Dilute seachem iron for a longer lasting solution

[starlord]

Update on the liquid iron from Home Depot - it's working out fine so far. I'm planning to get an iron test kit soon to keep an eye on things. From what I've seen, most aquarists just need iron and potassium to really kickstart plant growth.

[shakinStevens]

I checked the website again that sells nutrients, and unfortunately, they're still out of powdered iron. I would've ordered it if it were available - the price was really low. But all I see is "Not in stock".

[shakinStevens]

It seems like most fertilizers have historically used Fe DTPA or gluconate, so it's no surprise people have had issues with it. Lately, things have started to shift, but old habits die hard. Many fertilizers still pack plenty of potassium, but if your fish produce a lot of nitrogen, you might end up with a potassium deficiency. Some folks claim low potassium causes holes in the leaves, but I've never seen that with my current potassium levels. What I have seen is that a molybdenum or chlorine deficiency can cause similar problems. Most people don't worry about these since tap water usually has some, but if your fertilizer is lacking, it could become an issue.

[starlord]

The Potassium seems to halt hole disease on Java fern and Hygrophyllas. 28 fish and a school of 4-6" Rainbow fish all fed as much as they can eat. Also have a huge clump of Syngonium growing hydroponically and wall to wall aquarium plants.

[rockyfox]

If you're burning through the bottle quicker than your wallet can handle, consider this: Seachem's stuff is so potent you can easily dilute it by 50% and still get decent results.
I recently ran out and, desperate for iron, I picked up some liquid iron from Home Depot - it doesn't have that distinct "irony" smell like Seachem does, and the color's lighter too, but hey, my plants seem to be doing alright with it. A gallon of it only set me back $11, so that's a plus.
Just my two cents for the day.

I'm thinking of adding a little banana peel to my tank, just a small piece, and swapping it out with each water change - might be a good alternative.

[starlord]

You can grab potassium gluconate pills at Walgreens, pretty affordable.

[starlord]

The bottle's around $6, easy to find at health stores or markets. I crush 3 pills for my 240-gallon tank, seems about right, like one pill per 70 gallons.

[starlord]

Steven, I see what you're getting at now. I ended up having the EDTA cloud the water - something Seachem never did. Put the carbon sock back in and the water's fine today, sock's rust colored though. Guess I'll dose less but more often. Will order what you mentioned eventually, and use the rest for my garden plants.

[starlord]

I dug deeper into Seachem's info and it seems EDTA gets absorbed mainly by roots. That explains why my Ozelot sword plants suddenly grew bigger leaves. On the other hand, epiphytes don't seem to take it in as well. I could've read this before buying, but you know how it is - until you try it, you don't really get it. One good thing is that if you overdose, it won't poison the fish, and stopping the dose fixes the issue.