Flourish questions

[R_sustaita]

I have two questions about flourish,

1 will it raise the ph levels?

2 how much to dose a 10g that is lightly planted?

Thank you in advance!

[76dragon]

Can i jump on your thread Please?? Pretty Please??

Can I bleach flourish to get rid of MTS??

[Complexity]

I have two questions about flourish,

1 will it raise the ph levels?

2 how much to dose a 10g that is lightly planted?

Thank you in advance!

I don't believe it affects the pH levels. The dosing amount should be on the bottle. You can probably get the dosing info from the seachem website if you don't have the bottle yet.

Can i jump on your thread Please?? Pretty Please??

Can I bleach flourish to get rid of MTS??

Flourish won't harm MTS (assuming you're referring to an attempt to get rid of malaysian trumpet snails). Your best bet to control them is to get assassin snails.

[Complexity]

Here's the Seachem website info on Flourish: http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod.../Flourish.html

Since it suggests 5ml of Flourish per 60g, that comes to 60/5*10 = .83ml per 10g. So I'd say dose about 1/2ml for a lightly planted 10g tank, give or take a drop.

[76dragon]

I am thinking about soaking it in a 5 gallon bucket for a couple of days and laying it out to dry.

You don't think this will kill all the snails??


Flourish won't harm MTS (assuming you're referring to an attempt to get rid of malaysian trumpet snails). Your best bet to control them is to get assassin snails.[/QUOTE]

[Complexity]

BTW, be sure to take note of their description of Flourish: "Flourish™ is designed to be used in conjunction with other macro and micro-nutrient supplements." What this means is that Flourish is not a complete fertilizer by itself, and it is not intended to be used with Excel alone either.

Excel is the carbon source -- a CO2 substitute, not a fertilizer
Flourish -- these are the micro (trace) ferts
Flourish Nitrogen, Flourish Phosphorus, and Flourish Potassium -- these are the macro ferts

All 5 are needed together.

You would dose Excel every day.

You would dose Flourish every other day.
And dose Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium every other day

Your micros and macros are dosed on opposite days.

So your dosing regime would look something like this:

Mon -- Excel + Flourish (micros)
Tues -- Excel + Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (macros)
Wed -- Excel + Flourish (micros)
Thur -- Excel + Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (macros)
Fri -- Excel + Flourish (micros)
Sat -- Excel + Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (macros)
Sun -- 50% water change only

This is the same as you would do with dry ferts, except you're using liquid ferts.

[Complexity]

I am thinking about soaking it in a 5 gallon bucket for a couple of days and laying it out to dry.

You don't think this will kill all the snails??

Nope. Won't kill them at all.

I've had MTS survive being in a dry bucket for a month or longer. I did an experiment once where I put them in a bucket of rocks with no food for over a month, and the darn things continued to multiply (so much for the overfeeding concept). Those things can survive almost anything.

In fact, they are so difficult to get rid of, I'm about to completely scrap my entire substrate in my 75g (8 bags worth of Eco Complete) and bleach the entire tank (all fish and plants removed) and start the tank over with new substrate in hopes of making a dent in the MTS population. This time, I'll put assassin snails in the tank from the very start. I have so many MTS in that tank, they literally make the substrate look like salt and pepper. I've tried everything, and nothing has worked except assassin snails.

[R_sustaita]

You must be a bio major right? Lol

I got the flourish on a trad and i dose it just once about 1ml. I will get he exel to make it together the way you suggest.

Thank you!

[Raul]

+1 on assassin snails to control MTS that is how I am doing it too.

The only way you can probably kill snails that I have seen is using this product called NO-Planaria,

http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-shrimp-spawning/no-planaria-aquarium.html

I have read that it also is effective on snails but I think all snails.

[Complexity]

You must be a bio major right? Lol

I got the flourish on a trad and i dose it just once about 1ml. I will get he exel to make it together the way you suggest.

Thank you!

Let's see... I started out as a MIS major. Took 20 years off, came back to get a bachelor of science with a minor in business admin and a major in psych. I like diversity. )

Actually, I'm working to be a psychotherapist. And I'm into planted tanks and tend to google a lot.

[Complexity]

+1 on assassin snails to control MTS that is how I am doing it too.

The only way you can probably kill snails that I have seen is using this product called NO-Planaria,

http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-shrimp-spawning/no-planaria-aquarium.html

I have read that it also is effective on snails but I think all snails.

Thank you so much for this! I had not heard of this. This will be absolutely perfect for treating my 75g. This way, I won't have to bleach the entire tank. Once I clean out the old substrate, I can just hit it with No Planaria to kill any remaining snails, then I can add the new substrate. That way I can be certain to start with a clean slate. That's all I'm wanting. That will also make it possible for me to kill any babies hanging out in the canisters without having to worry about destroying the tank's cycle.

Whoohoo! This is exactly what I've been needing! The only thing left to check on is whether it has any residual effects that would prevent me from adding assassin snails in the future (I actually like them).

[R_sustaita]

Let's see... I started out as a MIS major. Took 20 years off, came back to get a bachelor of science with a minor in business admin and a major in psych. I like diversity. )

Actually, I'm working to be a psychotherapist. And I'm into planted tanks and tend to google a lot.

ummm, sounds interesting. i hate science, bio has never been my forte.

[Totenkampf]

Flourish wont hurt snails, you may be thinking about the use of flourish excel as a dip. excel is an aldehyde so it will kill algae and fungus but likely not MTS. There are a few dips here, but beware bleach is hard on plants. the alum dip looks promising but i have never tried it: http://www.aquariumplants.com/Articles.asp?ID=111

The best thing for a massive MTS invasion is see if you can borrow someones adult Clown Loaches! (Try this first complexity!) I never had a MTS inbalance until Ike killed mine. It used to sound like fireworks in there when it was lights out. I will need to find some more assassins myself because the dang things can live for a long time. I think i might have transplanted one living one in an old filter when mine went down last month. These things are pretty durable.

Complexity is describing the PPS-Pro fert method above and I agree with it 100%. I have modified mine to dose Mg on trace days though, there are some that feel that Mg doesnt get along with one of the macros. Actually, Flourish is a complete fert, I just needs more macros to be effective, which is kind of silly. They make a Flourish trace as well and I wouldnt be surprised if regular flourish goes away someday. You an use it as a nice base if you are not using PPS PRO, other wise buy macro versions (dry fertilizers are WAY less expensive, check em out on GLA) and dose opposite with trace/Mg/Fe. The sunday water change is very important. technically, excel is a bioavailable source of carbon fertilizer and can be used every day.

I will look into the No-Planaria, but its betel nut palm extract and betel nuts are pretty bad a$$ed. overseas they chew them for the caffine and they are a powerful stimulant

[R_sustaita]

thank you guys, i got it on a trade and for some reason i tho it was the exel bottle. but hey it wasnt. ill buy it this weekend.

[wesleydnunder]

Can i jump on your thread Please?? Pretty Please??

Can I bleach flourish to get rid of MTS??

I think you mean "fluorite"?..the substrate? Yes, you can bleach it as it's pretty much, to quote Jeff Senske, "crushed-up flower pots".

Mark