Iron Levels in reef tank??

[Shaun Sweeney]

Gotta jump in here. Like a silly bugger, I used a few of those large office paper clips (the black ones that are often used on clip boards) for some time in my sump. They rusted and clearly the rust leached into the tank steadily over time. I finally removed them but I don't think the rust ever harmed anything because the tank ran consistently well for a few years until my outbreak of flatworm.

 

[jason2459]

I don't appreciate your suggestiveness. The fish were in quarantine months prior to the pins, and I have a very good understanding of how to mantain stable water parameters. I don't doubt others havn't had metal decay in their tanks, but this was only a 10 gallon quarantine so the toxicity was amplified greatly compared to a razor falling in a 40b.

My opinions on GFO? I'd only run it if I used non RODI water. Being successful with GFO also comes down to exercising caution (Ugh, not again). When I say 'exercise caution' I don't mean to imply that you should take measures any further than you would when you're figuring out how much salt to add to a 5 gallon bucket when you're looking to get a salinity of 1.020.

Will I/ do I use GFO? No, I have no need for it. My phosphates are kept in check via adequate feeding, skimming, and waterchanges.

Go ahead and not heed my warning.. dose 4x the suggested amount of an iron additive for your chaeto and see how that works for you

I was not suggesting you were at fault for what happen at all. Only suggesting that the pins may or may not have been the actual issue. It is very hard to say with out any testing or dissection done.

I am also suggesting the warning against dosing Iron is not founded so far by the example given.

I do believe one should head some caution when using any phosphate remover but not because GFO is iron. More so on sudden drops in PO4 could irritate some things and drops in alkalinity. I was wondering if you were against using GFO because of the Fe content.

I do not know the max dosage one should use for any kind of iron supplement. Only that I have done it as have many others with the only side affect seen was growth.

I do know, as mentioned earlier, GlennF doses iron heavily. More then anyone else I have seen and does warn against using to much.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/the-dsr-method-dutch-synthetic-reefing.162872/

But what is to much I don't know. Like Seachem flourish iron supplement for a planted tank (I would think this would be a suggestion for the upper bounds) suggests to maintain iron at .1mg/L as tested 30 minutes after dosing. GlennF targets .15mg/L consistently and will dose to .25mg/L as tested 1 hour after dosing. That's way more then 4x the recommended dosing.

Could the pins have added that much more Iron we don't know. Could it have been likely it was other metals in the pins? I think that would be more likely. Could it have been something else all together? I think that much more likely.

 

[Pepcrylic]

I don't appreciate your suggestiveness. The fish were in quarantine months prior to the pins, and I have a very good understanding of how to mantain stable water parameters. I don't doubt others havn't had metal decay in their tanks, but this was only a 10 gallon quarantine so the toxicity was amplified greatly compared to a razor falling in a 40b.

My opinions on GFO? I'd only run it if I used non RODI water. Being successful with GFO also comes down to exercising caution (Ugh, not again). When I say 'exercise caution' I don't mean to imply that you should take measures any further than you would when you're figuring out how much salt to add to a 5 gallon bucket when you're looking to get a salinity of 1.020.

Will I/ do I use GFO? No, I have no need for it. My phosphates are kept in check via adequate feeding, skimming, and waterchanges.

Go ahead and not heed my warning.. dose 4x the suggested amount of an iron additive for your chaeto and see how that works for you

If I were to take advise on this thread , it would be from Randy.

 

[Best Fish-Jake]

If I were to take advise on this thread , it would be from Randy.

As would I.. that comment was more directed toward Jason. My initial statement was to simply exercise caution, but now I feel as though I'm being antagonized.

 

[jason2459]

As would I.. that comment was more directed toward Jason. My initial statement was to simply exercise caution, but now I feel as though I'm being antagonized.

Sorry you feel that way. A lot more clarification was needed and anecdotal evidence was being stretched to a cause and effect. Or the saying "Correlation does not imply causation."

 

[Shaun Sweeney]

Communication is a curious thing. I would suggest that people keep in mind that the english language, by it's very design, is confrontative. In the absence of both the visual and audio facets it is easy to misinterpret what someone is trying to say. In short, I doubt that anyone party to this discussion had any intention of insulting anyone else.

