Seachem Equilibrium, Anyone Use it? - Fertilizing

LindaC · 10-17-2006, 11:40 AM

I'm curious as to exactly what Seachem Equilibrium is for, is it supposed to bring up your KH? I have some but not sure if I should use it in place of the baking soda that I buffer the water in my 29 gallon with. Does it work better than baking soda, does it have the same effect?

I have a low KH and GH, so I had approximately 1/2 tsp of Baking Soda with every 50% water change to bring my KH up to 70. My GH is at 40. I also heard that it contains calcium and magnesium. I'm not sure if I need them or not. I do add 1/2 tsp of Epsom Salt to my tank when I do a water change but I'm not sure if it's helping or not.

I do not buffer the water in my 10 gallon tank, I have ADA Aqua Soil in that tank so I don't test the water parameters. The last time I did, I had a PH somewhere around 6.0 or lower and the KH was at 0. I also inject pressurized CO2 into that tank. The plants are growing very nicely in this soil. I currently have no fish, I just gave my apisto red tails to a friend so I could move either my Kribs or my Apisto Orange Flash Cacs into that tank, which I hope to do this weekend. I'd just like to get a little more info on the Equilibrium. Anyone?

MatPat · 10-17-2006, 11:56 AM

Equilibrium is used mainly to increase your GH. It contains, Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Manganese, and Iron and does not affect KH. Baking soda is still the most economical KH increaser out there in my opinion

For more info or dosing directions, Seachem Equilibrium

Greg Watson also sells (or used to sell) a GH Booster that is formulated the same as Equilibrium but much cheaper. You may want to check out his site and see if he still has it

LindaC · 10-17-2006, 12:44 PM

Thanks Matt!

evercl92 · 10-17-2006, 06:48 PM

I add the Equilibrium when I make RO water. Brings the GH up with the minerals I want, rather than the minerals and impurities that are in my tap water.

Left C · 10-17-2006, 09:40 PM

Linda,

If you decide to go with Barr's GH builder from Greg Watson; Greg told me to add the same amout of Epsom Salt with the same amount of the GH builder used. An example: If you add 1 tsp of GH Builder, add 1 tsp of Epsom Salt too.

I've used Equilibrium also. It works good but it gets hard in it's container and you have to chip it out.