# (The 7 Best Aquarium Plant Fertilizers — Reviews 2021) reviewed



## Zeus. (21 Sep 2021)

Hi all,

Came across The 7 Best Aquarium Plant Fertilizers — Reviews 2021

Having spent many on hour going though various commercial ferts, I though my unbiased comments may be worth a mention.

Thrive I can confirm NilocG Thrive is a great valve for money complete fertiliser for our tanks - only available in USA, Big hats off to NilocG also as they do tell you what is in the product 

API leaf Zone which came top in the reviews only contains Potassium (K) and EDTA Iron (Fe) so how it came out top is beyond belief as it isn't a complete Fert for our tanks  plus I don't think it even tells us what level of Fe or K it yields per dose.

Seachem Flourish may be a complete Fert and does contain some trace elements which many commercial ferts don't, although if using tap water you will be getting enough of these trace elements in your tap water to meet your plants needs. However Seachem Flourish is soo weak we had to disable it on the IFC calculator for a short time 

I didn't go through all the seven after seeing what won but was well aware of NilocG Thrive and Seachem Flourish already








So my review of the review is what a waste of time and who are you trying to fool.

This is the problem when we read 'any' reviews on the internet, are they unbiased, many are *not, *so we should read them with caution.

Zeus.
​


----------



## Wookii (21 Sep 2021)

It looks like an affiliate linking site @Zeus. - it exists purely to generate income from click throughs to advertisers sites and Amazon etc. It's highly likely that the author has simply respun existing articles, and adverts from elsewhere on the web, and has never even seen a bottle of aquarium ferts, let alone used one.

Ironically by adding a link back to their site from a reputable site like this, you've inadvertently told Google that they are a relevant and trustworthy site. That's SEO gold right there for them!


----------



## erwin123 (21 Sep 2021)

I found API Leaf Zone here: Nutrient Dosing Calculator


----------



## GHNelson (21 Sep 2021)

I remember when I had hornwort in my 4-foot aquarium many moons ago...I dosed API Leaf Zone and it turned the hornwort into a mushy mess!
I gave up using it in the end....


----------



## Tom Delattre (21 Sep 2021)

Interesting. But the real question is: is there a robust aquarium ferts comparison somewhere, and if not can we do one with our joint forces here? 

Envoyé de mon KB2003 en utilisant Tapatalk


----------



## LondonDragon (21 Sep 2021)

It misses some of the most popular brands also, so not quite the best of the best review!! Biased as most stuff on the internet 

Also best at what? in which conditions? Low tech? high tech? too many variables to consider. How was the testing done?


----------



## Tim Harrison (21 Sep 2021)

Obviously written by someone without a Scoobies


----------



## PARAGUAY (21 Sep 2021)

The API Leaf Zone as to be used with a good substrate or root capsules .Marc Davis uses on his low tech tanks YT and can grow a wide range of plants. Finding it top though ?


----------



## erwin123 (22 Sep 2021)

Wookii said:


> It looks like an affiliate linking site @Zeus. - it exists purely to generate income from click throughs to advertisers sites and Amazon etc. It's highly likely that the author has simply respun existing articles, and adverts from elsewhere on the web, and has never even seen a bottle of aquarium ferts, let alone used one.
> 
> Ironically by adding a link back to their site from a reputable site like this, you've inadvertently told Google that they are a relevant and trustworthy site. That's SEO gold right there for them!



When I went to google and typed 'best aquarium fertiliser', i found other sites with top XXX lists featuring API Leaf Zone as no.1. Like you mention, this might be multiple sites respinning existing content in order to generate traffic. Based on what you said, I had better not post the links here otherwise it will continue to promote those links.

I'm wondering whether UKAPS can put up an article titled "best aquarium fertiliser" and lets see how we can move it to the first page of google search results?


