# Liquid Fertilizers?



## hgual22 (Jul 18, 2014)

I'm looking to get new live plants for my 5.5gal betta tank. I currently have baby dwarf tears and some tall plant. I want to get java ferns, but after looking online, I should be giving my plants a fertilizer? I litterally do nothing with them and they have been alive for months. But I want to be safe. So suggest brands? I'm a total noob and have no idea what I need, obviously. Thanks!


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## Crossroads (Jun 28, 2014)

Most people tend to say Seachem Flourish or Flourish Excel works for them around here but maybe someone with some experience with the product can tell you more. I just started planting my tanks.


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## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

If my plants were doing well without anything I'd let it alone. "If it ain't broke; don't fix it," as they say. 

However, Crossroads is right, most recommend Seachem Flourish Comprehensive which is what I use. Others recommend Seachem Excel but I caution to dose it half and build to a full dose as I've had it melt/kill plants. Excel is not a fertilizer but a liquid carbon source. Lots of people have good plant growth with it.


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## Tony2632 (Aug 30, 2013)

I used flourish comprehensive for a while before I got into dry ferts. I recommend it for it's easy to understand method. It contains your macros and micro nutrients. From the sound of it, you only have a few plants, so flourish comp is pretty all you need.


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## rpadgett37 (Jan 1, 2014)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> If my plants were doing well without anything I'd let it alone. "If it ain't broke; don't fix it," as they say.
> 
> However, Crossroads is right, most recommend Seachem Flourish Comprehensive which is what I use. Others recommend Seachem Excel but I caution to dose it half and build to a full dose as I've had it melt/kill plants. Excel is not a fertilizer but a liquid carbon source. Lots of people have good plant growth with it.


+1

I try not to dose anything unless my plants tell me they need something. They'll show signs of a particular deficiency, which makes it a simple matter of knowing what to dose.

I've come to realize that with plants, it is as important to learn about my water as it is to choose plants or fish for particular set of conditions. All I mean by that is though experience, I know that with the way I prep my water, it is deficient in Fe, K and trace minerals. So every planted tank I have, I know I need to dose these as a bare minimum for healthy plants. If anything more needs to be dosed, my plants will tell me what that might be.

Having said that, I am reading about a different dosing method. It's new to me so I won't confuse the issue here. I know that what I have outlined above works well.

EDIT: I should mention that this is most effective with water column feeders. Rooted plants are a different animal and generally rely on what substrate and root tab configuration I use. For me, I have learned that Flourite combined with SC root tabs works very well with my Crypts.


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