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Complete vs lite aquarium fertiliser

Updated: October 2026

Should the bottle contain nitrate and phosphate, or leave those to the fish? Complete vs lite aquarium fertiliser is that choice for this amazon.co.uk set. The [aquatic plant fertiliser comparison](/hub/fertiliser-soil-and-bark-mulch/aquatic-plant-fertiliser) holds every size and price from 19 October 2026. The Products Compared editorial team used those listings and the makers' pages where the bullets are thin. This is not a laboratory nutrient analysis. If you buy through our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. If fish already supply nitrate and phosphate, buy the bottle that says it does not add them. If a fast, high-light tank tests short, buy a feed that does.

Should the bottle contain nitrate and phosphate, or leave those to the fish? Complete vs lite aquarium fertiliser is that choice for this amazon.co.uk set.

Our top picks

Easy Life Easy-Life ProFito 500 ml

Best overall

Easy Life Easy-Life ProFito 500 ml
8.6/10about £9.49
View offer
AquaDesign AquaDesign PLANT+ 500 ml

Alternative

AquaDesign AquaDesign PLANT+ 500 ml
7.3/10about £10.99
View offer
AquaDesign AquaDesign PLANT LITE 500 ml

Alternative

AquaDesign AquaDesign PLANT LITE 500 ml
6.9/10about £10.99
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.What the two words mean
  2. 2.When lite is the one to buy
  3. 3.When a complete-style feed is the one to buy
  4. 4.Flourish is a third label

What the two words mean

A complete liquid, in the sense Practical Fishkeeping uses, includes nitrate and phosphate as well as potassium, iron, and traces. A lite liquid leaves nitrate and phosphate out, on the view that a stocked tank often makes enough of both for any but the fastest plants. Inside this set the words are uneven. ProFito's listing says it contains no nitrates or phosphates. PLANT LITE's listing says nutrients are added without added phosphates and nitrates. Flourish says it does not contain significant nitrogen or phosphorus, which is a trace claim, not a promise of absolute zero. PLANT+ is titled as an all-in-one, and the short bullets leave nitrate and phosphate unstated. A product-text fetch on 19 October 2026 said the formula is rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. That sentence is the live page. It is not in the short bullets, and it is not a percentage.

When lite is the one to buy

Buy lite when the tank is stocked, the light is moderate, and you are not running injected CO2 for fast stem plants. ProFito 500 ml was about £9.49 with 4.6 from 5,196 reviews, at 10 ml per 100 litres. PLANT LITE is the other bottle that says nitrate and phosphate are not added, at 10 ml per 50 litres a week, so a 100 litre tank uses about 20 ml a week against about 10 ml of ProFito. PLANT LITE 500 ml was about £10.99 with 4.3 from nine reviews. Skip lite when a high-light, CO2 tank keeps a nitrate test near zero and the plants are the fast kind. One reviewer's jug test on PLANT LITE 2,500 ml is one person's result, not an assay, and it does not erase the phosphate-free line. The buying guide keeps the wider type choice.
Easy Life Easy-Life ProFito 500 ml

Testsieger

Easy Life Easy-Life ProFito 500 ml
8.6/10about £9.49
View offer

When a complete-style feed is the one to buy

Buy a complete-style feed when the plants are fast, the light is strong, carbon is already supplied, and nitrate stays low on a test. A lightly stocked tank is the same shape: less fish waste, more chance the bottle has to carry nitrogen. PLANT+ 500 ml was about £10.99 with 4.4 from 155 reviews, at 10 ml per 30 litres a week. A 100 litre week is about 33 ml, roughly three times the ProFito volume. Quote the 19 October 2026 product text as the seller's wording, not as a percentage from the short bullets. Skip PLANT+ when nitrate is already high. The 1,000 ml pump mark of 1 pump per 4 litres does not match the weekly line, and one 2,500 ml review describes growth inside the bottle after about a month. When to halve a dose if algae rises is on the how to dose page.

Flourish is a third label

Flourish is easy to file under lite because the listing says nitrogen and phosphorus are not significant. Seachem's published analysis is nitrogen 0.07% and phosphate 0.01% per gram, and they say the label dose adds about 0.0005 mg/L of phosphate. It is a trace supplement, a different shopping list from ProFito's weekly dose or PLANT+'s all-in-one title. The amazon bullets do not print the 5 ml per 250 litres dose. That dose lives on Seachem's help page. Use Flourish when fish waste or another bottle already covers nitrate and phosphate. Leave it when this would be the only fertiliser on a high-light, low-fish tank, and treat PLANT+'s short bullets as silent on the percentage.

Common questions

I have a lot of fish. Which side do I want?
The lite side. A stocked tank often produces enough nitrate and phosphate for ordinary plants, which is Practical Fishkeeping's usual start. ProFito at 10 ml per 100 litres or PLANT LITE at 10 ml per 50 litres a week matches that case. Move towards a complete-style feed only if a test on a fast tank stays near zero.
My nitrate test stays at zero and the plants are fast. Which side?
The complete-style side, once light and carbon are already in place. PLANT+ at 10 ml per 30 litres a week is the all-in-one kept here. The short bullets do not confirm a percentage, so the 19 October 2026 product text is the seller's nitrogen line and a test kit is still how you check the tank. ProFito alone is the bottle to leave in this case.
Is ProFito the same as PLANT LITE?
Both say they do not add nitrate or phosphate. The doses differ: ProFito is 10 ml per 100 litres, and PLANT LITE is 10 ml per 50 litres a week. ProFito 500 ml has 5,196 reviews at about £9.49. PLANT LITE 500 ml has nine reviews at about £10.99. Same job description, different volume per week and a very different review file.
Is Flourish a lite fertiliser or a trace supplement?
The listing calls it a supplement of micro and trace elements, with no significant nitrogen or phosphorus. Seachem publishes a small analysis and sells macros separately. Treat it as a trace bottle you add beside an existing nitrate source. Treating it as a lite all-rounder is how buyers decide it comes up short.
Does PLANT+ contain nitrate?
The title and a 19 October 2026 amazon product text describe a complete formula rich in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. The short bullets in the stored file do not state nitrate or phosphate. Quote the product text as the seller's wording. Do not invent a percentage the bullets never printed.
Will phosphate in the bottle cause algae by itself?
Algae can rise when light, fish load, and feeding outrun the plants. A lite bottle is the usual start in a stocked tank. One reviewer's jug test on PLANT LITE is a single anecdote, and a complete bottle is still the wrong default when nitrate is already high.

Related pages

Best aquarium plant fertiliser

Aquatic plant fertiliser

Aquarium plant fertiliser buying guide: pick a type

How to dose aquarium fertiliser without mixing rates

Liquid carbon aquarium fertiliser and the daily cap

Sources

Public UK and maker sources from the research digest, used for this page in October 2026. Prices, stars and review counts are from the nine amazon.co.uk listings captured on 19 October 2026. A shrimp-safe bullet is a listing claim. Flourish's copper figure is the maker's statement, not an independent UK lab test. CARBO's algae line is not confirmed here as an HSE authorisation.

  1. Practical Fishkeeping, growing aquarium plants (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  2. Practical Fishkeeping, gas versus liquid carbon (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  3. Seachem Flourish (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  4. Seachem Flourish dosing instructions (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  5. Easy-Life ProFito (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  6. GOV.UK, manufacturing and marketing fertilisers (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  7. GOV.UK, product labelling (retrieved 19 October 2026)
  8. HSE, regulated biocides (retrieved 19 October 2026)