# Flourish Causing Water to Cloud Up



## webcricket (Oct 16, 2006)

For the past 2 weeks or so I've noticed that every time I add Flourish to my tank, the water turns cloudy and remains cloudy for about 24 hours (it is crystal clear by the next morning). I honestly can't tell for sure if it's a white cloud or a green algae bloom, I'm leaning towards white. Water parameters check out 0 ammonia 0 nitrite 5 nitrate with the API kit.

This is in a 10 gallon 2 wpg (CF) moderate-densely planted tank with a 9.5 hour photoperiod. My fertilizer regime is EI-based as follows (I only use Seachem products):

Mon. - Flourish and Excel
Tue. - N, P, K and Excel
Wed. - Flourish and Excel
Thu. - N, P, K and Excel
Friday - Flourish and Excel
Saturday - Excel Only
Sunday - 50% water change, N, P, K and Excel

I do not have this issue on the days when Flourish is not added. Plants are doing well and there are no algae issues at present. The only thing that has changed recently for this tank was that 4 weeks ago I added an airstone during the night to deal with a surface scum issue and then 3 weeks ago I changed my filter from a HOB to an Eheim 2211 (transferred all media, no mini-cycle or my plants completely masked it). It's also worth noting that I dose my similarly set-up 5.5 gallon tank with the same regime at half strength and that tank is not showing cloudiness (which rules out the Flourish being somehow expired).

Any ideas what ingredient in the Flourish is causing this? This dosage has been working for me for some months now. Could this just be disturbed bacterial colonies from the filter change? I would think bacteria would react similarly to the N being added though. I'm at a loss. If anyone has any insight I'd love to hear it! 

Thanks for reading!


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Is your water hard? If so, that can cause it to precipitate. You might try using a product with a different chelating agent. CSM+B might work.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Cavan's right. I also have hard water, and have the same issues. I add Flourish in the AM before going to work, by the time I'm home and lights are on, tanks have cleared up.


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## dominator (Dec 26, 2006)

I have the exact same problem. I have just started a dosing schedule with the Seachem brand and notice that the water goes cloudy, although I did not know what was causing it. It is good to know what the cause is.


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

Several months ago I made a mistake and added about 5 times the amount of Flourish that my 20 gallon tank needed. The result was green water, but that went away by itself in about 3 days.

A few weeks ago, in an attempt to prove a point, I added 1/4 cup of Flourish to that same tank. The result? Brown water, because that is the color of Flourish, but nothing else. The fish and the plants were not affected. The tanks was back to normal in a week. (The nitrates in that tank were quite low, if that means anything.)

A leading expert says that Flourish cannot cause green water in a healthy, well planted tank. I don't know, but I do think that there might be a "tipping point" at which some of the dozens of variables in a tank come together to make out of the ordinary things happen.

Bill


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