# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Seachem Iron?



## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Just wondering how much everyone is adding to their tanks per week?
I recently set up a 20 gallon (3WPG) but can't seem to get it balanced (green dust)!
I'm also getting clear/white leaves on the new growth of Echinodorus quadricostatus ''magdalenensis''!
I'm adding 8ml of Seachem Iron and 7ml of Seachem flourish per week.
This is a very close scale to what I add to my larger tank with good success.

Just wondering how much Iron everyone is adding?
Thanks

*My Digital Gallery*


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Just wondering how much everyone is adding to their tanks per week?
I recently set up a 20 gallon (3WPG) but can't seem to get it balanced (green dust)!
I'm also getting clear/white leaves on the new growth of Echinodorus quadricostatus ''magdalenensis''!
I'm adding 8ml of Seachem Iron and 7ml of Seachem flourish per week.
This is a very close scale to what I add to my larger tank with good success.

Just wondering how much Iron everyone is adding?
Thanks

*My Digital Gallery*


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

In most of my tanks I've been dosing about 1 ml/10 gallons/week in addition to the Flourish dose. This gives me fairly light-colored but otherwise healthy vegetation in most tanks. I get darker colors from plants in tanks with slower growth.

In my 150 I was dosing 1 ml/10 gallons twice a week. More recently I've been experimenting with daily dosing. I'm dosing 2 ml/day, or a total of 14 ml/week -- less than half of what I was dosing twice/week. The jury is still out, but so far it looks pretty good. I'll know more in a few days.


Roger Miller


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Just wondering. Is it lack of Fe that causes green dust or too much Fe? I am getting lots of green dust in my tank as well. The tank recieves 2.5 ml per 25 gallon water change. It is probably not enough for a 3 wpg system.

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 10 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 1 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## George Willms (Jul 28, 2004)

To my 29g tank (~4WPG) I add about 3 mls of flourish weekly and about 3 mls of flourish fe weekly.

George

Tank specs in profile


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

So far it's seems i'm way out in the deep end!!
But that doesn't explain clear/white leaves on the new growth of Echinodorus quadricostatus ''magdalenensis''!

Seachem recommends 1ml per 10 gallons daily!!
I'm slightly under that but you guys (Rogers and George) are dosing about 10 times less!

Edge, I don't know, but I get no green spot algae! I get this dust on every second tank I setup! I relate it to PO4 somehow!!!

*My Digital Gallery*


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## George Willms (Jul 28, 2004)

I found that when I was dosing close to what they recommended I had horrible thread algae problems, so I cut back on the iron and it alleviated the problem. Plus they recommend 0.5-1ml/10g as needed, not daily.

What are your connections to PO4?

George

Tank specs in profile


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

George,
I was talking to someone at seachem's yesterday and got this recommended dosing routine for them, it is daily!

here is the schedule, (5.5MB)
http://members.rogers.com/digital_gallery/Planted_Slick_03.pdf

If I add PO4 I get green dust all over the glass, so bad that I can't see in the tank after a couple days! Small doses (0.05ppm), averages doses (0.5ppm) and large doses (1ppm) nothing seems to help!
I know it's not PO4 alone, but some other nutrient is off.

*My Digital Gallery*


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

I have a plant that is whitish yellow. no green color at all. I believe it is a Echinodorus quadricostatus ''magdalenensis'' I am not 100% sure though, the leaves looks completely different than yours.

Than again, most of the plants are leaning toward the lighter green side. I want some dark green plants!!!. Anubius is the only darker color plant in the tank.

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 10 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 1 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

Mike,

I think their guidance to dose 1 ml/10 gallons 6 days out of every seven is extreme. At that rate, my 150 gallon tank would go through a 500 ml bottle in less than 6 weeks.

Most trace element deficiencies result in light-colored growth. Possibly iron is not the missing nutrient.


Roger Miller


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Edge, I replied to you under my tank pics!

