Dinos - Let's Discuss Iron & Traces in General

[Bear22]

Hey Guys,

One of the things that's comes up occasionally is iron and other traces with respect to dino management. That being said, I rarely see much detailed talk about traces and dinos. Jason Mack (and a few others) have mentioned traces, but they don't go into a lot of detail (maybe because not much detail is there for discussion).

Jason has used the term "pro salts" with respect to salt mixes and iron.

Now, I am using TM Pro salt and from best I can tell through various salt making companies it's one the salts that's high (ish) in iron content.

Should I consider another salt mix that's lower in iron content?

 

[EnterName]

I don't know if there are any public records of the mixture, but this thread shows something around 60µg/L Fe. That's somewhere between 6 and 20 times more than in the ocean I believe. Sounds insanely high compared to other parameters, but iron is taken up very fast and if you want to maintain natural levels you will need to add it daily to your tank (e.g. ATI Daily Traces #A, or Tropic Marin K+ Elements).

I personally don't think it makes much sense to let trace elements deplete during a dinoflagellate outbreak. If they can't get their iron from the water column, they will get it by preying on other organisms. This gives them an extreme advantage over for example microalgae that have to take it from the water column directly. That's why I would say it makes more sense to actually provide sufficient amounts of iron (and other trace elements) so competing/beneficial organisms have a chance to actually compete for dissolved nutrients and surface area/light.

Obviously you will also boost dinoflagellate growth for a moment, when not allowing certain trace elements to become a limiting factor, but if trace elements were the culprit of dinoflagellates they would be probably much easier to fix.

 

[danet888]

Hey Guys,

One of the things that's comes up occasionally is iron and other traces with respect to dino management. That being said, I rarely see much detailed talk about traces and dinos. Jason Mack (and a few others) have mentioned traces, but they don't go into a lot of detail (maybe because not much detail is there for discussion).

Jason has used the term "pro salts" with respect to salt mixes and iron.

Now, I am using TM Pro salt and from best I can tell through various salt making companies it's one the salts that's high (ish) in iron content.

Should I consider another salt mix that's lower in iron content?

It may be worth checking the actual iron level in the salt mix and testing the tank water before changing anything. If iron is genuinely elevated, then switching to a lower-iron mix could make sense; otherwise, there may be little benefit in changing a salt that is otherwise working well.

 

[EnterName]

Hey Guys,

One of the things that's comes up occasionally is iron and other traces with respect to dino management. That being said, I rarely see much detailed talk about traces and dinos. Jason Mack (and a few others) have mentioned traces, but they don't go into a lot of detail (maybe because not much detail is there for discussion).

Jason has used the term "pro salts" with respect to salt mixes and iron.

Now, I am using TM Pro salt and from best I can tell through various salt making companies it's one the salts that's high (ish) in iron content.

Should I consider another salt mix that's lower in iron content?

It may be worth checking the actual iron level in the salt mix and testing the tank water before changing anything. If iron is genuinely elevated, then switching to a lower-iron mix could make sense; otherwise, there may be little benefit in changing a salt that is otherwise working well.

Iron is elevated in this mix by design as far as I know. 60μg/L would be fine but I think OP will be below that.