Aquavitro Mineralize is used to increase GH in freshwater aquariums. Within Seachem and Aquavitro, we have 4 products that are meant to increase GH, Seachem Replenish, Seachem Equilibrium, Aquavitro Shrimp GH and Aquavitro Mineralize. But they are made to be slightly different to be used in different situations.
So which one should you get to increase GH in your aquarium?
Seachem Replenish
Replenish is designed to be used on fish only aquariums. This is because it contains sodium chloride which can be harmful for plants and some invertebrates. Therefore only use Replenish to raise GH in a fish only aquarium.
Seachem Equilibrium
Equilibrium is designed to be used in planted aquariums along with Seachem Flourish products. It does not contain sodium chloride. Aside from supplying planted aquariums with GH, Equilibrium also will supply essential plants trace elements and potassium. Each 3dGH that Equilibrium increases will also increase potassium by 15mg/l. Equilibrium is safe to be used for freshwater shrimps providing that GH is not raised beyond 3mg/l. This is because although shrimps do require potassium for their general health, concentration beyond 20mg/l will be toxic for them. Trace elements in equilibrium also missing some elements that are important for shrimps therefore topping up with Seachem Fresh Trace is required.
Aquavitro Shrimp GH
Aquavitro Shrimp GH has a balanced blend of GH and trace elements for shrimps. It is also suitable for more freshwater fish use. It does not contain sodium chloride which is toxic for shrimps and plants. We recommend using Aquavitro Shrimp GH in a shrimp aquarium that doesn’t have aquascaping. This is because nutrients for plants can offset the balance of trace elements and potassium in Shrimp GH. For Planted Aquarium with shrimps, use planted tank GH products to increase GH while adding Seachem Fresh Trace to supply trace elements for shrimps.
Aquavitro Mineralize
Just like Seachem Equilibrium, Mineralize is designed to be used in planted aquariums which means it does not contain sodium chloride. However it is designed to be used with Aquavitro planted aquarium nutrients set in mind. Unlike Equilibrium, Mineralize only supplies GH. This is because in the Aquavitro planted aquarium nutrients system, trace elements are supplied by Aquavitro Envy while potassium is supplied by Aquavitro Carbonate. This also means that it can be used in any situation where we only want to increase GH without effective other minerals and would not want sodium chloride in the aquarium.
The important of GH in planted aquarium
GH is part of very important macronutrients that is often overlooked. The nutrient balance between GH and potassium is as important as NPK. This because when potassium is too high, relation to GH will cause plants unable to absorb GH effectively. Adding the fact that Malaysia's water supply doesn’t contain much GH to begin with has caused many to be unable to maintain a healthy planted aquarium.
GH requirements for many plants are different, but maintaining a low level GH of 3-5dGH is good enough for many plants. This is because more plants that require high GH to thrive can survive as well in a low GH concentration while plants that require low GH will have difficulty surviving in high GH water.