Seachem Flourish SUCKS! Don't Waste Your Money - Master Aquatic Horticulturalist Rant 

Trying to fine the easy green what do it look like ?

I've heard of root tabs. Do they work in sand? I'm sure I can Google it. Lol

@@NinjaSushi2 yes, they work in sand. Aquarium Co-Op’s or Seachem’s Flourish Tabs work well for me. I’ve switched to planted substrate now, though.

I use Epsom salt for magnesium and Equilibrium and 2 different brands of micro nutrients and some little tiny survivers of all the plants I bought are starting to spread little tiny leaves and the stems are growing. I never thought about these plants from the equator are are so hot that they grow so fast they need tremendous amounts of fertilizer.

What was the plant food that you used??

lmao it really does seem like growing 30 acres of corn would be easier than growing two aquarium plants.

Corn was easy. I took a few soil samples, sent them off, got a report back and knew exactly which fertlizer to buy. The corn grew so big the place we bought the seed from wanted some for samples.

Hands down the easiest and most effective I've used

Same if I don't have that I do like Dustin's 🙌🥰

I am going to give this line a try! Thanks!!

Tidal I love. It amazes me how some seachem stuff is great... Then there's flourish.

@@BentleyPascoe hygger is another company that dose the shotgun approach they’re going to sell everything for fish. There heater’s and lights are decent but air pumps and filters are pure garbage. Some of these companies have it in their head they need a big amount of SKU numbers. I think the big box stores have a lot to do with it. I know some retail operations won’t do business with you unless you have a lot of Products available.

@@stevescarsfish2175 Hygger contacts me about every 2 weeks trying to get me to try their stuff, but never the 1 thing I am willing to try

@@BentleyPascoe I had good experience with their heater with a separate controller. And I have a One of their pistol grip Gravel vacs. You pull the trigger to get the suction going that I like. Saves me from sucking in tank water 😂

Agree. I was wondering the same thing.

oops! I see you mentioned Equalibrium later in the video. I jumped the gun. I bought that a long time ago for no particular reason (believe it or not). By the way, you're very entertaining. Before you said "Hello" in this video, i said, "Uh oh...." heehee

Thrive is a really good all-in-one, if you've had success, stick with it!

I don't have any direct experience with it unfortunately. Looking at it online, it's very similar to Brightwell Florin Multi, no nitrogen or phosphate, but everything else you need. If it's doing well, stick with it!

@@BentleyPascoe Oh I'm using it in a tank full of guppies so probably no need for those, which makes it a perfect fertiliser! That's what I needed to know. Thank you, stay awesome!

You can absolutely get great results with Seachem's flourish line, I just feel it's trying to be more complicated than it needs to be. If you're basing your nutrient regime off of advice from channels that do lots of aquascaping, then by all means go with it.

I'm not sure what you mean by deer corn eater to be honest. The pump head on easy green and similar fertilizers pushes out a specific dose - in the case of easy green I believe it's 1mL, and the dosing is 1mL (or one pump) per 10 gallons. If you have a low light tank they suggest dosing once per week, and twice per week for medium or higher light level tanks. In regards to dirted tanks, they can be wonderful IF you follow the right instructions. The most common slip up is people use too much dirt and not enough cap material (sand, fine gravel, etc). This can often lead to water changes breaking through the cap and causing the dirt to get up into the water column, which is a nightmare. It can be a very good budget option, but if your goal is to do something like Father Fish's style, then I would spend LOTS of time researching what he does before you get going. My main issue with most deep sand beds is the high amount of silicates that often end up in the water which can make things like blue green algae (cyanobacteria) very common. He has done this system for a long time so he has a ton of experience to get through some of the pitfalls. Patience and research are your friend here.

So sorry. Stupid auto correct stuffed up my text.

@@BentleyPascoe Thank you very much for the advice.

There are a number of good all-in-one fertilizers out there, try looking at something like LCA's all in one premium based on a quick search. In the end you want something that contains nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and your trace minerals. Depending on your water, you might also need to have some kind of GH booster that will ensure you have proper calcium and magnesium levels. Usually this is only if you're doing RODI or you have extremely soft water naturally out of the tap. A simple GH test will show you if you are four degrees GH or higher. You don't need a GH booster.

This depends on where you live, but examples for the US would be something like easy green or NilocG thrive. Basically, what you're looking for is an easy to dose all in one that includes nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and all of your micronutrients. You can also get something that is a split macro fertilizer and micro fertilizer. Those cost a little bit more because you're buying two products, but it's not as egregious as the flourish line.

