# Flourish shelf life?



## six piranhas (Dec 22, 2007)

How long does it stay effective?How about flourish tabs?Has anyone used these?Starting new plants soon.Monday i will rcv. my coralife 260 watt dbl. compact.


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

i don't think that there is a shelf life on flourish, just shake it before you use it. How ever i would suggest looking in to some better fertilizers, i would personally recommend p-fertz i have some of these and am extremely pleased. As for the gravel tabs they are recommended to be replaced annually by the manufacture, although you would be better off going with a substrate designed for plants like laterite or possibly onyx sand, as well as others. How big is the tank? with 260 watts you are quite possibly going to need co2 to avoid some algae complications.

andy


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## six piranhas (Dec 22, 2007)

rbp 4 135 said:


> i don't think that there is a shelf life on flourish, just shake it before you use it. How ever i would suggest looking in to some better fertilizers, i would personally recommend p-fertz i have some of these and am extremely pleased. As for the gravel tabs they are recommended to be replaced annually by the manufacture, although you would be better off going with a substrate designed for plants like laterite or possibly onyx sand, as well as others. How big is the tank? with 260 watts you are quite possibly going to need co2 to avoid some algae complications.
> 
> andy


All ihave is the larger gravel to plant my plants in.There is no way i can change my gravel out now.The gravel is about 2"to 3" deep.I could put the plant in a small continer that has eco complete in it then bury that underwater.If not then it,s just my larger gravel then.The tank is 80gal.What kind of fert. do tou use?As far as co2.Not a chance too much of a pain and money.I was going to use excel for a replacement.I know it's not as good.You seem to know what youre talking about maybe suggest some plants that i could try.

thank you


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

i use p-fertz you can find them here 
with 260 watts that gives you 3.25 watts per-gallon which is co2 territory unless you want to battle algae. What i would recommend if you want to avoid the cost of a co2 system is to make a diy yeast reactor to produce co2. all it takes is a 2 liter bottle some sugar and a bit of yeast. total cost of set up is less than 5 dollars. I would run at-least 2 on your tank depending on how densely you intend to plant in. I have read that approximately 80% of a aquatic plants dry mass is composed of carbon which is derived primarily from co2. thus the importance of co2 in a planted tank should not be underestimated. You are probably fine with out the specialized substrates my planted tank has play sand as substrate which is not recommended but has worked fine for me in the past, i would not advise putting plants in container with eco-complete, as the roots need to spread out and many plants send off runners to expand plant colony size. A runner is a root from which other plants pop up. At least thats the best i can describe it. For plants i advise you to look here and tell me what interests you, then i can give you specific information on that plant and it's care, and if i can't there are people here that can.


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## six piranhas (Dec 22, 2007)

rbp 4 135 said:


> i use p-fertz you can find them here
> with 260 watts that gives you 3.25 watts per-gallon which is co2 territory unless you want to battle algae. What i would recommend if you want to avoid the cost of a co2 system is to make a diy yeast reactor to produce co2. all it takes is a 2 liter bottle some sugar and a bit of yeast. total cost of set up is less than 5 dollars. I would run at-least 2 on your tank depending on how densely you intend to plant in. I have read that approximately 80% of a aquatic plants dry mass is composed of carbon which is derived primarily from co2. thus the importance of co2 in a planted tank should not be underestimated. You are probably fine with out the specialized substrates my planted tank has play sand as substrate which is not recommended but has worked fine for me in the past, i would not advise putting plants in container with eco-complete, as the roots need to spread out and many plants send off runners to expand plant colony size. A runner is a root from which other plants pop up. At least thats the best i can describe it. For plants i advise you to look here and tell me what interests you, then i can give you specific information on that plant and it's care, and if i can't there are people here that can.


WOW thankyou very much.How much are those co2 systems and how easy are they to use and set up?Where can i find more info on diy project.As for the plants let me get back to you and i will look.

thanks again adam

john


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

I paid about 150 for my co2 set up, i got it from the same place that i linked for you to look at the plants. They are very easy to set up and use, basically plug and play. As for the diy project i'll tell you what you need, a bag of sugar, walmart for like 2.99 yeast, not rapid rise, again at walmart for like 1.19 i believe, an empty 2 liter and some air hosing which you can again get at walmart in the pet section. I usually add 1 1/2 cups to the 2 leiter, then some yeast maybe 1 1/2 teaspoons, then warm water. Drill a hole in the cap of the 2 liter that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the air hosing. insert the hose in the hole attach an air stone to the other end and place it in the tank, done! you have made a co2 generator


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## six piranhas (Dec 22, 2007)

rbp 4 135 said:


> I paid about 150 for my co2 set up, i got it from the same place that i linked for you to look at the plants. They are very easy to set up and use, basically plug and play. As for the diy project i'll tell you what you need, a bag of sugar, walmart for like 2.99 yeast, not rapid rise, again at walmart for like 1.19 i believe, an empty 2 liter and some air hosing which you can again get at walmart in the pet section. I usually add 1 1/2 cups to the 2 leiter, then some yeast maybe 1 1/2 teaspoons, then warm water. Drill a hole in the cap of the 2 liter that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the air hosing. insert the hose in the hole attach an air stone to the other end and place it in the tank, done! you have made a co2 generator


