What's in Flourish Nitrogen?

[Bartman]

Hi all. Anyone know what exactly is in Flourish Nitrogen? I've been trying to use up my last bottle before switching to dry KNO3, but I noticed that it says it's derived from KNO3 and UREA.

I'm wondering if there's actually urea in there (and not some kind of bound derivative of it) and if it will cause algae problems with the EI method. I'd hate to be releasing a steady stream of NH4 via urea with this stuff...

Thanks,

 

[vidiots]

I've tried the Seachem line of ferts for EI on a small tank. Didn't have any problems with it other than I found I needed to add much more of just about all of them than the directions on the bottle recommended. The only reason I moved to dry ferts was I upgraded tank sizes and could afford to keep buying the Seachem stuff by the gallon.

As for exactly what all is in it, I doubt anyone other than Seachem knows for sure, and they are probably reluctant to give out the exact receipe to the public.

 

[Tom Barr]

Generally many of the chelators and binders are amino acid based from the looks of it.

Gylcine works very well, citrate, gluconate, asparate etc.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Bartman]

I've got my dry KNO3 from Greg now so I'm going to switch back to that. I've been fighting algae in both tanks since starting my use of Flourish Nitrogen. One tank was crystal clear until I started adding it.

Seachem lists urea as on of the N sources, but I haven't had a chance to call to see if any urea remains in it after processing.

I can't say for sure that the Flourish N was the cause of my algae bloom, but my interest in now increased.

I'm going to let my tanks equliabrate to EI with dry addition, then I'll switch to the Flourish N to see if I get another algae bllom...

 

[Tom Barr]

While both SeaChem as well as Tropica add NH4/Urea, the dose makes the poison.

So it's pretty dilute, if not, it'd kill fish and cause algae.

I do not think the product caused your algae issue though.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Bartman]

Well, that may be the problem. The directions on the bottle tell you how to add 1 mg/L of nitrate equivalent.

As Mike pointed out, you have to add significantly more than the recommended amount to get to EI methods.

For example, to add 25 ppm of nitrate equivalent to 50 gallons you would have to add 50 ml of Seachem FN three times a week. (since 5 ml gives 1 ppm in 40 gal per the label)

I have to say that I added significantly less than that amount because I wasn't comfortable adding that much.

I'm not saying that the FN did it, but the blooms did coincide with its use. It might just be a matter of dosing style. Perhaps the way to use FN is to add it daily as a lower dose than the standard EI method.

 

[Tom Barr]

Generally if you have lower fish loading and CO2 etc, the NH4 in small amounts are used up rapidly.

But if not, and you dose heavily, then things might cause issues.

One of my main points about the use of NH4 and urea, if they do not cause algae, which is pretty debatable and specific to what concentration we are talking about, why not use diluted forms of plain old terrestrial fertilizers anyone can get for 2$ for a 5 year supply?

I mean Miracle Grow, Jobes sticks etc, why would anyone use the high priced aquarium brands?

My point about using KNO3, KH2PO4 is that they are standards and pure, we know they do not cause algae in all cases. We know that NO3 is far more benign than NH4.

Why should anyone pay 10-100X the price for something that's available everywhere? I like Tropica, ADA and Seachem etc, and really see a large demand for their products and the support they offer the hobby.

Many folks will never use KNO3 etc, and few LFS's will every carry it. Same with DIY vs brand name stuff.

So there is room for both markets.

Regards,
Tom Barr