# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Flourish and Flourish Trace



## trace_lynn (Mar 4, 2003)

I purchased some Flourish and Flourish trace online. Once I received them and after reading the labels on each, it seems that they basically have the same thing. HOWEVER, they also say on the bottles to use Flourish and Flourish Trace together for optimum results. I purchased them thinking that the Flourish was the macro nutrients and the Flourish trace was the micro nutrients needed. Is this right? Confused......









Am I double-dosing my aquarium using this? Flourish says use 5ml per 125 gallons & Flourish Trace says 5ml for every 20 gallons.(Use Flourish = .4 ml for 10 gallon tank)
(USe Flourish Trace = 2.5 ml for 10 gallon tank)

Tracy
Ummm, Is it suppose to do that!?


----------



## trace_lynn (Mar 4, 2003)

I purchased some Flourish and Flourish trace online. Once I received them and after reading the labels on each, it seems that they basically have the same thing. HOWEVER, they also say on the bottles to use Flourish and Flourish Trace together for optimum results. I purchased them thinking that the Flourish was the macro nutrients and the Flourish trace was the micro nutrients needed. Is this right? Confused......









Am I double-dosing my aquarium using this? Flourish says use 5ml per 125 gallons & Flourish Trace says 5ml for every 20 gallons.(Use Flourish = .4 ml for 10 gallon tank)
(USe Flourish Trace = 2.5 ml for 10 gallon tank)

Tracy
Ummm, Is it suppose to do that!?


----------



## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

hi, both are micro nutrients, I think flourish is much better than trace! Trace IMO is like tap water!

For the flourish you can safely add 5ml/20gallons if you have high light & CO2.

good luck


----------



## trace_lynn (Mar 4, 2003)

Great so I stillll don't have anything for macro........I'm done. 

Thanks ekim - I'm turning to dosing individually at least then I'll know what I'm getting.

I'll just keep a fishless tank for a while and that way I at least won't kill any fish till I get some hold on these fertilizers/chemicals. .......Back to the books

Tracy
Ummm, Is it suppose to do that!?


----------



## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Flourish has a number of chemicals that Flourish Trace doesn't, namely Potassium, Calcium, and a little Iron. 

Trace is just what Ekim said, tap water. Flourish is a much more complete trace additive.

Proverbs 3:7-8


----------



## captain (May 12, 2006)

Flourish also has some vitamins in it. B6, B12 and some others I think. Don't have the bottle in front of me so I can't say for certain which vitamins are in Flourish.

-Steve
See profile for tank info


----------



## Tenor1 (Mar 3, 2003)

This is an interesting topic. I called Seachem to clarify the difference with these two products. The content is similar but the recommended usage is the key factor. They recommend dosing Trace every-other-day and Flourish every 6 days.

The amount of iron and some other minerals are much more concentrated in Flourish and would cause algae problems if used more frequently. 

I understand Seachems recommendations, but is the Trace really necessary? Do some plants need every-other-day dosing?

Thanks,
Carlo

==============================
I try to keep the tank plain and simple but it never stays that way!


----------



## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Tenor1:
> The amount of iron and some other minerals are much more concentrated in Flourish and would cause algae problems if used more frequently.


not true, I dose 5-10 times the recommended dose every 3 days! No algae problems at all!



> quote:
> 
> I understand Seachems recommendations, but is the Trace really necessary?


No it's not, everything in trace is also in flourish! They recommend every other day because it is very weak (tap water)!

The directions are for the average low light non-CO2 tank! When our tanks have high light and enough CO2 the plants grow a lot fast, so they use up a lot more nutrients!


----------



## Tenor1 (Mar 3, 2003)

Thanks Ekim!

Getting the correct balance of supplements vs light vs CO2 is the toughest part of the equation, lol. I was dreadfully afraid to go over the Seachem recommendations fearing alage would raise it's ugly head, lol. 

I'll skip the Trace since I do 2 water changes per week and dose after each one.

Regards,
Carlos

==============================
I try to keep the tank plain and simple but it never stays that way!


----------