JUST ASKING why not the 5$ diy?I will look again but i did not see the system for sale.The 150 $ unit.How long does the diy last?NOW for my other ?'s.I bought some plants tonight.Have names for some.Others did not have name tags.Ha Ha iknow.
Amazon sword
wisteria
moneywort
lugwigia
have pics of all.Just trying to post them threw u tube but forgot how.Maybe some help?
I also have these Q's as well
1)what do you think of flourish excel?
2)flourish iron for amozon plants.Is it ok for the other plants i listed?
3)I bought 2 12" amozon plants at petsmart for 3.99$Good deal i thought.They had long sprouts on them.I have saved them in case these can be cloned.Or is these a male shoot that is worthless?For that matter is cloned the wrong word?
4)I have 6 reds about 5 to 6" long just letting you know not a Q.
5)RU as informitive about water q,S AS WELL?iKNOW NOT A WATER forum just a Q.

If tou get tired of me just delete me!!!!!

THANKS HAAAAA YOU KNOW!!!!!!!!!


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

Well the problem with the diy is that you cant fine tune the bubble flow, as well as they need replacing usually about every 2 or so weeks. With the pressurized system, depending on the size of the tank and your bubble flow rate, you could easily run it for 6 months with out refilling. And refilling would only cost around 10 dollars at a welding shop. On top of all of this you can put it on a time with your lights so that it does not cause you ph to drop off at night. all of the plants you listed are quite hardy and will take off under you lighting. Especially the wisteria, it grows like a weed, i actually took it out of my tank because i got tired of pruning it every day. As for the excel i feel that it is a decent basic fertilizer it has a pretty decent break down of essential trace elements, but you will also want to dose iron potassium, phosphorous, and possibly nitrogen. Although i suspect that your piranha are producing enough nitrogen through their waste currently, unless you plant this tank densely. Yes flourish iron is okay for all of the plants you have listened. the only issues that i have heard concerning flourish is that in some cases vals seem to be sensitive to it. How ever i have not seen this to be a problem personally.

I am not quite sure what you mean by sprouts but it sounds to me like you might be describing a runner in which case new plants are likely to develop along. When plants do develop on a runner you can leave them and allow them to grow and continue reproducing, or you can cut the runner it's self and replant the new addition. sorry i'm not the best at describing this.

yes i could probably help you with water quality questions as well.

andy


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## six piranhas (Dec 22, 2007)

[quote name='rbp 4 135' date='Jan 23 2008, 08:43 AM' post='2118710']
Well the problem with the diy is that you cant fine tune the bubble flow, as well as they need replacing usually about every 2 or so weeks. With the pressurized system, depending on the size of the tank and your bubble flow rate, you could easily run it for 6 months with out refilling. And refilling would only cost around 10 dollars at a welding shop. On top of all of this you can put it on a time with your lights so that it does not cause you ph to drop off at night. all of the plants you listed are quite hardy and will take off under you lighting. Especially the wisteria, it grows like a weed, i actually took it out of my tank because i got tired of pruning it every day. As for the excel i feel that it is a decent basic fertilizer it has a pretty decent break down of essential trace elements, but you will also want to dose iron potassium, phosphorous, and possibly nitrogen. Although i suspect that your piranha are producing enough nitrogen through their waste currently, unless you plant this tank densely. Yes flourish iron is okay for all of the plants you have listened. the only issues that i have heard concerning flourish is that in some cases vals seem to be sensitive to it. How ever i have not seen this to be a problem personally. 
hey,RBP 4 135 still there?How much iron do i give to my plants?Flourish iron did not say how often.But to maintain the proper amount.Which is what?How do you know when you have reached that point,and maintain it?Is there 1 plant food you can buy that you can feed your plants once to twice a week?Instead of 4 to 5 different macros ,micros,primarys,secondaries blah blah blah.

Idid find p-fertz.Cost more but it might be worth it if you have good results.I like the squirt bottle method.Much easier than cap fulls.

Still have water Q' i will get back to you.

thanks adam

J


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## six piranhas (Dec 22, 2007)

sorry but my reply was added to RBP 4 135 Quote.My brain went on fry!!!!


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## rbp 4 135 (Mar 2, 2004)

Yep I'm here:

Oh man do I wish there was an all in one fertilizer. As for dosing every tank is different, i add 8 squirts of each of the 4 p-fertz every other day. However your dosing will be quite different compared to mine, i would assume that the flourish supplements are more condensed. Your dosing will obviously increase the more plants that you add as well as when your recent additions acclimate and begin to reproduce. What i do is check my plants to see if they are exhibiting any signs of nutrient deficiencies, There are various symptoms, small holes in leaves usually means a deficiency of potassium. iron can cause yellow spots between the veins and on the tips of the leaves. Phosphorous deficiencies can cause the leaves to turn black or brown. deficiencies in micro nutrients can cause a wide range of symptoms but are commonly similar to iron deficiencies. if there are no issues with deficiencies present i leave my dosing alone. If algae arises i turn up my co2 in order to encourage the plants to use more available nutrients. you can dose to much fertz and this can also have negative effects on the plants them selves as well as promoting nasty algae growth. So i would first implement the co2 and slowly increase dosing until you get the desired results. Honestly it is as much or more of and art than a science when you first get started. As for p-fertz i feel the extra cost is well worth it, they also provide some basic guide lines on their website for dosing based on your tanks planted density.

Ill be standing by for the water Q


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