Thoughts on Tetra Florapride

[SeverumGuy]

I picked up some Tetra FlorPride yesterday. I've been using Sera Florena, but it's more expensive and is going to be hard to find. The LFS has been running the Tetra for a few weeks now and they're plant tank looks great. Does this have everything I need or is there anything else I need to add to keep my plants thriving?

 

[fort384]

It depends on what your tank setup is, and what kind of plants you are growing. For a low light or medium low light setup, your tank may or may not benefit from it depending on your needs. It is a source of Fe and K.

Personally, I prefer to use dry ferts (which I mix in specific quantities with distilled water to make my own liquid ferts). This is extremely economical. I bought about $25 worth of fert, and I think it will last me the rest of my life. I mix up 4 different solutions, which allows me to dose N, P, K and trace separately to the target ranges I want. This is the preferred method for most experienced planted tank enthusiasts who are running high tech high light tanks.

That being said, if you are running low light, and no CO2, with a decent bioload, you can get away without dosing N or P. In this case, the Tetra Florapride will probably be of some benefit.

If you plan on being in the hobby for the long haul, I would suggest picking up some dry ferts. Rex Grigg (Rexgrigg.com) is a decent source, as well as a wealth of information... but there are several sources available.

 

[SeverumGuy]

I'm running a pretty mid-low light. I have about 1.5w per gallon from a T12 fixture. The plants are doing pretty well with everything I've been doing. I haven't started the Tetra stuff yet because I still have a little bit of the Sera Florena left. How would I go about making that mixture your're talking about? I'm don't quite follow what you were saying

 

[BigJim]

People buy dry powder chemicals that contain the N-P-K and micronutrients that make a good fertilizer. They're dissolved in water and dosed into the tank. The EI and PPS Pro methods are the most popular fertilizing regimens.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Start dosing with the Tetra Florapride and see how things go. If your plants start to yellow then you will need to supplement with a trace element product such as Seachem Flourish Trace. Once you learn more about what the needs of your plants are and have a better understanding between macro - micro nutrients, order some dry ferts and try one of those methods mentioned above.

 

[fort384]

Agree with Chizer's advice.

Fertilizer explanation:

Plants basically need 3 "macronutrients" in "larger" quantities, and a host of "micronutrients" in comparably "smaller" quantities (generally refered to as "trace" or micro). These fertilizers, plus light and CO2 = plant survival/growth/health.

The 3 macros:
N (Nitrogen)
P (Phosphorus)
K (Potassium)

The stuff you picked up, the "Tetra Florapride" is basically a mixture of K (Potassium) and Fe (Iron; one of the micronutrients required for plant health). It is a good mix for lower light tanks, because usually lower light tanks do not need extra N (Nitrogen) dosed, as your fish provide enough through fish waste (Nitrates). P (phosphorous) is generally not required to be dosed either, as there is some naturally occurring P in most tap water, and it will be present in your tank. K is pretty safe to have in large quantities in your tank, and it will not be "naturally" occurring, so dosing it in a low light tank is probably a good thing for your plants (I say probably, as some folks grow low light plants fine without dosing any fertilizers).

Now, you can pick up dry versions of fertilizer in 4 different varieties for very cheap, and mix them with water to make your own liquid fertilizers to add to the tank (or some prefer to just directly dose the powder fert into their tank).

KNO3 powder to dose N and some K (potassium Nitrate)
KH2PO4 powder to dose P (mono potassium phosphate)
K2SO4 powder to dose K (potassium sulfate)

"Plantex CSM+B" powder to dose all the required trace elements.

By using 4 different mixes (N, P, K, and Trace), you can control exactly how much of each nutrient you dose. Each tank is different (lighting, bioload, co2, tap water, etc) so this control allows you to keep things balanced in a high light tank, where the extra lighting kicks the plant growth into high gear. Excess nutrients (especially N and P) can cause horrendous algae outbreaks, so controlling the dosing is crucial.

Hope this helps.