Iron qns

[richietay]

wonder u guys encounter problems testing Fe with the kits...
encountered mine, dunno whether isit my inadequate amt of Fe nutrient present in my tank..
actually is like this, couple of mths back, since started on my planted, dosed the nutrient as instructed. then abt 5ml weekly during WC.

bought a Fe test kit, follow as instructed. add 5ml of water, 3drop of it....blah blah! and result be shown after 10min.
result shown mine is crystal clear.....

i dun dare to dose generously, fear of algae outbreak. so far, no algae appearing, jux those brush algae grown on my glass weekly. maintanience done weekly.

reason for testing my nutrient level, coz my moss not doing well couple of weeks.....temp maintain from 25 plus to 26 plus range, so assume is insufficient amt of nutrient in my tank.

any advice

[|squee|]

Why particularly iron? How about NPK, Ca and Mg?

I've read that iron test kits are notoriously inaccurate.

[Fei Miao]

Don't bother to test Fe, one sign I look for presence of excess iron is spot algae on glass.

[richietay]

actually i dunno abt liquid fert ie:Npk, Ca, Mg blah blah blah...

all i know abt tis liquid fert.... do those nutrient ur mentioned comes in separate bottles and a must to dose?

Can ur specify more clearly what are the nutrient required, and the frequency of dosage.

the one i have stated: aquarium plant nutrient

do advice, i appreciate it

[richietay]

having brush algae on tank glass isit common issue?!

[|squee|]

Ah then perhaps it's time for you to get to know more about plants' needs. Read up the link in my signature. Plants need nitrogen, potassium, phosphourous, calcium, magnesium and assorted trace elements.

There are commercial products out there that you can buy to address these needs. Simplest of all is the Seachem range. The rest work too, but you usually have to buy their whole range to get the best results. With Seachem you know what nutrient you're adding.

If you want to go cheap, go get some KNO3, KH2PO4, Seachem Equlibrium and Seachem Trace. With the above products and CO2, your tank should be good. Frequency of dosage can be decided by following the Seachem dosing instructions, or you can post up your tank specs and PeterGwee could help you suggest a routine.

It's common, but not in a good way Search the forums for beating BBA.

[ranmasatome]

FYI...FE does not and will probably never cause algae..

[valice]

Don't bother to test Fe, one sign I look for presence of excess iron is spot algae on glass.

i thought spot algae is due to either potassium or phosphate excess in a poor co2 condition?

[PeterGwee]

GS...poor CO2, PO4 or both. Fe is not an issue.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[|squee|]

And I used to think that too much light caused spot algae.

Heck, I haven't had spot algae for a long time after doing the EI method. I'd say ignore all warnings and go with Tom Barr. That man has done enough testing, why not do it his way and concentrate on aquascaping instead of growing?