Iron is way "too high", now what?

[chaostactics]

To be honest I'm not surprised in the least.
I run a 1-2" Caribsea Hawaiian Black sand bed in my tank.

Anyone who's ever run it has probably at some point (hopefully only once) has heard the heartbreaking SCREEEEEEEEE of a particle of ferrous sand between their mag cleaner and glass.

The question is, do I care? I do occasionally have some zoas/palys (the tank is 95%+ zoa/paly) die for inexplicable reasons but other than that my tank seems fairly stable. I doubt there's anything to be done to pull iron out as I imagine the contents of the sand bed will just continue to slowly oxidize but I'm curious.

 

[Tired]

Zoas and palys do sometimes just die for no explicable reason.

If you have livestock that's been in the tank long-term with no issues, it's probably fine. I'm not a chemist, but "are things dying after having been like this for awhile" is generally a good indicator of whether or not the situation is a problem.

 

[chaostactics]

Of note: I had just started dosing Brightwell ChaetoGro due to continued loss of my Chaeto**. But I'd been dosing it for a short time and it'd been more than 12 hours since point of dosing and point if ICP sample collection from the display and I dose about 5 drops into sump when I do dose.

Is there any new info on Iron in tanks or pretty much nothing has changed in 20 years https://reefs.com/magazine/chemistry-and-the-aquarium-iron-in-a-reef-tank/
@Randy Holmes-Farley

** Turns out (per my brand new Hanna ULR Phos and LR Nitrate checkers) my Phos and Nitrate levels are 0.50 and 0.00 respectively. Triton ICP says 0.023 and 0.00 respectively.

 

[Tired]

20 years ago, I couldn't read, so I wouldn't know.

5 drops seems like a tiny amount of ChaetoGro. What size tank? I have a 4.5gal, and I'm definitely dosing more than 5 drops. Though I'm only doing it once every couple weeks, maybe you're dosing more often.

Your phosphate is either right near or slightly below the minimum, and you should probably try to get nitrates up. That's likely what killed your chaeto, that stuff needs nutrients. Zoas also need nutrients. You'll probably want to either reduce water changes or increase feeding.

 

[chaostactics]

20 years ago, I couldn't read, so I wouldn't know.

5 drops seems like a tiny amount of ChaetoGro. What size tank? I have a 4.5gal, and I'm definitely dosing more than 5 drops. Though I'm only doing it once every couple weeks, maybe you're dosing more often.

Your phosphate is either right near or slightly below the minimum, and you should probably try to get nitrates up. That's likely what killed your chaeto, that stuff needs nutrients. Zoas also need nutrients. You'll probably want to either reduce water changes or increase feeding.

80 gal display 15 gallon sump once you add water volume contained with an equipment and subtract water volume from displacement by rocks in the overflow box it's probably around 80 gallons total. About 5-7 drops daily.

Re: Nitrates and Phosphate that's what I'm guessing the culprit is too. I was trying to indicate that with the asterisks

 

[Tired]

According to the dosage on my bottle, you'd be dosing 2 capfuls of Chaetogro once or twice a week for a tank your size, so you could probably dose a good bit more of the stuff. Though you may not necessarily want to do that, since there is iron in this. I have no idea if that extra bit of iron would cause problems. Heck, I don't know if this amount of iron will cause problems. It doesn't sound like you're having problems that would indicate anything like that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd ignore the iron.

While much higher than needed, some companies, such as Red Sea, recommend far higher levels than 20 ug/L. They recommend 150 ug/L.

 

[chaostactics]

I'd ignore the iron.

While much higher than needed, some companies, such as Red Sea, recommend far higher levels than 20 ug/L. They recommend 150 ug/L.

You are the man!! Thank you for taking time out of your day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You are the man!! Thank you for taking time out of your day.

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.