# Superthrive



## fishbone

Any gardeners here that are familiar with the Superthrive product?
I looked around and see if it's a common thing to put in tanks but no results. It's either a very idiotic idea I'm thinking here or just not that many people thought about it. I was reading some reviews on Superthrive on Amazon and one customer stated he is using it in his aquarium with no ill effects to the inhabitants, also noting that his plants seem to grow faster and the floating ones shooting roots quicker too.
For those not familiar with the gardening product, it's essentially a combination of a bunch of vitamins and hormones and it's generally used for plants when transplanting, pruning roots or rooting cuttings. It is, in a sense, steroid for plants. It's claimed effects have been a subject of debate for just about tens of years, for as long as the product has been around. Many swear by it, others claim it does next to nothing or hardly anything at all.

Just thought I'd throw it out there for feedback.


----------



## Guest

That's very interesting. Unfortunately, I have no experience with the product in aquariums or otherwise. It's not uncommon for aquarists to use gardening products (like soils, pond plant substrate, etc) in aquariums though. If you've got a tank you can try it in, why not.

Maybe someone else will have experience using the product. Would be interesting.


----------



## oblongshrimp

sounds interesting. I think thats basically what ADA Green Gain is suppose to be. As long as it doesn't have urea in it (which from the sound of it its just hormones and such and not ferts). If I see this stuff around I will have to give it a try


----------



## fishbone

I'll give this a shot. I will contact the one person I saw on Amazon provide feedback on this very issue and see what he/she has done and will come back with info. You should be able to find the stuff at your local nursery. It's mentioned alot in the bonsai circles [I'm a bonsai hobbyist wannabe].
They said 1 drop per gallon and never had problems with inverts, snails or fish.

I'm still looking up what's in it but it seems to have loads of B-vitamin.

Later edit: this is what I've found


> Hello,
> Superthrive is simply Vitamin A,B,C,D,E and K with IBA and 1-Naa, two hormones that control elongation and can be used to promote rooting. The rest of the solution is water.
> 
> [...]
> 
> Superthrive I find is real handy for cloning, but dont overuse it as the 1-NAA becomes inhibitory if too much is used, in other words it stops the plants rooting. IBA also causes elongation in flowering, it leaves the buds with large gaps where there should be pungent female flowers, I dont use it ever during flowering for this reason.


For the most part Superthrive helps with cloning/cuttings, establishing roots and helps bring back brittle/dying plants.


----------



## gil_ong

looks like i should get some for my yard.


----------



## fishbone

Back with an update. I have been dosing at each weekly large PWC (usually change at least 50% just because) with anywhere between 6 and 8 drops for the 10 gallon tank. I have recently moved so due to the fact I've switched from well water to city water with slightly different parameters, pretty much all crypts melted and I had to prune all leaves.
The fish seem unaffected, so do the snails. They're as healthy as ever.
The plants seem to have developer a better overall stem system and have shot some new runners. One of my plants the name of which I forget, that's always been affected by severe stunting has now started shooting a bunch of roots and I can only hope it will finally, after 1 year of limping along, come back to it's full self.

All in all I'd say give Superthrive a shot. Don't overdose and you'll be fine. I'm seeing changes without having changed any other dosing regiments so there's gotta be some good there.


----------



## gil_ong

so this begs the question.... where did you get it and how much did it cost?


----------



## fishbone

Most nursery stores should carry it. I can't remember the exact price but it wasn't very cheap. IIRC around $4-6 bucks for 4oz?
It should last plenty with a fishtank dosing regiment though, depending on how big of a tank you have. 1 drop per gallon or less, I wouldn't go more. I'm sure it can probably be done safely but nobody ventured there so ...


----------



## gil_ong

thanks! i'll see if i can find some around here.


----------



## fishbone

Thread revival!
Plants are doing great, so are the inhabitants. If Superthrive would have become toxic, I imagine the ghost shrimp and snails would have started showing signs of stress and/or dying. So far, everything is thriving, especially the plants.
I have uprooted my plants as I am migrating everything to a 20g from my 10g. You would not believe the root sizes and strength. I'll try to get some pics while the plants are still free-floating (I am waiting for the Eco Complete to settle so I can start planting). Superthrive helps with root growth so if you have recently transplanted something or have a withering plant in need of some fast root growth, I strongly encourage you give this thing a try. 1 drop per gal seems to not be toxic, at least not to neon tetras, ghost shrimp and MTS. If you want to be on the safe side you can probably skip a few drops and do 6-8 per 10 gal with each large PWC.

Having said all that, I think I'll stop dosing now or cut back considerably from my usual 6-8 drops down to about 2-4 for the 20 gallon. That's because the aquatic plants seem to have become pretty root-bound in my 10gal, to the point that tiny root heads started springing upward and looking like a short grass on the substrate. My plants now are basically one big clump of roots and I'll have fun untangling them. I'll trim back a bit.


----------



## jones57742

fishbone said:


> Thread revival!
> Plants are doing great, so are the inhabitants. If *Superthrive*


fb: I Googled for *SuperThrive* and this is the best which I found.

What is "your take" on these reviews?

TR


----------



## fishbone

Superthrive is a controversial/hotly debated additive. It's a vitamin supplement aka steroids for plants. I'm sure people that have not seen results are not lying. However there are a lot that have seen, myself included. My bonsai and house plants have improved greatly. My best advice is to try it yourself and see what you get.


----------



## FlatLine

I see superthrive advertised in our water gardening magazines here. I always thought it's be cool to use with my bonsai but never bought it. I'm kinda leery of dumping hormones in a tank with fish.... But I'm pleased with the results you've found!


----------

