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There are many different varieties of seachem's flourish product. I plan on using flourish and flourish excel but how will I know if I need to use any of the other kinds such as nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and iron? I'm guessing adding too much nitrogen will make my nitrite/nitrate levels rise too high. Too much phosphorous could possibly make phosphates rise and lead to some algae problems. I just can't figure out how I'm supposed to know to add potassium and iron without some sort of test kit to see if its even in my water already.

Hi,
The plants will tell you by their appearance:

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/plant_problems.html

You need not worry about iron as you are using Flourite
for substrate. Many of the nutrients will come with the
fresh water, and others will come from the breakdown of the
fish waste and any excess foods. If you plant more than
what the tank and its fish can supply, then you will see
the symptoms, and be able to add the fertilizer(s) necessary.

Currently I'm using AP plant tablets, 1 for every 5 gallons
and the plants are thriving. I did away with injected CO2
as an experiment.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I was in exactly the same position for the Betta tank and I did a full water parameters and sent the results Seachem explaining all the details of the Betta tank, size and plants etc. www.seachem.com

They advised me what to use and the amounts required and how often. About a month later I did another full water parameters and sent them the results they made a slight alteration to the dosage and now the results speak for them selves.

As far as I am concerned this is the best and only way to get the best answer for your question by doing this it does not involve any guess work.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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You should be able to figure out how much ppm's x amount of each fertilizer will provide to x gallons of water. Just add that much each time to get up to recommended ppm's. It's hard to overdose fertilizers, you really have to go overboard to have any ill effects on the fish so even if it's in your water it's no big deal. Contrary to popular opinion, having a lot of nitrate or phosphate does not cause algae. Not having enough, does, as the plants aren't able to compete with algae if they are deficient in one thing or another. The only thing that DOES cause algae, is ammonia, so never add that. I add nitrate and phosphate all the time and have probably had a huge amount in the tank from one time to another, and have never been able to induce an algae bloom. The tank I have the most trouble with, I don't fertilize. So now I'm starting to fertilize that tank too to get the algae under control.

ImRandy85 , Hi , I'm a Seachem user for both my tanks . If you go to their website they
have a recommended Fert regime for beginners .I found this very handy to start .

Naturally Seachem reccommend you use all their products of course but I don't think you
need them all , if you test on a regular basis .
I also found that testing Nitrate and Phosphate was very necessary and I use API liquid
test kits . I keep my Nitrate at less than 20ppm and phosphate at about 1-2 ppm .
Potassium is a lot harder to work out but look to the plants and use the link that Frank
gave you to see what deficiencies are showing up .

The last thing I think you need to be aware of is that plants take up nutrients at different
rates , for instance Hygro's are know to be Potassium hungry and get brittle stems and
holes in the old leaves if this is short . I've found this to be particulary true of Giant Hygro .
Thats why I keep it in both tanks .
Iron as Frank suggests is less necessary unless you have lots of red plants, Even then I
find a little goes a long way .

I'm not sure you can ever avoid Algae completely but I agree with Carrisa its deficiencies
that cause Algae . Its taken me 6 months to work out that a lack of Pottassium is causing
a problem in one of my tanks .

I'm not suggesting I know lots about this subject as I'm still learning everyday and I still
have issues in one of my tanks all the time . Its very trial and error and unlike Keith I
could not get any sense out of Seachem when I wrote to them , you can try if you like .

Hope this helps .
Garry