@@BentleyPascoe I live in the USA

@@BentleyPascoe if I’m moving, and I have a neon tetras what is the best way to move them?

@@christyquinn4814 there's a couple different ways you can do this. The first thing no matter which way you do it, is fast your fish for 2 days before you start the move. If this move is only expected to take one day, what you can do is get the water level of the tank relatively low, but keep an air stone in there while you're packing everything up. Then get your fish in a bag or even like a small Tupperware container, finish draining the tank then go ahead and transport the tank and the fish to their new home. If you think this trip is going to take longer, especially if this is going to be something that is a 5 plus hour drive, what I would then do is get a brand new bucket and if you can either get a USB powered air pump or a battery operated air pump with a stone put that into their bucket and then have the fish in there so they get air. Don't fill the water level much more than about a third. And if you can find one of the paint style buckets that has a lid with a small circular hole on the top, that will be even better to prevent splashing. They should be able to handle temperature changes for that period of time. It's just making sure that there's not too much poop to cause ammonia and that they have oxygen. If you're looking at something like a multi-day trip that I would definitely look at a bucket or some other kind of like larger tupperware container to where you can change water at a hotel or something every day. Just make sure that you get the water close in temperature as possible and keep a declorinator with you.

Dry ferts are a good route, you just may want to mix them before adding to the aquarium

I should also add… The reason my betta tank was suffering from lowering pH is because it's a temporary small 1.6 gallon tank(fully cycled)until the 9 gallon is ready to go, and his waste likes to sink between the glass balls which are his substrate(my theory is that the decaying waste, along with the nitrates being produced causes pH to lower much quicker without much of a buffer due to the soft water)It had been over a week since I did a water change and vacuumed out the poop/waste. I'm pretty sure that's what caused the acidity, so last night, I gave the substrate a good gravel vac along with a 50% water change in hopes it would bring the pH up a bit… I will test everything tonight and hope for the best. Otherwise, I will have to seek advice as to what is happening exactly. My tap water pH is consistently between 6.8-7.0.😅

Yes, but make sure you lay attention to which one you use and what it contains

Thanks for telling this before I add them. I bought them to add under the substrate as I am building this Aquarium. I was planning on buying some Shrimp once the Aquarium stabilized. I now wonder if the Snails would be safe. Thank you for sharing this here. I am so sorry for your loss.

I have not

Yep, if you're willing to mix you're own you save a TON

@@BentleyPascoe I don't get why people act like it's rocket science. If a person is capable of making the Mac and Cheese in the blue box, they are capable of mixing up ferts. (Actually, I *do* get why people act like it's rocket science- because marketing is a powerful drug!)

I just priced these at Amazon $65.00 with tax.

@@damiangrouse4564 If you mean the dry salts would cost that- you need to find another seller, even GLA only charge $35 for the full kit which is enough for *years* if you only have one tank.

Yeah, absolutely. Tbh, why do you even need ferts if you have a mature tank with good substrate.

Just check to make sure it is a significant source of nitrogen and Phosphorus and you're ok!

I'm not sure what all is available down there, just look for something that contains all your macros and micros and you should be ok.

@@BentleyPascoe ok yes cool will do

@@BentleyPascoe do you have a list of the macro and micro nutrients

I like using it for spot treatments, but if you need it daily, there is some imbalance you can work on to not need it

@Will B it should not. If you dose it as instructed

Equilibrium is a good product, but if you want something more cost efficient, there's lots of powdered options out there. I've used salty shrimp for my shrimp before and it's great.

@@BentleyPascoe I just want to add back the essential minerals for fish and plants. My RO water has a TDS of 1-2PPM and measures a GH of 0. I have a simple fresh water tank with easy to keep fish, no invertebrates, and floating lettuce is the only plant. I just want something simple to remineralize the water to standard levels.

🤣 wish I had a recording of that.

@@tulioalopez there are many out there. Green Leaf Aquariums is an example.

SeaChem owns AquaVitro btw

Glad you do!

Fluval Gro+ is similar in that it's not a significant source of nitrogen. If you have a decent plant load it's ok, but it's mostly just micros. Brightwell Florin Multi is all the micros + potassium. From there all you need is nitrogen (similar story) which is the Florin Gro if you don't have a reasonable fish load.

Thank you. Very much appreciated. Oh and thank you for the Aquasky review and tips as well. Really enjoy your content Mr. Pascoe keep up the awesome work! 👌

I prefer Safe due to the amount of water I change. Otherwise my go-to was always Ultimate as it has some aloe added for slime coat health