Brightwell aquatics

[plantman2465]

Has anyone tried the brightwell aquatics line of plant ferts yet?

[DarkCobra]

I'm sure their basic nutrient products are fine. For example, their iron supplement will contain iron, and will work indistiguishably from any other iron supplement.

However, they also have some "magic" products. Like FlorixAxis, claimed to supplement carbon, but containing no glutaraldehyde. I had the opportunity to get a bottle on clearance for $2, so I did just out of curiosity; though I expected nothing. And that's exactly what I got. No effect whatsoever even at triple dose, in a variety of low and high tech tanks.

Yet a very small number of people swear by it. Rather than doubt their results, I think perhaps they had a micronutrient deficiency that was addressed by the humic acid component, rather than it being an effective carbon supplement.

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi plantman2465,

Chris Brightwell was in Seattle the end of November but failed to confirm a tentative meeting to discuss the planted aquarium products. I am not aware of any GSAS members currently using the products.

I just reviewed the ingredients in the nitrogen and phosphorus products. Brightwell uses NaNO3 (sodium nitrate) as the inorganic nitrogen source in their FlorinGro product. I prefer KNO3 (potassium nitrate) as a source of nitrogen due to the greater uptake of nitrogen using potassium (K) as the cation verses sodium (Na). Tests seem to confirm that KNO3 results in greater PEP carboxylase activity (basically carbon fixation) in shoots than does NaNO3.

Florin-P, the Brightwell phosphate product, uses potassium diphosphate (K2HPO4) one of the two common sources of orthophosphates (H2PO4- and HPO42-). I prefer monopotassium phosphate (KH2PO4) since it is the most common source of phosphorus found in acidic conditions and I tend to keep my planted aquariums at a PH below 7.0.

[plantman2465]

Thanks for the info guys points taken. Will do more research on diy ferts

[Jester946]

Sorry to bump an old thread,

Where would one find out the related dosing for EI and brightwell products?

[somewhatshocked]

You'd have to know what the PPM were per, say, mL of Brightwell product.

Would be far cheaper to buy your own dry ferts and mix with RO/DI water. Otherwise, you're paying for water with the Brightwell product.

[Jester946]

Originally Posted by somewhatshocked

You'd have to know what the PPM were per, say, mL of Brightwell product.

Would be far cheaper to buy your own dry ferts and mix with RO/DI water. Otherwise, you're paying for water with the Brightwell product.

yea, I may end up doing this.

I followed dosing instructions on the Nitrogen source, and then tested with my API kit within the hour...and didn't get a reading. Brightwell says I should have read at at least 17.5ppm....but I got a zero reading.

[Jester946]

Originally Posted by somewhatshocked

You'd have to know what the PPM were per, say, mL of Brightwell product.

Would be far cheaper to buy your own dry ferts and mix with RO/DI water. Otherwise, you're paying for water with the Brightwell product.

yea, I may end up doing this.

I followed dosing instructions on the Nitrogen source, and then tested with my API kit within the hour...and didn't get a reading. Brightwell says I should have read at at least 17.5ppm....but I got a zero reading. I just emailed brightwell, and look forward to a response.