fertilizer question

wannalearn

well my order of plants came in, gottem planted, but have a question, i ordered florish comprehensive, and by accident the sent excel instead, didnt realize it until i allready opened it.. so caint return or refund, and will be a week or better befor i can reorder, my question is, what can i expect to happen by dosing excel only, with out comprehensive, i also have root tabs in...

beetlebz

for a short while, nothing really. I doubt you will see any real effect. All of the nutrients need to be balanced. adding just one (I think it does nitrogen in addition to carbon, dont remember) wont really have a big effect, if at all.

wannalearn

it doesnt say anything about nitrogen, but does say in has iron reducing properties.

beetlebz

ahh that was it

Byron

I would not use it. Excel is a liquid carbon supplement, and carbon occurs from CO2 in a natural planted tank. Increasing the carbon may or may not be detrimental at this stage, but increasing carbon on its own can be. And it will set up a higher level of "balance" between the other nutrients and light. This is critical at any stage, but in a newer tank you should aim for the most stable system, and using something like this is not advisable.

There are also negative effects of Excel; some plants will melt (Vallisneria commonly does, there are others), mosses can be affected as they cannot use carbon in any form but CO2. Also, it is a chemical and may affect some fish. One member had it burn his hand. I wouldn't use it.

If they sent it when you specifically order Flourish Comprehensive, they should be prepared to send you the Comprehensive at no cost. They may or may not take back the Excel, but if this was their mistake I would definitely ask for a free Flourish Comp. If they want your continuing business, they will.

Byron.

wannalearn

i will call them and see what we can do, i know i said floursh comp. but they sent excel, and the invoice i recieved with the plants says excel.. will probibly be a he said, she said kinda thing,.. got some more purchased i plan to make very soon, so i will def order some comp...