# Big Mistake: Too much iron will burn your plants!



## dragonhqd (Jan 27, 2015)

3 weeks ago, I setup a new dirt high tech planted tank. All the plants were doing well and healthy, then all the sudden, today I noticed all of the plants' tips and leaves look burnt!

For 4 days since a 50% water change, I have been dosing the following fertilizer (Leaf Zone Plant) daily:










These are the results of the mistake:




























The plant tips and leaves went from green or red straight to brown, skipping yellow leaf stage!



















I took a closer look at the fertilizer directions, it said dose Weekly (Not Daily). I look up online to confirm that overdosing Iron will burn your plants. 

After a 40% water change today, the plants starts pearling for the first time in 3 weeks.























































I post this hopefully you guys won't make the same mistake as me. 

Tip: Do not overdose your Iron!


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

How much were you dosing?

Also, unfortunately, if you noticed pearling after a large water change, this is most likely 'false' pearling. This occurs as the new water has a large amount of dissolved gas(es) in it, and the plants serve as convenient nucleation points for the gas bubbles to form.


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## Fissure (Jun 29, 2014)

Seriously doubt you have done any damage with the iron. First of all, most of the commercial stuff is not supposed to be used for heavily planted tanks with CO2 and lots of light. Second of all the iron in the product you use uses EDTA making it unsuitable for weekly dosing anyways.

More likely your plants are facing the usual new tank setup problems since it was only 3 weeks you started your tank. Have you been doing any water changes during this period, I would assume yes?


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