Colu Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 I have been using seachem flourish advance I dose once a week after a water change have vallisneria and Javan fern in my tank after two year my plant growth has slowed and I am getting more algae is there anything else I should add to help improve growth and slow algae my lights are on 8hours a day my nitrites 0 ammonia 0 nitrate 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garren Posted February 21, 2021 Share Posted February 21, 2021 I don't have a answer for you on improving the growth as by java fern has struggled from day 1 (I even dose extra potassium as I know they really like it). I did however have a question, Do you use Easy Green along with seachem flourish advance? I have saw some older videos on Aquarium Co-op Youtube with them using them in combination but wanted to see other peoples results as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted February 21, 2021 Author Share Posted February 21, 2021 No I don't use easy green Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted February 22, 2021 Author Share Posted February 22, 2021 (edited) Would anyone recommend use seachem trace as well as the flourish has any one used the two together and did it improve plant growth Edited February 22, 2021 by Colu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes L. Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 (edited) You actually have two different issues going here. Your Valls are heavy root feeders, so they absorb some nutrients from the water column, but the majority they absorb from their roots, so sticking root tabs in for them will definitely help their growth. Flourish Advance is not really a fertilizer but a "growth enhancer" for root development. It doesn't contain any micro nutrients and only a couple macro nutrients in small amounts. Switching to an all in one fertilizer like Easy Green, will help out tremendously, because it contains both micro and macro nutrients. That alone could solve your issue (along with root tabs for the Valls), but I have several plants that consume large amounts of potassium, such as Java Ferns, so I also dose potassium along with Easy Green (and for my tank I have to dose extra potassium 3 times a week). The best way to proceed is get an all-in-one fertilizer, and as you can see in this forum Easy Green is always highly recommended, then after a couple of days test for Nitrates, Phosphates and Potassium. If the levels are good, just leave it be, but if you find you are already lacking something in a couple of days, then you'll know to dose more of whatever is lacking. Once you get your dosing levels to the proper amounts you will see your algae issue disappear pretty quickly. Usually algae is a sign of your nutrients being out of whack. Edited February 23, 2021 by Wes L. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted February 23, 2021 Author Share Posted February 23, 2021 Do you think dosing seachem trace and root tabs would work @Wes L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbit Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 I use Seachem Flourish (the regular kind) and if you wanted to add a Seachem product, I would recommend that over Seachem Trace. Trace seems to be missing several micronutrients (like iron) that you aren’t getting in Seachem Advance either. It looks like Advance has a lot of potassium in it, which is good. So if you can’t get easy green, I would try Advance + Flourish + root tabs. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes L. Posted February 23, 2021 Share Posted February 23, 2021 I completely agree with Hobbit above on the regular Flourish. It's much more of a complete fertilizer than Trace, so you would have much more success with that one. The trace elements are just that...miniscule amounts of elements because the plants only require miniscule amounts. Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Phosphates are the basic building blocks to plant growth, so those are the ones you want to be more concerned with, and those being either too much or too little are direct contributors to algae growth. As far as Advance goes, another element to consider is your water hardness. Two of the main ingredients in Advance are Calcium & Magnesium....although it doesn't contain huge amounts....but it is something to consider. We get our water from the Colorado River where I live, so our water continues to carve out the Grand Canyon and then goes into my faucet....so our water is basically liquid rock, which means I have an abundance of Calcium & Magnesium, so I don't add anything like Advance to my tanks since my fish are already literally swimming in Calcium & Magnesium. If you have soft water, Advance could be another added benefit. Do you know what your water hardness is? That's a good thing to know. It could help you determine the best supplements to dose for you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted February 24, 2021 Author Share Posted February 24, 2021 Thanks for the advice I am gooding try flourish and root tabs @Wes L. @Hobbit 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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