Roger, yeah it does seem high, but for regular flourish it seems low to me!
Anyway yeah the tropica plant description is exactly what you are saying, 
by Tropic "Very light leaves are a sign of a shortage of micro-nutrients."

I seem to be adding quite a bit of flourish though by seachem's routine!

I'll try adding more Ca & Mg and see what happens, water out of the tap has less than <2degrees GH.

Any other thoughts?

Off topic, can you tell me your PO4 routine?

Thanks

*My Digital Gallery*


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## George Willms (Jul 28, 2004)

As with anything the manufacturer's suggest I consider it a guideline. Also note that they only recommend a 5% water change weekly! How many of us adhere to that guideline? I dose flourish on sunday and wednesday and flourish iron on monday and friday. Water changes are generally done either Saturday or Sunday at which time I measure no3 and po4 and add as needed. I dose K daily.

George

Tank specs in profile


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## imported_29gallonsteve (Jun 26, 2003)

Dosing is an absolute necessity, but regardless of what you do, I recommend a scientific approach...

The way I learned was to do nothing except keep your NO3 up.

Get some Hygro Poly well established in your tank (it is a great indicator of nutrient deficiency). 

Watch what happens for a week or two. Make a change based on the info below then wait a few days for the improvement or slowing of the deterioration.

If the NEW leaves get red, then whitish, then you have an iron deficiency (assuming your NO3 is still up). 

MOST of the signs of Iron or Micro deficiency show up in the new leaves 

If you see pinholes in old leaves, add 1/4 tsp K2SO4.

If you see the edges of the old leaves yellowing while the veins stay green, it could be MgSO4.

Have fun!!!

Thanks,
Steve

If you see good conditions, but no growth and all Micros/NO3 are OK, check your Phosphate levels.


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

how about black color at the tip of the new growth?

72 Gal, 3 WPG PC 10 hour, pressurize co2 /w controller 1 bps, Fluval 404, ph 6.8
A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

> quote:
> 
> If you see pinholes in old leaves, add 1/4 tsp K2SO4.


Per how many gallons?


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## imported_29gallonsteve (Jun 26, 2003)

Sorry, I do 1/4 tsp (dry) for 29 gallon.

Edge: Do you have some black/red algae?

Here is a site that gives great perspective on deficiency symptoms...
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm


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## ranchwest (Jul 17, 2005)

I noticed that not only does the Sea Chem sheet call for only a 5% water change, but it does not recommend dosing on the day of the change. I was thinking that dosing would be needed after a change. What do others think?

Steve, there aren't many colors of algae I don't have right now, but I don't recall seeing any that was red.


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

29gallonsteve,
Your method is pretty good for some one new to the hobby!

How much Iron are you dosing and how much PO4?
Do you let them fall to 0 before you dose again?

Thanks

*My Digital Gallery*


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## imported_29gallonsteve (Jun 26, 2003)

Ranch West: the algae that is black/gray is actually in a category of Red Alga.

Ekim:
Have been doing the planted thing for about 9 months. Thanks for the complement.

I dose 1.5 ml at every 30% water change. I just recently added a number of plants (thanks to Giancarlo). This may need to be increased as they grow.

I refuse to buy another type of test kit (iron is not that easy to test anyway). I just use hygro as a measuring stick (when the new leaf growth shows the signs (less than green growth)) I usually just add another .5 ml until there is a change.

Thanks,
Steve


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

ekim,

I dose PO4 willy-nilly. I have a mix that is formulated to bump phosphate by 1 ppm when added at the rate of 1 ml/10 gallons. I normally add it at the rate of 1 m/10 gallons once/week. Sometimes I add extra. If growth is slow (usually because of a decline in DIY CO2) then I don't dose.


Roger Miller


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Roger,
I sent you a PM

*My Digital Gallery*


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## Freemann (Mar 19, 2004)

Ekim could you please fix the link:
http://members.rogers.com/digital_gallery/Planted_Slick_03.pdf


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Sorry Freeman, but i'm low on web space right now, this PDF file is about 6MB!
If you would like and your email can handle a 6MB file I can send it to you?

