Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I think if anyone is serious about iron additions you should be using a test kit to manage it correctly.

I was hoping that the plants would start looking green?

Talk about Finding Nemo I haven't seen my fish in days.

Adding 5grams to 1200 litres of water I was horrified at the colour, it was over a week before it cleared to a reasonable level.

I purchased a Freshwater Iron Test Kit and tested the water and it didn't read so I added 10 grams to 1200 litres of water. That gave me a slight colouring but still not enough too be able to show a reading, so a further 5grams bringing the total up to 15grams per 1200 litres the photos show the results after the water being pumped through the growbeds for 26 hours.

My EDDHA Chelated Iron is only 6% so the tests & calculations say I need to take the dose up to around 34 grams per 1200 litres to achieve the 2 mg/l needed, if I do that I may never see my fish again. As you can see by the test it has a long way too bring it up to the 2 mg/l required.

There must be another way of doing this or something is terribly wrong with the calculations, but testing each time I added in the Iron in 5 gram increments I could see the results so the Iron is happening and the plants have picked up in 24 hours, it's just the colour is a real concern and it cannot be doing the fish any favours.

The powder was administered both down though the media guard and some directly into the sump above an air stone to make sure it dispersed before it hit the fish tank.

If I add any more I will try mixing the dose in a bucket and pour it into the growbeds and see if that helps, I don't think it will make the slightest difference but it's not working the way it is and I need to find a better solution.

I'm starting too wonder would it be better to just spray the plants and not add it to the water.

Joe

That certainly is a nice colour but I doubt it is necessarily bad for your fish although I could see it being annoying as you will have to add that to your system regularly to keep it at the right dose which means not seeing your fish very well all the time. I havn't added mine yet but will on the weekend. Let me know if all your fish die before the weekend then I won't add it (just kidding)
Also I was planning to add it to the grow beds directly, but like you said I doubt it will make any difference!

Just found this

"UPDATE #2: BEWARE RED DYE IN MILLER’S FEEDDHA
A friend and blog reader let us know about this product that seemed to have turned his entire system water red after adding 3 ounces. It appears the Miller’s product contain some kind of red dye! Check to make sure you’re using good iron supplements without dyes!"

That from this website http://verticalfoodblog.com/iron-in-aquaponics/ by Nate

ahhh crap..now I have a kilo of the stuff oh well

I'll go search, but just in case it's come up already
How much Maxicrop plus iron does one add to a system with about 500 gallons?

I started with 1 ounce

beyond that, no clue

I haven't used Maxicrop Iron.. it depends on the percentage of iron in your product... does it say the percentage on the box/bag?

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the link I'll check it out.

I think we're all sitting on a kg of iron, mine isn't the Miller's brand, it's Ultraferro EDDHA which probably the same brand as yours and I think you'll have the same result.

It definitely didn't cause the fish any harm on the first dose and that took a long time to clear, it's just a pain and looks terrible. I'm feeding the fish floating pellets so they can find the food OK, if they were being fed sinking pellets they might be a bit harder to find at the bottom of the tank it's pretty dark down there.

It looks like I'll need to do a fair bit reading up to see what the options are in the meantime the plants are improving.

Tom keep us posted on your results.

Joe

Good to hear the fish are Ok... and yeah I have that Ultraferro EDDHA just like you.
I feed floating pellets also, not that my Jade Perch eat much right now in winter anyhow. Until I find another iron chelate without the red colour I will probably use this one that I bought... if it doesnt seem to be hurting the fish and it will 'eventually' clear up I might as well use it as a lot of my greens have been looking a bit closer to yellow than green... I will also be getting some Eco Rose to alternate buffering up my Ph ( I have been using lime 'dolomite ) so I get a bit of Potassium in the system as it is supposed to help with flowering (although my strawberries have been doing quite well)

Tom it's pretty cold down here in Melbourne at the moment and the fish aren't eating, I feed them a small amount late in the day after it's warmed up a bit. They aren't that interested in it but there's nothing left the next day so they're doing OK.

I don't think I can use Eco Rose I don't want to raise the pH any, I'm not sure if it raises pH or not. I've heard of people using Bananas as their source of potassium.

If I can't find the right iron I might try mixing 2mg of what I have in a litre of water and spray it on the plants weekly and see what happens, but I don't want to have permanent red water.

Yeah Eco Rose is basically mostly Sodium Bicarbonate (i think thats right) so it is used for raising the pH... I am always increasing my pH a little since it slides down consistently.

Spraying it on would work I guess, although when I put even the smallest amount in a glass of water it went sooo red, I imagine your veges are going to look like they are covered in red dust but it probably doesnt matter to the taste!

Almost- Potassium bicarbonate KHCO3, 94%, the other 6% is detergent.

If I put a small piece of iron like an old bolt into the tank or growbeds to oxidise, won't this prevent the problem? Or am I being to simplistic.

Cheers

Straberry

Nope... there's a difference between Ferric (Fe3+) & Ferrous (Fe2+) ions...

"Rust" is Ferric... and insoluble....

And then there's the question of uptake in relation to pH...

Hence the discussion regarding "chelated iron"...

Thanks... as soon as I say to myself that 'i think thats right' I should have known that I wasn't