Which type of Iron for my Chaeto

[dhof]

I have a ball of chaeto which happily tumbles away under 16 hrs of high par light in high flow section of my sump. Every 3 or 4 weeks, I need to trim the chaeto, more because my phosphate bottoms out than because the chaeto is seriously overgrown.

A LIST OF COMMON QUESTIONS IF IT IS HELPFUL:

1. My Phosphate runs 0.02ppm. I have to overfeed quite a lot of food to keep Phos at 0.02, so I've recently ordered some Trisodium phosphate to help things out.
2. My Nitrate runs 2-3ppm. I dose about 1.5 ppm of sodium Nitrate each day to keep it in the 2-4 range. I think this means my chaeto is happy and healthy.
3. My glass gets the normal film of algae on it that I scrape off once or twice per week, but I can't see a stitch of algae anywhere else in the tank. My sump does get some hair and film algae in the chaeto section and I clean that out every few months.
4. I do an 18% water change weekly on this 40Breeder which is 55 gal in total volume including sump.
5. Daily, I dose Red Sea Colors ABCD, Reef Energy AB, and about 4omL of phytoplankton.

I test the trace elements every month or two. All my trace are in normal range, but Iron is always zero, so about 2 months ago, I started dosing 10mL of Red Sea Trace Colors C each day (instead of the 0.7mL that is needed by Calcium demand calculation). By my calculations, the Red Sea manual says that I should dose no more than 11mL of Trace Colors C each day. It's now been a few months and I still can't detect any iron, despite dosing 10mL per day.

Since Red Sea seems to be all-in on their NOPOX method, I'm wondering if the instructions on their iron supplement (Trace C) is intended for NOPOX methods and not for refugium tanks? Can I dose more than 11mL per day of the Red Sea Trace C, or is there a better supplement that I should be looking at to get iron to a normal level? I see Brightwell has 2 different types available, but I don't see any concentrations nor do I understand if it is any better than just using trace C

Thanks,

 

[glb]

I have a ball of chaeto which happily tumbles away under 16 hrs of high par light in high flow section of my sump. Every 3 or 4 weeks, I need to trim the chaeto, more because my phosphate bottoms out than because the chaeto is seriously overgrown.

A LIST OF COMMON QUESTIONS IF IT IS HELPFUL:

1. My Phosphate runs 0.02ppm. I have to overfeed quite a lot of food to keep Phos at 0.02, so I've recently ordered some Trisodium phosphate to help things out.
2. My Nitrate runs 2-3ppm. I dose about 1.5 ppm of sodium Nitrate each day to keep it in the 2-4 range. I think this means my chaeto is happy and healthy.
3. My glass gets the normal film of algae on it that I scrape off once or twice per week, but I can't see a stitch of algae anywhere else in the tank. My sump does get some hair and film algae in the chaeto section and I clean that out every few months.
4. I do an 18% water change weekly on this 40Breeder which is 55 gal in total volume including sump.
5. Daily, I dose Red Sea Colors ABCD, Reef Energy AB, and about 4omL of phytoplankton.

I test the trace elements every month or two. All my trace are in normal range, but Iron is always zero, so about 2 months ago, I started dosing 10mL of Red Sea Trace Colors C each day (instead of the 0.7mL that is needed by Calcium demand calculation). By my calculations, the Red Sea manual says that I should dose no more than 11mL of Trace Colors C each day. It's now been a few months and I still can't detect any iron, despite dosing 10mL per day.

Since Red Sea seems to be all-in on their NOPOX method, I'm wondering if the instructions on their iron supplement (Trace C) is intended for NOPOX methods and not for refugium tanks? Can I dose more than 11mL per day of the Red Sea Trace C, or is there a better supplement that I should be looking at to get iron to a normal level? I see Brightwell has 2 different types available, but I don't see any concentrations nor do I understand if it is any better than just using trace C

Thanks,

Is the tank doing ok even without iron?

 

[Act1n1c_L1fe]

I have a ball of chaeto which happily tumbles away under 16 hrs of high par light in high flow section of my sump. Every 3 or 4 weeks, I need to trim the chaeto, more because my phosphate bottoms out than because the chaeto is seriously overgrown.

