# Brightwell Aquatics



## Bunbuku (Feb 10, 2008)

Anybody every try their line of ferts for freshwater planted tanks? They have a whole line of stuff but interestingly no P supplements.

http://www.brightwellaquatics.com/


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## bigstick120 (Mar 8, 2005)

Ive been using their Florinmulti and Florin-axis for a few months now, seems to work well. Their stuff is much more concentrated then other brands so that is an added bonus. Im also curious why they dont have any PO4 source.


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## stuckintexas (Aug 12, 2008)

ive heard that seachems products are better...but i usually take that with a grain of salt. one person i talked to was super passionate about using flourish iron over the brightwell iron product. something about how the form that the iron is in...the plants have a harder time using the iron in the brightwell product. its over my head, so instead of trying to understand it i took the lazy approach and just bought the flourish iron.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

I have used one bottle of the brightwell Fe. It didn't seem to make any difference in the plants as compared to Seachem. Perhaps a longer experiment is necessary. I just got another bottle.


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## Bunbuku (Feb 10, 2008)

I ordered a small bottle of each from their whole fert line to try out from this store http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/cat/infoL3/23072/category.web. Prices are comparable to the major competitor and if they are more concentrated it will be a better value. Their daily dosing scheme seems to be much less complicated too!


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## hooha (Apr 21, 2005)

I've been interested in trying the Axis (carbon source).....may have to check them out!


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

stuckintexas said:


> ive heard that seachems products are better...but i usually take that with a grain of salt. one person i talked to was super passionate about using flourish iron over the brightwell iron product. something about how the form that the iron is in...the plants have a harder time using the iron in the brightwell product. its over my head, so instead of trying to understand it i took the lazy approach and just bought the flourish iron.


Seachem's Flourish Iron is composed only of iron gluconate which is shown to be readily absorbed and used by plants. Brightwell's product also contains iron EDTA, which is less available to plants in an alkaline environment.


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## stuckintexas (Aug 12, 2008)

so if my ph is acidic is there a difference or is alkalinity different than what I'm thinking?


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

stuckintexas said:


> so if my ph is acidic is there a difference or is alkalinity different than what I'm thinking?


The EDTA form of the iron takes longer to be used up so it provides a more stable supply of iron or at least that's Brightwell's philosophy from what I read on their website. The ferrous gluconate is absorbed by the plants very readily.

Yes, an acidic pH would be best to see the benefits of using the Brightwell product.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Thanks Aaron. I was looking on the bottle to see what kind of iron it was (since the FE uptake lecture ). Since our planted tanks are usually low pH, I wonder if it would make a difference. It's about the time for me to buy a new bottle.


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