*My Digital Gallery*


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## JLudwig (Feb 16, 2004)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by ekim:
> Sorry Freeman, but i'm low on web space right now, this PDF file is about 6MB!
> If you would like and your email can handle a 6MB file I can send it to you?


I have an essentially unlimited amount of webspace... just drop me line if you need some...

Jeff Ludwig
AquaticPlantWiki: www.rockytop.net


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Freeman,
here is the file (6MB),
http://ekim.rockytop.net/Planted_Slick_03.pdf
You will need acrobat reader to open it!

Thanks Jeff

*My Digital Gallery*


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## Guest (Sep 20, 2003)

PO4 - I find it very closely related to green haze especially on the front glass if not in detectable levels.

Back in the days, I used to dose KNO3, K2SO4, TMG, Fe but no PO4. I figured dead leaves etc should fill out that gap, boy I was wrong. For many long months being "scared" of adding PO4 and thinking of old Phosphate myths I was looking at my "green" tank on every friday, day before water change. I decided to try Fleet Enema and then KH2PO4. I noticed a hugeeeeeee improvement by the end of the following week. Now days I dose *2ppm* of KH2PO4 and front glass is spotless for few good weeks.

Iron - another myth.

Let me give this example.

Scenario #1

" You have healthy athletes jumping on a very fast driving train. They are able to join the train on weekly basis and give positive feedback and attribute to whatever task. Towards end of the week, they loose their energy but another set of athletes will join again. And another weekly cycle begins ".

Scenario #2

" You have a very slow train with handicap people. Although it is driving slow, people on the train have just enough energy to accomplish their task in given time and be replaced by another set of handicaps at end of the week. Everything was working like Swiss clock until this group of people with excess of energy join the train, change all the plans and broke all the rules. Train lost control and chaos began ".

Now going back to plant hobby.

Scenario #1 is my 55 Gallon tank with the following addition: 220 CF, KNO3 -10ppm, K2SO4 -15ppm, Trace/TMG -60ml, Fe -24ml, KH2PO4 -2ppm. Tank is running well without problems. I can't allow to loose any of the "athletes" to prevent from loosing control over my train. I find all those high doses, a perfect fuel to my fast driving train.

Scenario #2 is someone's tank who has handicaps as passengers and then introduces one of the crazy athletes (Iron). Lost of control, breaking rules and chaos is algae.

Bottom line. 
ONE can't say that excess of Seachem Iron will cause thread algae or any other algae. I always look at people saying, "You are adding way too much iron that's why you have algae", and I ask myself "I add 25ml weekly to my 55G and I have yet to see thread algae" (knock on the wood







). The proper question would be "Which train are you driving ?", "What else is missing there, which prevents from consuming that much Iron".

Here is my input. I had some extra time and felt like being a poet for a second







.


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## Homestar (Apr 16, 2003)

I have a 20 gal high w2.75 wpg cf, ph 6.8, kh 5. I have a simple dosing scheme: Daily .5 ml Kent Botanica Gro, .5ml Natural Gold Iron (says it has traces); every 3 days: 1 ml Botanica K.
I recently ran out of the Natural Gold. My LFS wasn't keeping it anymore and so I purchaced the Seachem stuff. I can't dose like the old stuff and when I dose, in whatever quanity, I recieve green haze on the glass. Since the Seachem I have also developed thread algae on some old leaves on plants like Didiplus D.
Also, about two weeks into trying to figure out the Seachem Iron I started adding .5 ml Botanica Phos+ to the tank. My Nitrates are 10 ppm and I have recieved positive feedback from the reds but can't really say that any of the algae production has been different. Could the persistance (sp?) of the thread be due to this? I don't have a Phos test kit








Any thoughts? I'm kinda lost...

Chris from Baltimore

[This message was edited by Homestar on Fri September 19 2003 at 10:40 PM.]


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