# How much iron to dose? PPM? EI.



## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

So I've decided to start dosing along with EI since I'll be switching from millers to CSM+B pretty soon. 

How many ppm should I be aiming for? I plan on dosing with 11% DTPA. 

This is for a 95G. How often and how much each time?


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## Dempsey (Oct 27, 2009)

What is your target ppm? I dose a tad high in my 75g. 

Check this calc out. http://calc.petalphile.com/

EDIT:

I forgot to add that most folks aim towards .10ppm. That's a good starting point.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

The calculator said for 0.2ppm it would be 0.65g 

So how often should I dose? 

Not really sure how much ppm I'm going for.


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## Dempsey (Oct 27, 2009)

I just used the calc for your tank. If you add 1/8tsp it would be 0.15ppm. So try a tad less then that 3x per week or 1/16tsp daily and see how things go.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Ok. Is too much iron a bad thing? Since I think I only have a 1/4 tsp spoon. Nothing smaller. 
Should I dose with my Plantex CSM+B?


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## Dempsey (Oct 27, 2009)

jkan0228 said:


> Ok. Is too much iron a bad thing? Since I think I only have a 1/4 tsp spoon. Nothing smaller.
> Should I dose with my Plantex CSM+B?


I dose 2-3x the recommended amount with no issues at all. Sometimes even way more.

I make my mixing solutions with all of my micros together in one bottle.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

I like to dose dry. But probably hooking it up in a solution so I can auto dose once my homework load increases.


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## Dempsey (Oct 27, 2009)

No worries! You can dose the CSM and Fe together. Dry or wet.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Yay.  thanks for the help!


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

B 0.17
Cu 0.01
Fe 0.94
Mg 0.20
Mn 0.27

This is about what I dose for my tanks per dose, 3-4x a week.

~1ppm is a typical dose for Fe. 

Not 0.1ppm.

FYI..............


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## Dempsey (Oct 27, 2009)

plantbrain said:


> B 0.17
> Cu 0.01
> Fe 0.94
> Mg 0.20
> ...


It's funny how when you have your mixes written down, you forget about the numbers. 

Sorry about that OP. I had the seachem iron mg/L in my head. I think that was .10.....

Either way, the 1/4tsp would get him right in the middle of the recommended EI dose for Fe, right? Or at least according to the calc.

Of course that all depends on the demand of the plants from the lights....

I have been dumping about 1/2tsp 3x/week. Well, half that each day anyways.... Then whatever CSM has in it on top of it....

I hope I haven't been to lean... Plants seem happy though.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

I have high light and CO2 so if 1/8 puts me at 0.15 then I would probably just add 1tsp? Thats just easier to dose... THanks for the numbers Tom!


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## VeeSe (Apr 16, 2011)

I've been dosing 1/16 tsp 3x per week plus what's in CSM+B on my 55G and thinking that was high.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Haha, now I'm confused.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Folks ask me how much I dose, it's often quite a bit.......except for NO3 and light really, but that's still 15ppm 2-3x a week also.

CO2, most of the rest are quite high.

If you plug and chug, I add about 2-4ppm a week typically.

The ONLY research study on submersed plants and Fe I've ever found was on Hydrilla and it had a max growth rate at 6ppm and a max uptake at 8ppm. 

0.1ppm comes from the old old days of PMDD....when folks used 2-5x less light.........50% to 20% of typical CO2 ppm's...........and thought Fe excess caused algae

And then a couple of methods copied that amount lock stock and barrel and did not test things themselves. Or worse, if they did test, they did a bat guano poor job at it. 

The research ref is from Haller 1977.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0304377077900390

Another concerning translocation from the leaves to roots and vice versa:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/j314607751762514/

NEVER once has anyone cited either of these in 15+ years in this hobby other than myself. Not once.......

But what do I know?


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## Luis Batista (Sep 8, 2014)

plantbrain said:


> ~1ppm is a typical dose for Fe.


if i dose 3x a week so it was 3ppm for each week?


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## aclaar877 (Feb 19, 2014)

Is there an iron source which doesn't turn the water orange? I have CSM+B and some 10% DPTA bought from Greg Watson years ago. If I dosed this much my water would never be clear. Is this just something you learn to live with, or is there a better source? Right now I dose max 1 ppm per week in high-light/pressurized CO2 tank with fluorite substrate and haven't noticed any deficiency.


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

Luis Batista said:


> if i dose 3x a week so it was 3ppm for each week?


Excess Fe can prevent uptake of other nutrients especially if you aren't adding them. Also, some fish can be sensitive to it.


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## Luis Batista (Sep 8, 2014)

Solcielo lawrencia said:


> Excess Fe can prevent uptake of other nutrients especially if you aren't adding them. Also, some fish can be sensitive to it.


Im dosing this 60ml weekly, 3x20ml










Dosing 0.5ppm of Fe weekly

Thanks


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