How much Iron to dose?

C

cgcaver

AC Members
Jan 2, 2005
56
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First of all, I do NOT have an Iron test kit nor will I be buying one. Ive heard they are expensive and extremely inaccurate.

I have 2wpg (the 2x55w Bright Kit from AH Supply) and no CO2 injection. Heres a list of the plants I have (as far as I know):

2 Marble Vallisneria
1 Amazon
1 Rubin Sword
6 Dwarf Chain Tennellus
2 Red Temple
2 Moneywort
1 Ruffle Sword
1 Anacharis
2 Cabomba
2 Brazilian Swords
2 Lilies (water onions)

I just got the complete Flourish line from Big Al's and on the Iron bottle it says dose to 0.10 mg/L (which is 1 cap for my tank), and to maintain that level. My question is - Does anyone have a rough guess as to how often I will need to add the 1 cap of Fe to maintain close to 0.10 mg/L? What is the iron uptake gonna be like? Do I need to put in a capful every day? Should weekly cover it, or monthly?

I know this is question will only produce vague answers, but Im really only looking for guesstimates. Thanx all!
_________________
~ Gabe

Black Tiger Oscar - currently 4"
Pictus Catfish - currently 4"
55gal w/ AC500
Hooray for sand and live plants!
 
If you got Flourish the odds are that you will get enough Fe from that trace product and have no need to dose extra Fe. If you dose more than the plants will need you could produce algae issues.
I would get into a nice regimen with the other nutrients you've got(at 1/2 recommended bottle strength, BTW) and save the Fe for when/if the plants tell you that they need it.
You can cause more problems from over fertilizing than under fertilizing.

Len
 
Because, IMO you don't have a lot of plants for a 55gal. tank. You have 2watts/gal. over an 18" - 19" deep(top to bottom) tank. You are not using CO2.
For these reasons, it is my opinion that the plant mass you have will not need full dosages of the nutrients the Seachem products will supply, initially.
It is better to under-dose than over-dose at any time, but especially under these circumstances. Increase as needed when the plants develop and increase in mass.
Or if they tell you that they need more.
BTW, the method you are using will work OK for now, but as things develop, you might want to look into buying individual nutrients for a tank of that size. Seachem makes a great line of nutrients, but it can get expensive to dose later, when the tank starts to fill up with plants.
On a side note, I'm hoping that your Oscar won't eventually tear up everything you plant, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Len
 
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