can i use a liquid iron supplement mixed in with my trace element mix?

[Wookii]

Using the instructions that came with the apfuk starter kit as that is what most people recommended, no co2 or l/c, all details are in my tank thread.

In that case you won't be dosing 1.6ppm iron, you'll be at roughly 0.5ppm, so that's a test kit error. To be fair you shouldn't even need to be dosing full EI in a low tech tank. Given your hard water, your pH is likely to be well above 7, so the EDTA chelated iron in the APFUK mix is likely breaking down too rapidly. I have hard water, and have the same issue in my low tech tap water tank.

There are two things you can do to help:

1) Buy some DTPA chelated iron - you can buy this in powdered form (Amazon, eBay), or pre-mixed in TNC Iron AT. You shouldn't need to add much, so I would keep it less than a 0.25ppm per week dose of that to your tank, so add it to your dosing container in sufficient quantity to achieve that.

2) If you are on an auto-doser, there is no real need to use alternate day dosing - that system was design to make it easy for people manually dosing. I would in fact perform daily dosing of both micros and macros. DTPA Iron breaks down when exposed to light, so dose your micros at night, and your macros just before lights on.

Give it a month or two and see how you go.

 

[john6]

In that case you won't be dosing 1.6ppm iron, you'll be at roughly 0.5ppm, so that's a test kit error. Given your hard water, your pH is likely to be well above 7, so the EDTA chelated iron in the APFUK mix is likely breaking down too rapidly. I have hard water, and have the same issue in my low tech.

There are two things you can do to help:

1) buy some DTPA chelated iron - you can buy this in powdered form, of pre-mixed in TNC Iron AT. You shouldn't need to add much more than 0.25ppm per week of that, so add it to your dosing container in sufficient quantity to achieve that.

2) If you are on an auto-doser, there is no real need to use alternate day dosing, and I would in fact use daily dosing of both micros and macros. DTPS Iron breaks down when exposed to light, so dose your micros at night, and your macros just before lights on.

Give it a month or two and see how you go.

Brilliant, Thanks @Wookii
Where is the best place to buy this DTPA powder from? rather buy powder than pre-mixed.

 

[Wookii]

Brilliant, Thanks @Wookii
Where is the best place to buy this DTPA powder from? rather buy powder than pre-mixed.

Amazon:

Amazon product ASIN B07VYVQ34V
eBay:

Fe 8% DTPA Chelated Organic Iron 50g Planted Aquarium Fish Tank Fertiliser EI UK | eBay

Fe 8% DTPA Chelated 50g. Organic form of Fe for aquarium use (clean 100% chelated Fe DTPA). Iron, Fe 8% DTPA. 10g Fe 8% DTPA Chelated + 500ml water, 1ml solution per 100 l of tank water yields a concentration of 0.016ppm Fe.

www.ebay.co.uk

Looks like both are coming from the same source:

Fe 8% DTPA Chelated Aquarium Fertaliser £4.99 | Aqua Plants Care

Organic form of Iron Fe for aquarium use DTPA chelated. Prevents Iron deficiency in fish tank DIY Aquarium Fertiliser for EI dosing Iron deficiency is quite common When it occurs, it impedes plants’ growth UK online shop. Aqua Plants Care

aquaplantscare.uk