----------



## Zeus. (22 Sep 2021)

erwin123 said:


> I found API Leaf Zone here: Nutrient Dosing Calculator


Thanks wasn't aware Rotala had the data on it 

So for my 500L tank to hit 0.5ppm Fe weekly I would need to add 250ml per week and API Leaf Zone cost API LEAF ZONE Freshwater Aquarium Plant Fertilizer 473 ml Bottle £13.48 




So £7.70 per week. Very expensive water 

A clone of API Leaf zone which would also contain all the trace elements not just Fe ( dosing 100ml x3 per week in 500l tank - the dose is irrelevant its the weekly yield that counts)





£0.17p per week - so about 50 times cheaper per week/month/year and contains more trace elements.


----------



## PARAGUAY (22 Sep 2021)

Trying to determine a no1 in fertilisers probably end up with a few joint no1s . Far better to have a thread maybe what fertiliser have you used and how it worked in that particular tank of course all other detail would be needed CO2 or not  soft or hard water What routine WC etc. Might help us understand why we have trouble with a particular plant when all others do well and others grow it well


----------



## Zeus. (22 Sep 2021)

PARAGUAY said:


> Trying to determine a no1 in fertilisers probably end up with a few joint no1s . Far better to have a thread maybe what fertiliser have you used and how it worked in that particular tank of course all other detail would be needed CO2 or not  soft or hard water What routine WC etc. Might help us understand why we have trouble with a particular plant when all others do well and others grow it well


I go off purely what is in them, as ions are ions, trouble with seeing what works well is we all have different light, flow, [CO2] etc, so a good fert might get bad results with some folk purely because of too much light, not enough flow or poor maintenance.


----------



## Zeus. (22 Sep 2021)

Tom Delattre said:


> Interesting. But the real question is: is there a robust aquarium ferts comparison somewhere, and if not can we do one with our joint forces here?
> 
> Envoyé de mon KB2003 en utilisant Tapatalk


Yes, in the IFC calculator (Although some of it may be hidden in the release version - as its a little 'heavy' for most folk as so much data in one place)




I used various comparisons of cost per NO3, PO4 etc only the complete fertilisers have all five compounds/elements NO3, PO4, K, Mg and Fe cost per.
If you spent the time analysing the data its is apparent the Nilocg Thrive is best valve in the USA and TNC is best valve in UK. As for fertilising systems just seem another way of extracting you hard earned cash. 
From my reading post extra, dose a complete commercial/DIY ferts AIO (All In One) or Complete DIY Macro/Micro mix in abundance for your High/Low tech tank and a suitable substrate and the plants will get the nutrition they are after.


----------



## PARAGUAY (22 Sep 2021)

Thanks for the work put in with the IFC calculator Hanuman and Zeus certainly helped myself have a better understanding of plant nutrients. Others of course dw1305 always helpful


----------



## Tim Harrison (24 Sep 2021)

Zeus. said:


> I go off purely what is in them, as ions are ions, trouble with seeing what works well is we all have different light, flow, [CO2] etc, so a good fert might get bad results with some folk purely because of too much light, not enough flow or poor maintenance.


Yes, me too. There are far to many confounding factors to do otherwise.
@Zeus. Karl, you'd be best placed to write that review, so why not give it a shot. I can help if you like.


----------



## Zeus. (24 Sep 2021)

Tim Harrison said:


> Yes, me too. There are far to many confounding factors to do otherwise.
> @Zeus. Karl, you'd be best placed to write that review, so why not give it a shot. I can help if you like.



With dark nights drawing in I may have some time soon, having a proof reader would be useful too as grammar and spelking isn't strong with me, so might just take you up on that Tim


----------



## Tim Harrison (24 Sep 2021)

It'd at least be a great addition to the tutorial section. Consider it a done deal if you're up for it


----------



## Zeus. (24 Sep 2021)

Tim Harrison said:


> addition to the tutorial section


So no pressure 😳


----------



## Tim Harrison (24 Sep 2021)

Sorry, hope I'm not putting you off. Absolutely no pressure, honest. I'm sure whatever we come up with will be useful in one way or another


----------



## John q (24 Sep 2021)

Zeus. said:


> So no pressure 😳


No pressure, no diamonds 😉


----------



## Hanuman (26 Mar 2022)

Old, but yet again I am forced to contributed despite the time that has passed....
As we say it here. No Money, no honey.


----------

