# Miracle Grow, Plants, and Fish



## Toshogu

No clue here, but has anyone tried miracle grow in thier planted tank, and has it have a bad effect on your fish?


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## mousey

no I haven't but I have often wondered if I could
I have used Jobes spikes umder the gravel for my vals and it has been ok even when the fish dig it up and eat at it.
I don't think they swallow it.
I am leary of using miracle grow because it may be too strong. I am assuming that aquarium ferts have been diluted to a safe level if used in the recommended proportion.
Did you do a search for info on using house plant ferts in the tank??


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## emc7

I've read you can use it. But how do calculate the dose? Do you have a test kit for potassium or nitrate or whatever is in it.


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## mousey

I found this on another forum!



It is not good to use terrestrial plant food in your aquarium. Miracle Gro in particular has a N(nitrogen)-P(phosphate)-K(potassium) ratio of 24-18-6 Whereas Flourish comprehensive(reputable aquarium fertilizer) has a ratio of 7-.01-37. 
the Miracle Gro would probably cause a huge Algae bloom. Hope that helps.
Carol 


January 21st, 2009 
mathas 
Fish Keeper


If you decide to go ahead and use it anyway, be extremely careful not to use too much, or you will kill the snails.

From the Scotts' Training Institute website, they say that Miracle Gro All Purpose has a 0.07% concentration of copper, derived from copper sulfate.

AquaticCommunity says the following about snails and copper toxicity:


Quote:
Snails are extremely sensitive to copper sulfate. In fact, concentrations as low as 0.01 % kill all the snails present in any body of water in less than two hours.
...
It is well known that the lethal dose 96hr-LC50(20C) for pond snails is 0.39 mg/L (or 0.39 PPM). This means that a concentration of 0.39 parts per million of copper sulfate in your tank will kill half of the snails present over a period of 96 hours if the temperature is kept constant at 20 ⁰C (68 ⁰F).

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/snail/coppersnail.php 



January 21st, 2009 
cerianthus 
Fish Keeper


I would strongly recommend AGAINST it. Look for the Ingred and google what these chemicals might do or react in the tank, even may possibly kill fish (doesnt know whats in MG, concerned if contains some sort of pesticides!!).

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Last edited by cerianthus; January 21st, 2009 at 09:52 AM. 


January 21st, 2009 
griffin 
Fish Keeper

the other thing about land plant fertilizers is that they will use ammonia as the nitrogen source usually. the ammonia could cause issues in your tank.


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## emc7

Many planted tank keepers only add potassium as the nitrate comes from fish waste and potassium salts are relatively cheap.


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## Tallonebball

I have used pond plant fertilizer in my tank before because it is made for larger tanks so it it much more concentrated which basically meant i used a lot less of it than was recommended for a pond.
I actually have not used fertilizer in over a year now because my tank is so overstocked the fish make enough fertilizer on their own lol My plants do fine, the only thing i use is a co2 injector that I turn on every other day.


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## Toshogu

kk good to know, Copper is bad, I'll have to stay away from miracle grow then. But i will definetly looking into potassium salts.


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## lohachata

i would say that we have found good reason to use miracle grow...it kills snails...and within 2 hours..i am going to pick up a couple hundred pounds of fish food today.i will get some miracles grow on the way home.


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## mousey

seriously??
And how are you going to use the miracle grow?


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## lohachata

ok..i bought 5 pounds of miracle grow and put some in all of my tanks..i will wait and see how well it ges rid of the snails.


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## Toshogu

lol, that is a good reason to use miracle grow, but unfortunatly I have shrimp in my tank too. Definetly tell us how the miracle grow works. Did it turn your water blue? How are the plants doing? I love miracle grow for my vegi garden makes em grow huge


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## lohachata

rofl.....ok i been hosin you guys..did not buy miracle grow and put it in my tanks...but i am going to do a test tank..but i will remove the fish first and replace them with feeder guppies..i may be crazy.... but i ain't completely stupid...lol


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## ron v

loha, did you ever do your test with Stability?


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## lohachata

no ron..i haven't gotten it yet..i think i am going to cancel the order and get some stuff from my wholesaler..i will be setting up a couple of fresh tanks this week so i will try it on them..

as far as the miracle grow thing..it is a great plant food..it is formulated for leaf and root growth.. the reason i want to test it is that i always get snails that come in on plants...
i want to see how it affects the snails and the plants and if it will adversely affect the fish.. the biggest problem is the snail eggs..almost nothing can kill them except for bleach..


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## Toshogu

well you could make small 10gal holding tank that you stick feeder guppies and new plants in with miracle grow. dude, if this works tell us all about it.


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## Toshogu

Just wondering how the miracle grow experiment is working out so far


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## lohachata

haven't done it yet..been kind of busy lately.......am hoping to get to it by next week..


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