Low iron. How much to dose?

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Sooo, I noticed that most of my green corals have been losing color (turning more brown) and one (lobophyllia) has started bleaching, checked my iron levels and this is the result

I have been dosing trace elements but being a coral only setup for now I don't do water changes, I definitely need to up my dosing, but how much would be a safe amount. Been dosing roughly 2 ml of red sea iron trace colors for my 120 gallon every 2 days but this clearly isn't enough. How much should I dose before it raises the level too quickly and shocks my system? I'm assuming that this means that my other trace elements are also low (going to check potassium) any help

Would appreciate your help @Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[blaxsun]

Not Randy, but I use the same test kit and when my iron levels are low I just use specific iron supplements (Brightwell in this instance). They recommend not exceeding 10ml per 20 gallons of water (again, Brightwell-specific).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

IMO, it is not critical how much you dose. A little is fine. A largish amount is fine.

I have DIY recipes using Fergon iron tablets:

One Fergon tablet (ferrous gluconate) contains 27 mg of iron. Dissolve that in about 27 mL RO/DI (my recommendation, but other concentrations are OK, just don't dilute too much), the concentration is about 27 mg/27 ml ~ 1 mg/mL.

I dose ~1 mL to my tank with a volume of about 300 gallons ) once or twice a week.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Not Randy, but I use the same test kit and when my iron levels are low I just use specific iron supplements (Brightwell in this instance). They recommend not exceeding 10ml per 20 gallons of water (again, Brightwell-specific).

Thanks! I'll look into that, how much will 10 ml/20 gallons raise it buy, how quickly do you usually raise it by? Also, how much is needed to keep it stable? (Trying to convert it for the red sea) also checked potassium, think I effed it up as it's currently past sunset and I used the house light (my bad) though it looked to be pretty high, which makes sense considering I don't have any red corals to absorb the potassium, so mainly just iron, I assume the bioactive elements are in a good place considering I dose by calcium and have a good amount of purple/blue corals (Platygyra, duncan, wilsoni) and iodine usually comes on in the corals (i use an iodine dip) but I'll check that tommorow. Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

From my ICP article:

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.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

IMO, it is not critical how much you dose. A little is fine. A largish amount is fine.

I have DIY recipes using Fergon iron tablets:

One Fergon tablet (ferrous gluconate) contains 27 mg of iron. Dissolve that in about 27 mL RO/DI (my recommendation, but other concentrations are OK, just don't dilute too much), the concentration is about 27 mg/27 ml ~ 1 mg/mL.

I dose ~1 mL to my tank with a volume of about 300 gallons ) once or twice a week.

It took me awhile to realize that that wasn't an aquarium product lol, don't know if I'll follow that method personally, though would low iron cause bleaching? My green lobo has expelled most of its zooanthelle, and while my other corals look fine they're definitely not as vibrant as they were when I first got them, any experience with the red sea trace colors iron supplement? It's what I have right now, and also you mentioned in the last post that iron is barely detectable as it binds to organic matter? Anyway should I increase my dose? Thinking of doing 3-4 mL of supplement instead of my normal 2 mL, though is this a good idea? Using the dose by calcium method so I might need to go back to the calculator as I'm not using red sea calcium. Thanks for your help!

Edit: went back to the BRS description of the red sea iron and it says that 1 ml will raise the iron level of 25 gallons by .02 ppm, probably need to dose more, especially since I haven't done a water change

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Red Sea recommends crazy high iron levels. It may be fine, but it is far more than needed. I think they recommend such a high level just to allow detection by their kit.

I’ve not heard that low iron causes bleaching.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Red Sea recommends crazy high iron levels. It may be fine, but it is far more than needed. I think they recommend such a high level just to allow detection by their kit.

I’ve not heard that low iron causes bleaching.

Yes, they recommend 0.15 for iron, which does sound high now that I think about it (that's more iron than phosphates in my system) should I half that for a good level? Anyway any idea what would cause my lobo to bleach? It was a wild caught colony so that might explain it. Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, they recommend 0.15 for iron, which does sound high now that I think about it (that's more iron than phosphates in my system) should I half that for a good level? Anyway any idea what would cause my lobo to bleach? It was a wild caught colony so that might explain it. Thanks!

Well, I picked what I thought was a god level in my post above. There's no reason to dose more unless it is being done for reasons such as precipitating iron phosphate.

"I boost iron to roughly 1-2 µg/L, "

 

[Lavey29]

I dose 10ml of red sea trace iron weekly for 80g system with chaeto fuge. My levels stay consistent and in good range.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

Well, I picked what I thought was a god level in my post above. There's no reason to dose more unless it is being done for reasons such as precipitating iron phosphate.

"I boost iron to roughly 1-2 µg/L, "

Sorry, bit confused, what levels do you keep iron at in your system? Also do you think iron deficiency is what is causing my LPS to loose their vibrant colors? I'm not familiar with ug/L, but would 2 ug/l translate to what in ppm?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sorry, bit confused, what levels do you keep iron at in your system? Also do you think iron deficiency is what is causing my LPS to loose their vibrant colors? I'm not familiar with ug/L, but would 2 ug/l translate to what in ppm?

1-2 ug/L is 0.001 to 0.002 ppm. I do not try to maintain that level 24/7.m, and do not think that is needed. I dose that amount once or twice a week, and it declines between doses.

IMO, the acceptable dose range for iron is very wide.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I do not know that iron deficiency leads to poor coloration, but it might.

I might try a mixed additive, such as Tropic Marin A and k, but many other factors impact colors than trace elements, including lighting, nutrients, etc.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

I do not know that iron deficiency leads to poor coloration, but it might.

I might try a mixed additive, such as Tropic Marin A and k, but many other factors impact colors than trace elements, including lighting, nutrients, etc.

I do have very low nutrients (>0.01ppm phosphate and almost undetectable no3, as this being a fishless setup) though I do feed frequently. Don't know what my PAR is, looking to rent a PAR meter

 

[StripeCore]

Not Randy, but I use the same test kit and when my iron levels are low I just use specific iron supplements (Brightwell in this instance). They recommend not exceeding 10ml per 20 gallons of water (again, Brightwell-specific).

 

[jda]

I grow chaeto like crazy. It can depelete iron quickly. When iron gets low, I never notice anything with coral color, just that the chaeto stops growing. Hope this helps.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I do have very low nutrients (>0.01ppm phosphate and almost undetectable no3, as this being a fishless setup) though I do feed frequently. Don't know what my PAR is, looking to rent a PAR meter

I'd raise nitrate and phosphate.

 

[Reefkeepers Archive]

I'd raise nitrate and phosphate.

I'm trying. Ish, can't seem to find a balance, if I put in too much food the nutrients will slightly raise but the corals aren't as happy with nightly feedings, if I do bi-nightly feedings my nutrients stay the same, I don't want to dose as that will raise it too high, my leptastrea can't seem to tolerate anything above 0.04, and if I keep doing nightly feedings it eventually raises too high, then I need to add GFO before the leptastrea starts STNing, which gets it back down to zero overnight. Any ideas? Also am running a refugium, and the post above mentioned chaeto absorbs iron, which would explain my untraceable amounts.

 

[jmichaelh7]

I'd raise nitrate and phosphate.

I have the 28mg iron pills dosing into 240g system . What are your calculations to bring to detectable iron levels from 0. What’s the dosing schedule ?

 

[jmichaelh7]

Chaeto is on 12 hours a day