What do you use to dose Iron?

[KDawg0623]

Hello all. I pose this question because we have tried twice to grow chaeto (pardon the spelling) in our sump twice now in the last 3 months. It has always died. I have done a bit of research on it, everyone has a different take on it, whether it is the lighting, whether it is the parameters, or certain dosing techniques. I looked into these HD grow lights made by Phillips 120w, that would be asy enough to set up, I do have a little LR that I can put into the sump as well, I have nitrates and phosphates in my water, which I had read that the chaeto needs in order to grow. I recently have been seeing a lot of success stories with the iron dosing. I would really appreciate any advice on what type (what product brand) any of you have had success with. Thank you!

 

[Kyuss414]

Lighting made the biggest difference for me. When I switched to a 20W PAR38 5000K LED bulb (was around $25 at Lowes) the growth took off. Then I noticed it was turning a lighter green and slowed a bit. That's when I started dosing Brightwell Aquatics Iron (was what was available) and the chaeto darkened back up and started growing like mad again.

That said, I don't dose much at all and don't test for iron. I just watch for when the chaeto starts to lighten up and add a capful (about 5ml) directly in the fuge. That's usually once every week and a half or so with a 200G total system volume setup.

 

[KDawg0623]

Thank you for the great advice! I hope our LFS has the iron. I will be changing the light and dosing with iron

 

[Wiz]

I could always keep chaeto alive but never any growth. Always stayed the same. Trick for me was flow. Added a pump directly hitting the chaeto. Now I harvest once a month. Grows fairly well. I also dose a capful of brightwell every two weeks.

 

[KDawg0623]

I could always keep chaeto alive but never any growth. Always stayed the same. Trick for me was flow. Added a pump directly hitting the chaeto. Now I harvest once a month. Grows fairly well. I also dose a capful of brightwell every two weeks.

So you have a display fuge?

That looks great! I am definitely doing the iron dosing

 

[143MPCo]

90% of the time light is the main issue with being able to grow lrg amounts of macro algae...
They do best when flooded with and abundance of light in the 6400K range, in order to spread out growth-wise...

I personally prefer EnviroGro T5 Fixture but, LED will also work as long as you have enough of them to flood the area.

 

[Wiz]

• I had a small fuge insump. But I feel macros as a filter is the best way to go. I also wanted a dsb but have sand sifters in my display which would be couter productive. So I turned the sump fuge into a frag area and installed a 30g fuge beside the display. I just took these pics. Works awsome! I use a 5x 24w t5 light (2 10k, 2actinic, and a red plant bulb. A maxi jet 1200 feeds it fro. My sump and a second one in tank for flow. Fuge drains back to sump.
  
  

 

[Wiz]

You can see the chaeto grows best in the wake of the maxi on the right. Long chaeto streamers. Flow is defanitly key imo. Light is also important. But flow is key especially for chaeto

 

[143MPCo]

No power heads, flow is from main return pump... 7weeks worth of growth.

 

[143MPCo]

with regards to the question; What do you use to dose Iron?
I don't presently dose iron, just fish poop.

 

[Wiz]

You can clearly see great flow coming from the two returns. No pumps necasary. My maxijet feeding the fuge four feet above requires help. ;-) awsome fuge though. Cant seem to get my mangrove to grow leaves. Any suggestions?

 

[Wiz]

90% of the time light is the main issue with being able to grow lrg amounts of macro algae...
They do best when flooded with and abundance of light in the 6400K range, in order to spread out growth-wise...

I personally prefer EnviroGro T5 Fixture but, LED will also work as long as you have enough of them to flood the area.

I run t5s too. Is envirogro the fixture or bulbs? Which bulbs do you use?

 

[Wiz]

Regard the question; What do you use to dose Iron?
I don't at the present to dose iron.

No Iron? How long has it been running?

 

[143MPCo]

Intense light[emoji12]...
Dr Walt Smith's Fiji mud...

And my apologies for hijacking this thread!

 

[Wiz]

Yes sry kdawg. Seems to spiral all the time. Lol

 

[143MPCo]

I run t5s too. Is envirogro the fixture or bulbs? Which bulbs do you use?

Fixture: LINK
Apollo Horticulture 4 FT 6400K T5 Fluorescent Grow Light Bulbs: LINK

 

[Paul B]

 

[Wiz]

Now thats some iron! Lol thanks for hammering that out for us paul ;-)

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I use and recommend ferrous gluconate as a DIY using Fergon tablets from a drug store.

Dissolve a tablet in about 20-50 mL of RO/DI and use this for dosing.

 

[143MPCo]

I use and recommend ferrous gluconate as a DIY using Fergon tablets from a drug store.

Dissolve a tablet in about 20-50 mL of RO/DI and use this for dosing.

Randy, does it matter how much you use?