Eco-complete and Flourish Tab

[SnyperP]

I just setup a 10 gal with 20lbs of eco complete 20 watts of lighting. Hopefully to be 26 in the near future, but it'll have to do for now. I havea bag of Seachem Flourish Tabs. I was wondering if i should still use it with the eco-comp? I don't have too many heavy rooters, but i just got some microswords.

If i do use them, how many should i use? Should i use just enough to cover the rooters or the whole tank?

 

[gheitman]

I would say to go ahead and use them both. I haven't used Eco-Complete but I do use Flourite and I add Flourish Tabs to that. I would suggest just putting the tabs where your rooted plants are for now. You can always add more tabs later.

 

[Mr Burns]

For my 10gal with EcoComplete, I used a hand-held hacksaw to cut the Flourish tabs into 1/2 and 1/4 pieces. I tried using a razor and a kitchen knife to break them in half, but it's dangerous and really inaccurate. The fine-tooth hacksaw blade makes a clean cut with very little effort.

There's an inherent problem with 10gals, and that's substrate depth. Putting full tabs even to the bottom, especially in the front where there is usually less depth, may result in problems because they are too close to the open water column. Leeching all those nutrients into the water could lead to bad algae. I have my suspicions that was an -additional- factor in my outbreak, but it's under control now. Using smaller 1/2 and 1/4 size pieces should also extend your supply since Flourish tabs are fairly expensive. HTH!

 

[SnyperP]

Thanks for the tip. I was planning to put tabs in tonight after i planted and replanted a few things.