How much Iron is needed?

[mr_convitbau]

This is my first post on this forum. I am also a newbie too.

My tank is 45 gallon dosed with EI. Light is 220W (55x4) raised 4 inches above the water surface and turned on 8 hr/day with 4 hr noon burst. Pressurized CO2 is added as much as the fish can tolerate. The soil is AS Amazonia II with Power Sand on the bottom.

The plants are glosso, B.japonica and aubertii, giant and dwarf hairgrass, E.tellenus, and L.aromatica.

My question is how much iron (chelated iron bought from Rex Grigg) should I add? I am right now adding 1/8 tsp 3x per week. Since there is no instruction for adding iron in the EI method, I wonder if the amount of iron I am adding is enough for the plants. My L.aromatica do not turn red. They are just bright green with some very little purple underneath the leaves. I would love to see them turn red.

Any suggestions are more than welcome and appreciated.

Regards,
TL

 

[jonny_ftm]

Hi,

I'll just add some confusion to your questionning

In the EI method, using CSM+B will add 0.6ppm Fe /week for your tank
But, using TPN, will add 0.13 to 0.2 Fe /week

I'm also very confused but all what I heard till now is that either method you choose, it doesn't matter

So why add so much iron in CSM+B if only 1/3 of it will be more than enough?

About what you ordered, if it is CSM+B, you don't need any thing else to add in micros

 

[rich815]

This is my first post on this forum. I am also a newbie too.

My tank is 45 gallon dosed with EI. Light is 220W (55x4) raised 4 inches above the water surface and turned on 8 hr/day with 4 hr noon burst. Pressurized CO2 is added as much as the fish can tolerate. The soil is AS Amazonia II with Power Sand on the bottom.

The plants are glosso, B.japonica and aubertii, giant and dwarf hairgrass, E.tellenus, and L.aromatica.

My question is how much iron (chelated iron bought from Rex Grigg) should I add? I am right now adding 1/8 tsp 3x per week. Since there is no instruction for adding iron in the EI method, I wonder if the amount of iron I am adding is enough for the plants. My L.aromatica do not turn red. They are just bright green with some very little purple underneath the leaves. I would love to see them turn red.

Any suggestions are more than welcome and appreciated.

Regards,
TL

I do EI using CSM+B for my micros in my 72 gal and I dose 1/8th tsp. of Iron Chelate along with the micros 3x per week....

For more red perhaps more light and more lean on the Nitrates.....what are the Nitrates running in your tank?

 

[mr_convitbau]

I am dosing 1/2 tsp KNO3 3x per week. Since I don't have a nitrate measuring kit, I am not able to know how much nitrate I have in my tank.

 

[mr_convitbau]

So the red/purple color of L.aromatica is determined by nitrate but not high level of iron?

 

[jonny_ftm]

Red color only appears under good light exposition. I'm not sure if 4h /day with high light is enough. But maybe you should wait for more expert opinions

 

[jazzlvr123]

i just dose an extra capful of flourish Iron along with my normal EI fertilization routine every other day. and Ive been having great results

 

[VaughnH]

When you say you add as much CO2 as the fish can tolerate, you are most likely not adding enough. I say this having been one of those who did as you seem to do - add CO2 until the fish show signs of distress. The problem was that I couldn't accurately tell if the fish were distressed, having not actually seen how the fish act when getting too much CO2. If you use a drop checker, you can see when you are near the maximum amount of CO2 that can be used, independent of the fish. For me that was 3X as much as I had been using.

L. aromatica isn't at all hard to grow, and it gets good color easily. I had only 55 watts of AH Supply light over a 45 gallon tank, with the light right above the tank, and it grew like a weed, so much I finally got rid of it. I did have good CO2 though.