)
Is really convinent.

----------


## waynekoh

> Ok i finally made my decision to buy a new set of ferts. Cos I have actually been having some problems with my current regime. Plants are doing superb, but fauna can do better. In one tank, my sakuras seem to getting smaller in size even in adulthood, and there has been alot of shrimplet deaths, even though overall population is still growing. My other tank has got SAEs and neons jumping out every week. 
> 
> This is my new set, all from Seachem:
> 
> *Florish 
> *Florish Excel
> *Florish Iron
> *and Prime for water conditioning during WC
> 
> What do you guys think of this regime?



Hi Gid, sorry dig up old post. I am newbie and thinking of dosing ferts like you. Wanted to know how did 
*Florish 
*Florish Excel
*Florish Iron
go for you? Sufficient? like you i only got a 15 litre tank and a small bottle can last a few years and thus i think it's worth it. And i am not keen to get like 6 bottles of ferts.

In addition, i do not think i will check water parameter before dosing. ok? i am not sure about iron as there is no recommended dosage.

Appreciate your reply so that i can quickly get them these 2 days. Many Thanks!

----------

