# cloudy because of trace



## danmil3s (8 Jul 2010)

hi guy's im dosing EI on my 750l my trace is clouding my water i know its the phosphate and iron bonding and i know its because ive got very hard water and im using AE trace which uses EDTA as a chelator. so i was wondering if there's some thing i can do about it other than change product. as ive still got a bit left. if not ill put up with it till i run out then ill change. so my next question when that happens  does any one know where i can get a cheap trace that wont cloud my water thanks for any help


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## JamesM (8 Jul 2010)

http://www.gardendirect.co.uk/chelated- ... -mix-p-887


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## danmil3s (8 Jul 2010)

thanks james  i looked at that but wasnt sure of the chelator they use and seems to be high in cooper


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## CeeJay (8 Jul 2010)

Hi danmil3s

Just out of curiosity, are you dosing your Trace and Macros on the same day?
The only reason I ask is, I have used AE's Trace and didn't have any clouding issues and I have hard water too  :?


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## PM (8 Jul 2010)

^ditto.


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## danmil3s (9 Jul 2010)

No i dose different days im in Huntingdon my waters about 32 dkh ive even tried dosing in to parts 3 hours apart still goes cloudy just only half as bad each time i think i read on james planted tank large tanks cloud more with this problem when i was dosing my 26l this never happened


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## CeeJay (9 Jul 2010)

Hi danmil3s.

This is odd.
As stated previously, I never had any issues with AE's trace, but then I only have a 180l which is tiddly by comparison to yours   
Next question has to be, how much trace are you using?


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## JamesC (9 Jul 2010)

Some people have clouding problems whilst others don't. There are too many factors like light, water compostion, etc to say for sure if you will get clouding or not. Changing to another powdered Fe-EDTA based trace mix won't fix your problem. You need to dose one that uses Fe-HEEDTA. The main one is Tropica's TPN but this can be expensive long term. There are 2 DIY alternatives that I know of. Peter Haack's concentrated trace solution - details on my website http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/traces.htm and one that somebody sells on eBay - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MIKRO-Aquariu...m&pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item2a0858574b. The eBay one is the one I use.

Adding traces at different times to the potassium phosphate makes very little difference. Why should it as the PO4 is always in the water.

James


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## danmil3s (9 Jul 2010)

thanks james i knew id have to change to a HEEDTA chelator was just hoping there was a fix for the type i have seems to work just looks horrible thanks for the links ill give the ebay one a go next time probable be a few months yet tough


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## danmil3s (9 Jul 2010)

as its only a fiver i might just get some and give it a go  should i use the 8 drops a day or should i add in a bit more as ive got high light "(1ml for every 100 litre aquarium water daily), and dosage can be various due to light wattage, CO2 dosage, numbers of plants etc."


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## danmil3s (17 Jul 2010)

James ive received my trace from the link you provided on e bay i was wondering they say to dilute if im dosing a 750l tank could i just add 2 ml neat ive sent the seller a message but had no reply


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## ukco2guy (19 Jul 2010)

Hi,

I`m in exactly the same boat guys. I am EI dosing a 250l tank with alternate days for macro and trace, the powders i`m using for trace are the Trace Mix Plus which is dosed twice a week. The tank has always been cloudy (white) ever since i used Seachem Iron, now i`ve switched to Trace Mix Plus i was hoping it would die down but has been pretty constantly cloudy since so this week (after weekly 50% change) i have only dosed Macro`s (yesterday) and left out the trace today to see if it clears up. Came back from work tonight and it`s crystal clear. Question is would it be an idea to reduce the trace dose or can i deal with my naturally hard tap water, i was wondering about not using tap safe and just getting a large water butt to store the following weeks water in, would tap safe have any contribution to the high hardness?

Cheers,


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## danmil3s (19 Jul 2010)

tap safe wont make a difference to your hardness but wont do your fish any favours ive started using the stuff off ebay 2 drops neat and half a does of macro every day as well and waters stayed clear im keeping an eye on plants see how the do


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