Reccommended Fe PPm

[angel12]

what is the recommended Fe PPM for a planted Tank does it depend on the no of Plants or is it set level ...

Thanks :)

[bloom]

Hello Angel,

Here's a site with a little info re: recommended iron levels--
http://www.aquabotanic.com/sfintro.htm. I also remember seeing an article or post that talked about higher iron levels been good with more light, more plants in the tank, but not sure if that's true. Not sure if it was at Chuck's Artilces site http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/articles.htm, the Krib
http://www.thekrib.com/Chemistry/, or maybe even in a post on one of the aquatbotanic wet thumb forums--did a search for posts re iron one time there. Guess those could be places for info if you don't get more info here.

Steve :)

[bloom]

Here's an old post by Tom Barr talking about higher iron levels with more light.
http://www.thekrib.com/Chemistry/fe.html#7.

Steve

[angel12]

Cheers Bloom your the man :)

[bloom]

Something else I thought of (guess this is what happens when someone like me passes on info w/o having more first-hand knowledge about the subject), is that I'm not sure the info in those sites focuses on good iron levels for a tank with plants and discus. Don't know what levels of Fe are good for discus, or if that isn't really much of an issue.

Steve

[ChloroPhil]

Iron is an interesting creature in a planted aquarium. If your plants are many and growing well then you can dump a lot of Fe in there and not have measureable levels as your plants are soaking it up and storing it. The best way to tell if your plants need it is to look at the leaves, particularly Echinodorus and Anubias. They should be a dark lustrous green, if they're not they need more Iron. Seachem's Iron is a good product to use for everyday Iron supplimentation as it's not incredibly concentrate and is easily assimilated by the plants.

Remember this most important fact: Every aquarium is a unique system and what may apply to one probably doesn't apply directly to another. It'll take some customization of a regimen to get the most benefit for your system(s).