Flourish Iron and Flourish Nitrogen

[Ben M]

Hi, I have a mate who has got rid of his planted tank, and has given me a bottle of flourish iron and a bottle of flourish nitrogen. I was wondering if there would be any benefit to adding these to my planted nano along with the EI ferts and liquid carbon I dose?

As the EI ferts already have a source of nitrates I'm assuming that there's no point adding the nitrogen, but it's an almost full bottle and it seems daft letting it go to waste.

Also, will the iron have any adverse affects on my shrimp?

cheers,
Ben

 

[Nathaniel Whiteside]

If your dosing EI, then no, more nitrogen isn't necessary. Iron may be if you've a lot of plants that are Iron heavy (red) plants?

 

[ceg4048]

Red plants don't need any more iron than any other color plant, however, if someone gives you free anything, then use it....it's free. Just make sure that you dose 3X-5X what is stated on the bottle because commercial nutrient products are mostly water.

Cheers,

 

[G H Nelson]

Water eh....we have been fleeced
Till you make your own.
hoggie

 

[Ben M]

Thanks, I'll use it then. On the bottle of the Iron it says dose 5ml per 200l, but it doesn't say how often, I don't suppose you know how often to dose? I didn't realise that you should over dose. I already have done with the iron accidentally, as I poured too much into the cap when I was measuring it out so just poured it in.

Cheers,
Ben

 

[ceg4048]

Well, all that means is that you overdosed on water. Big deal.
EI dosing mixes are nearly 100X the strength of the commercial bottles.
It's OK to use bottle suggested dosing if your tank is a low tech non CO2 enriched tank with low light, and if the municipal water supply is high in nutrients. When you add CO2 to a tank via liquid carbon or via gas injection the plant metabolism increases up to about 10X or more, especially if the lighting is extreme. On top of everything else, people have become hysterical over "nutrients causing algae" so the trend has been to limit the dosing, which just causes more problems than it solves.

I'd just add 3X-5X the bottle suggestion and call it good. If you see signs of deficiency then add even more. This should not be stressful.

Cheers,

 

[three-fingers]

You can use this nutrient calculator to work out exactly how much Flourish Nitrogen and Flourish Iron you need to use for EI dosing: Yet Another Nutrient Calculator.

When dosing EI levels, you'll find the bottles empty themselves rather fast!

 

[Ben M]

Thanks, I'll make sure I up the dose then. I'm thinking of upping the EI ferts I'm using anyway, as my tank is more heavily planted now.

Also, I've got another quick question. The ferts I'm using ATM were mixed a long time ago, as I changed my planted tank to a mbuna grow on tank for a while and I'm using the same stuff I mixed before then. Do you think I should mix some more, or is it ok that they were mixed a while ago?

Cheers,
Ben

 

[ceg4048]

If they are not mouldy then they are fine.

Cheers,

 

[Ben M]

Cool, thanks.