# Liquinox Iron And Zinc - Is it safe?



## dtang21 (Jan 11, 2012)

Hello,

I'm currently growing some limnophila aromatica and I've lost the beautiful red coloration from the plant. I'd like to experiment by adding Iron to my dosing regimen. Does anyone know if Liquinox Iron and Zinc is safe to use in the aquarium? It can be found at local home & garden stores and looks like this:


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

I've never used that product before so i cannot answer from personal experience. That said, i tried to look up the product online to see what it is made of and could not find any product information. Could you please take a picture of the ingredients list? We need to see what metals are in it as well as what type of chelating agents they use (unchelated Fe is very bad for planted aquariums...). 

Limnophilia aromatica is pretty dependent upon good lighting to bring out it's color; mine gets nice and red only when it reaches the top half of my aquarium. The addition of more Fe may help, but without the correct lighting, it's not going to be some magical color inducing reagent like you want it to be. What type of lighting do you have? Some more information about your aquarium would be helpful. It should also be stated that there are some variants of Limnophilia aromatica that just don't color up as well as others. (But if it had great color to start, that suggests that isn't the problem in this particular case...)


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## dtang21 (Jan 11, 2012)

Hi JeffyFunk,

Thanks for your reply. I found the composition of the product here: http://www.liquinox.com/PDF/msdsironzinc.pdf

Here's a bit more info on my tank.

Tank: 40B
Lighting: Fishneedit 150w MH w/8000k FNI bulb
Lighting period: 8 hours
Substrate: Mineralized topsoil with aquariumplants dot com substrate cap
Dosing: EI w/dry ferts using recommended schedule by Rex Grigg

Everything in my tank is growing very well. The limnophila does get pink towards the upper 1/3 of the plant but it's lost the deep pink/magenta coloration throughout the entire length of the plant. I'll post a picture tomorrow when the lights come back on so y'all can see. Everyone loves pictures!


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

Looking at the MSDS sheet, i would recommend not using it in the aquarium because the metal salts, although in the chelated form, are present as ammonium salts. Ammonium salts are not usually recommended for planted aquariums because excess ammonia or ammonium can cause string algae. If you're seeing your limnophilia color up from only the top, my guess is you simply have lower light than whoever had it before. Also, if you are using mineralized top soil (or soils in general), usually you have plenty of Fe; you're much more likely to see deficiencies in K first.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Not to mention I typically don't add Yucca to my tanks.


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