# Flourish and Flourish Trace--- a n00b asks if it's possible to overdose?



## General Disarray (Nov 21, 2009)

Hi! I have an eclipse 12 gallon in my baby son's room that houses one goldfish, a variety of plastic plants (it's garish, I know) and a background of anacharis. Substrate is plain gravel. I planted the anacharis to combat the algae problems I was having. Since this planting (maybe a month ago) I have lost over half of it. It turns to a brown mush and breaks off from the weights. Last week I cleaned out all of it, bought a few more and re configured what I still had alive. I also dosed with Flourish and Flourish Trace. It's still breaking off and browning. ARRRRGGGHHH!

I am, at a loss because I have never had this many problems with anacharis before. Should I add more Flourish and Flourish Trace? What could be the issue? 

Also, I have taken the snippets and tiny pieces of anacharis that I had left over and added them to a bowl in a window in an attempt to grow a bit more to add to the tank later. Was I insane to think that might work?

Thanks in advance.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi General Disarray,

First of all, I see this is your first post on APC; welcome! This is a great site with excellent information and friendly people. Glad you joined.

I have an Eclipse 6 gallon myself. It is a nice little aquarium but the light is woefully inadequate for optimum plant growth. I would suggest you not overdose your Flourish products, use them as directed. I have used Flourish in the past and they work fine.

You may have two problems going, first are the weights....get rid of them. They damage the stem and that results in the rotting you are seeing. Instead, plant each stem individually in the gravel. Plant them deep enough so that they don't float up. Secondly, try to increase the amount of light, either by increasing the lighting period or placing the tank where it can receive indirect window light. Let us know how it goes!


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## General Disarray (Nov 21, 2009)

Hey thanks! I do weekly water changes (90%) for the goldie. I will remove the weights then. I can open the window near it. I was also considering replacing the bulb. I am sure they must make a higher output light that fits in that hood.

I so appreciate your swift reply!!


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## The old man (Apr 12, 2008)

Don't think you will find a higher watt bulb that fits that hood.
I ended up taking mine off and using a longer strip from another tank with more watts. However, Anubias will grow fine with bulb that comes with it if you can keep the algae down. Flourish and Flourish trace contain no macros, but with a gold fish in the tank you probably getting enough nitrates and Phosporus.  You may want to add potassium with the Flourish and skip the trace.


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## sukhkawal (Sep 18, 2009)

so, is it possible to overdose on "flourish", what would happen, algae, etc. i have 36g with 65w cf. what would happen if i overdose. like instead of adding 3ml(recommended dose), i add 6ml(2x recomm. dose)


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi sukhkawal,

It is certainly possible to overdose any fertilizer or chemical, more is not necessary better. This would be a good question to post on the Seachem forum here at APC!


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## Aquaticz (May 22, 2009)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Hi sukhkawal,
> 
> It is certainly possible to overdose any fertilizer or chemical, more is not necessary better. This would be a good question to post on the Seachem forum here at APC!


Well I used Flourish for years but went over recommeded doses to fight BBA. Some plants like anacharis and vasillia basically melt if you put in to much. I was using in 2 high light non Co2 tanks, a 55 & a 75. The 75 with my plant load would handel 20 ml daily. If I did this in the 55 plants melted so I decreased to 15 ML & all was well. I recently added Co2 to both tanks actualy about a week ago. Still trying to dial it in but even with low levels of C02 at less than 15ppm the growth in a week is amazing. The bases of valsilia look more like tree trunks & a much diffrentor vibrant green.
The problem that I found with Flourish Excel is that in my environment the BBA was getting out of control. I read recently that unstable CO2 & lack of water movement are the main culprits. Hope this helps you


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## Chris. (Dec 22, 2008)

Welcome to APC! What type of bulb does the eclipse hood use? I have a 10 gallon standard tank, and the hood used those crappy, clear tube style bulbs that aren't worth anything. I replaced them with those energy saving spiral fluorescent 6500K bulbs. I get great growth in this tank, but it also has pressurized co2. Even when I removed co2 for a couple months, it didn't do terribly. The growth was MUCH slower, however. I recommend some Java fern as well. It can grow in pretty much any condition. It's a slow grower without CO2, but it's a good looking, hardy plant.

this is the bulb I'm referring to. http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5984219


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

Don't sweat the bitter loss of the Anacharis. That plant, along with some other "super easy" ones may at times just plain refuse to grow and even die on you after years of perfect growth.

That's how it is. You can try all the suggestions you get but keep in mind that this and other plants do that.

--Nikolay


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