Has anyone had a problem maintaining the amount of Fe?
I fertilize up to about 0.2 ppm Fe one day and the next morning I get
0 (inreadable).

My plants seem to grow ok, nothing outstanding, but the Fe seems to
either be used up very quickly or to break down quickly.
I've used 2 differen types of Fe fertilizers and my Fe-test kit is
good.

The tank:
- 55 gal. standard tank
- 2 watts / gal., 2 x 55 watts AHSupply CFs, Miro reflectors
- Dense planting, about 10 species of plants
- 100% Fluorite
- N03, P04, K, KH, pH - according to Tom Barr's recomendations
- Traces - I have overdosed on these the last 3 weeks (may stun the
plant growth)
- Water changes - 10 gals per week.

--Nikolay

(nikolay_kraltchev) wrote in message om...
Has anyone had a problem maintaining the amount of Fe?
I fertilize up to about 0.2 ppm Fe one day and the next morning I get
0 (inreadable).

Dont' worry about a measurement of Fe.
There's long discussions already about Fe test and what's being
measured.
With flourite and this lighting level if you add 15mls of traces(eg
Flourish or TMG) 2-3x aweek, that's _the max_ amount of of possible
iron needs for the tank at most any light level even up at 5+w/gal.

It's is unlikely that you need anymore than this in virtually any
case.
So, you might consider reevaluating the CO2 and NPK's if there's less
than good growth occuring. Water change(50%), check the CO2(pH and
KH), add nutrients back, repeat weekly.
Add nutrient dose mid week in between water changes, keep CO2 in the
20-30ppm range. Try 25 gallon of water changed a week. Doesn't take
that much longer.
I think you'll see a difference in the plant's health.

Overdosing traces never seem to stunt any plants as long as the
PO4/K/NO3 etc are kept in good shape as well.

I've added 30mls to a 55 3 x a week and never noted any issue either
way. I essentially was just wasting the traces.

Regards,
Tom Barr


The tank:
- 55 gal. standard tank
- 2 watts / gal., 2 x 55 watts AHSupply CFs, Miro reflectors
- Dense planting, about 10 species of plants
- 100% Fluorite
- N03, P04, K, KH, pH - according to Tom Barr's recomendations
- Traces - I have overdosed on these the last 3 weeks (may stun the
plant growth)
- Water changes - 10 gals per week.

--Nikolay

nikolay_kraltchev wrote:

Has anyone had a problem maintaining the amount of Fe?
I fertilize up to about 0.2 ppm Fe one day and the next morning I get
0 (inreadable).

The tank:
- 100% Fluorite

I wonder if it would be likely that the Flourite might be absorbing some
or most of that iron?

--

Scott Lewis