# Iron (II) Gluconate vs. ferrous gluconate - any differences?



## Mac120 (Sep 21, 2012)

hi
I came accros this dry powder from pure bulk:
http://purebulk.com/ferrous-gluconate-powder.html

Is this Ferrous gluconate from purebulk the same like Iron(II)Gluconate? 
If yes, how much % iron did Iron(II)Gluconate contain and whats the chemial formula?
thx


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

Yes, they are the same compound. See the following link for more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron(II)_gluconate

With a molecular formula of C12H22FeO14, The % Fe = 12.5%.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Yes, they are the same. Depending on shipping that's a good price too. If you mix a solution make sure to use a very dark opaque container. Ferrous gluconate is very sensitive to light and will break down quickly in its presence. That's why I like to dose it at night before bed.


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## Mac120 (Sep 21, 2012)

Thank you for the info.
If using it mixed in a bottle as liquid fertilizer, I guess citric acid or similar things should be added to keep the Ph from the solution low.

How much citric acid should be added for 1L?


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Add about 0.5 g of citric acid. 0.2 g of potassium sorbate can also help keep it fresh.


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## Mac120 (Sep 21, 2012)

I got the Ferrous Gluconate few days ago.
I first dosed 0,12ppm, then I dosed 0,3ppm and today 0,4ppm. 
The plants look "ok" so far now, but on the next morning few plants look a little bit pale. 
Imo it seems hard to get the plants feeded for a full 24hours period with just 1x daily Iron(II)Gluconate dosing.
The stuff precipitate pretty quickly.

So I am really curious if anyone here uses Iron(II)gluconate (and no other chelated Iron) in a heavily planted tank?
If so, how much do you daily dose from this stuff and do you splitt yours dosage (like 2x or 3x daily)?


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Mac120 said:


> I got the Ferrous Gluconate few days ago.
> I first dosed 0,12ppm, then I dosed 0,3ppm and today 0,4ppm.
> The plants look "ok" so far now, but on the next morning few plants look a little bit pale.
> Imo it seems hard to get the plants feeded for a full 24hours period with just 1x daily Iron(II)Gluconate dosing.
> ...


In my experience you can dose 1 ppm / day of the ferrous iron. Try dosing it at night when the lights are off. The chelated ones are nice, but their downside is they tint the water if you use too much.


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## Mac120 (Sep 21, 2012)

Aaron,
I dosed now 0,6ppm Ferrous gluconate and this dose seems to make the water a little bit cloudy.
(4 hours later there were 0,2ppm in the water coloumn left)



> The chelated ones are nice, but their downside is they tint the water if you use too much.


How much ppm iron do you daily dose if you are using Fe-EDTA and FE-DTPA?
What plants do you keep in yours tank?


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Mac120 said:


> Aaron,
> I dosed now 0,6ppm Ferrous gluconate and this dose seems to make the water a little bit cloudy.
> (4 hours later there were 0,2ppm in the water coloumn left)
> 
> ...


If it's tinting the water then it's probably too much. The DTPA go easy on, like 0.1 ppm / day max. It really stays in solution.

Are you dosing nitrogen too?


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## Mac120 (Sep 21, 2012)

I dose daily 0,5 - 1ppm nitrogen (from kno3) and 0,25ppm Po4 (kh2po4).
The plants show for some strange reasons still little nitrogen uptake (compared to the po4 uptake)

A last thing about ferrous gluconate,
I also have here a bottle Seachem Iron and I am wondering about that the bottle directions recommends just only low 0,1ppm daily. For what kind off tanks should such low Seachem dosage work?

About other chelates,
how about Fe-EDTA, do you dose the stuff the same like FE-DTPA?
(EDTA imo lasts mostly for 24h, DTPA 2-3days in watercoloumn)


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I don't use EDTA. I figure if I'm going to use a chelated iron I'll use the stronger one. Don't go stronger than DTPA though or you'll color your water easily. 

Is it is a high-tech system? If so, the paleness could be nitrogen related. You're dosing quite a bit of iron already.


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## Mac120 (Sep 21, 2012)

It is the attached 5Gal tank with Co2 injection/medium-high light (see also this topic: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plant-deficiencies/94114-toxidity-deficiency.html )

I wasnt at last able to sort out all problems (from my micro fert mix)
Plants like Cuphea, Ludwigia, Stargrass, Limnophila Needle Leaf and so on grow healthy.
(meanwhile also the Ammania/Nesea)

The plants do not look that pale anymore and still the Rotalas are getting stunted tips. (behind the Senegalesis you see the stunted Rotala Colorata). The image in the middle shows Rotala Ceylon, it looks a little bit better but it also gets here and there tiny tips  which later die (right image).
The nitrogen levels are around 30ppm, Po4 1ppm and I also cranked up Co2 now to the max. (I don´t have any fish in this test tank and doing so isnt any problem, but i am affraid just cranking up Co2 will not fix it)


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

What's your water's hardness levels? Rotalas like a lower KH in general.


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## Mac120 (Sep 21, 2012)

Water has KH 3 and GH 7.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

Your water is pretty much perfect. You might try a nitrogen source with organic nitrogen such as Seachem nitrogen. You don't need a lot to see a difference. Different species prefer one type of nitrogen over others.


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## Mac120 (Sep 21, 2012)

Aaron, those Rotalas will usually grow fine by just dosing Kno3.
Attached a compare --> left pic: The Mini Macrandra from my 5Gal test tank and they look pretty wimpy. :-s
---> the other 2 Mini Macrandra images were taken from my Soil tanks and no wimpy or any stunted grow there. 

All 3 tanks get still kno3 as nitrogen source, they also get the same traces mixture and it works fine in my Soil tanks.
Just in my 5gal (non soil) test tank it did not work any good and I am meanwhile clueless about. (I have urea, Ammonianitrate and Guanadine here - dosing such stuff has not changed anyhting)
Any other thing must be wrong or missing there.


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