 

[imustbenuts]

None detected is good. lol

No test kit can read anywhere near low enough to be a good guide. Even triton type tests cannot.

That said, I think it a fine idea to dose iron. I did for years to support macroalgae and other organisms.

Here's my discussion in the context of my triton results:

Iron (Fe). The natural iron level varies a lot with depth, but surface seawater may have only 0.006 µg/L. The Triton LOD = 0.3 µg/L. I dose iron, and when I dose it I boost iron to roughly 1-2 µg/L, which would be detectable. This sample was taken more than a week after the last iron dosing, and none was detected as it gets depleted in the meanwhile. I’ve not yet seen a Triton test result for a real aquarium sample that had detectable iron, but that doesn’t mean these tanks are necessarily deficient. Iron is also a case where the form is critical, and ICP cannot distinguish form. Binding to organic matter, for example, can alter the bioavailability of iron.

Hey @Randy Holmes-Farley, I just received my triton test result. My iron results, Fe 173.00 μg/l. I don't dose iron. So you have your first aquarium with detectible iron. Now to try to find the source of my high iron. I use natural sea water from Scripps institute in San Diego.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hey @Randy Holmes-Farley, I just received my triton test result. My iron results, Fe 173.00 μg/l. I don't dose iron. So you have your first aquarium with detectible iron. Now to try to find the source of my high iron. I use natural sea water from Scripps institute in San Diego.

What do you dose?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It's so high, I wonder if it might be a mistake.

 

[imustbenuts]

I only dose kalkwasser.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Are you using GFO, or have any metal parts in the water?

 

[imustbenuts]

Are you using GFO, or have any metal parts in the water?

I used some GFO about 2 months ago. I don't have any metal that I know of in the tank. If I can't find a source. I'll do some massive water changes over the next month and see if it starts to rise again. I had a digi monti that STNd over the last month and I thought it was due to temps rising to 84*. Maybe the iron had something to do with it.

 

[jason2459]

I used some GFO about 2 months ago. I don't have any metal that I know of in the tank. If I can't find a source. I'll do some massive water changes over the next month and see if it starts to rise again. I had a digi monti that STNd over the last month and I thought it was due to temps rising to 84*. Maybe the iron had something to do with it.

Do you use any magnets. Check pump shafts. water change pump to. Mag floats. Probe holders. Etc

 

[Shaun Sweeney]

Just fired up my GFO reactor. Using the high test stuff and my readings are a but high at the moment. I'll watch and see what happens.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Just fired up my GFO reactor. Using the high test stuff and my readings are a but high at the moment. I'll watch and see what happens.

FWIW, GFO does not normally cause excessively elevated iron, at least not as high as this. I too used GFO and saw no iron in a Triton test even though I also dose soluble iron. .

 

[bif24701]

Hey @Randy Holmes-Farley, I just received my triton test result. My iron results, Fe 173.00 μg/l. I don't dose iron. So you have your first aquarium with detectible iron. Now to try to find the source of my high iron. I use natural sea water from Scripps institute in San Diego.

That is high. I would thing this most likely caused by some object in contact with your water that is either corroding or something dropped in the system by accident like a razor blade or hose clamp. Maybe a screw or magnet from a busted pump attachment or motor.

I would start inspecting all your equipment ASAP as corroding metal is certainly going to add other metals to the water that could be causing problems also.

 

[imustbenuts]

I think I found the culprit. The rock pump in my curve 7 looks to have a crack in the case and rust was Building up.

I cleaned most of the rust off but definitely looks to be coming from what seems to be a crack.

 

[jason2459]

If that is coming from inside the pump I would replace asap. Stray voltage would be a bigger concern.

 

[bif24701]

I think I found the culprit. The rock pump in my curve 7 looks to have a crack in the case and rust was Building up.

I cleaned most of the rust off but definitely looks to be coming from what seems to be a crack.

Glad you found it! I knew it had to be something like that. What are you going to replace it with?

 

[imustbenuts]

Glad you found it! I knew it had to be something like that. What are you going to replace it with?

May have to get an oem replacement pump if I can't find something else plug and play. I have sent seaside aquatics an email. I'll see what they suggest.