A LIST OF COMMON QUESTIONS IF IT IS HELPFUL:

1. My Phosphate runs 0.02ppm. I have to overfeed quite a lot of food to keep Phos at 0.02, so I've recently ordered some Trisodium phosphate to help things out.
2. My Nitrate runs 2-3ppm. I dose about 1.5 ppm of sodium Nitrate each day to keep it in the 2-4 range. I think this means my chaeto is happy and healthy.
3. My glass gets the normal film of algae on it that I scrape off once or twice per week, but I can't see a stitch of algae anywhere else in the tank. My sump does get some hair and film algae in the chaeto section and I clean that out every few months.
4. I do an 18% water change weekly on this 40Breeder which is 55 gal in total volume including sump.
5. Daily, I dose Red Sea Colors ABCD, Reef Energy AB, and about 4omL of phytoplankton.

I test the trace elements every month or two. All my trace are in normal range, but Iron is always zero, so about 2 months ago, I started dosing 10mL of Red Sea Trace Colors C each day (instead of the 0.7mL that is needed by Calcium demand calculation). By my calculations, the Red Sea manual says that I should dose no more than 11mL of Trace Colors C each day. It's now been a few months and I still can't detect any iron, despite dosing 10mL per day.

Since Red Sea seems to be all-in on their NOPOX method, I'm wondering if the instructions on their iron supplement (Trace C) is intended for NOPOX methods and not for refugium tanks? Can I dose more than 11mL per day of the Red Sea Trace C, or is there a better supplement that I should be looking at to get iron to a normal level? I see Brightwell has 2 different types available, but I don't see any concentrations nor do I understand if it is any better than just using trace C

Thanks,

Why not shorten photo period for cheato to slow down its growth and increase nutrients?

 

[GMay]

It would be cheaper and easier to use another iron supplement, like Brightwell's Ferrion or similar product.

 

[dhof]

Why not shorten photo period for cheato to slow down its growth and increase nutrients?

That's a great idea! You would think this would be the first thing I would try, but the simple/obvious never even occurred to me. I'll try that today!

 

[dhof]

It would be cheaper and easier to use another iron supplement, like Brightwell's Ferrion or similar product.

Thanks, I found the concentrations by looking at the dosing instructions and it looks like Ferrion is not only less expensive, it has a lot more concentration.

I also see that Brightwell sells ChaetoGro, which has more trace elements, is more expensive than Red Sea Trace Colors C, and doesn't really clearly state how many mL raise the iron by how many ppm. It sounds like it is intended for ULNS which I am not running.

I'd like some input on the a plan:

PLAN A:

1. Continue to dose Trace Colors C based on Calcium uptake (like I do for AB and D currently). The 0.7mL dose will last me a few years with what I have already in stock. That should add all the trace elements per the Red Sea program, but I suspect the Red Sea program is not accounting for refugium export.
2. Dose Ferrion to maintain iron at a detectable level.

PLAN B:

1. Buy the more expensive ChaetoGro, and since it doesn't have clear directions on how many mL raise the iron, figure it out by trial and error until I determine what does maintains a detectable level of iron in my tank.

I'm partial to Plan A since I already have the stock, and since I don't like trial and error, but would appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks,

 

[dhof]

Is the tank doing ok even without iron?

The tank is doing great even without any detectable iron. Even though everything is fine, I'd like to have it in the "OK" range because it seems simple enough to accomplish and avoid some unforeseen problem down the road.

The only thing I'd mention is that my chaeto doesn't seem to be having absurd growth like the first 6 months, but I think that is just because there arent crazy amounts of nutrient swings anymore. I watch everything very closely (Alk, Cal, Mg, Nitrate, Phosphate, Iodine, Iron, Potassium) and maintain them all in very stable levels, with the exception of Iron. Not having Iron detectable and stable really hurts my OCD

 

[Act1n1c_L1fe]

The tank is doing great even without any detectable iron. Even though everything is fine, I'd like to have it in the "OK" range because it seems simple enough to accomplish and avoid some unforeseen problem down the road.

The only thing I'd mention is that my chaeto doesn't seem to be having absurd growth like the first 6 months, but I think that is just because there arent crazy amounts of nutrient swings anymore. I watch everything very closely (Alk, Cal, Mg, Nitrate, Phosphate, Iodine, Iron, Potassium) and maintain them all in very stable levels, with the exception of Iron. Not having Iron detectable and stable really hurts my OCD

Lol

 

[cmcoker]

I do not consider kit testing with iron to be useful, as no kit can test low enough to target the levels I think are plenty. none can get anywhere near close to NSW levels of iron.

Take a look into Randy's articles on iron, if you are adding some and your macro is growing then there isn't really reason to try to get a readable level.
His articles also mention using ferragon tablets to make a DIY iron dosing solution