[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Flourish Iron - rusty?
- To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
- Subject: Re: Flourish Iron - rusty?
- From: Greg Morin <greg at seachem_com>
- Date: Fri, 11 Jan 2002 10:05:02 -0500
- In-Reply-To: <200201110848.g0B8m7M18764 at actwin_com>
- References: <200201110848.g0B8m7M18764 at actwin_com>
>
>I've been reading these posts about iron being bioactive, and now I am
>worried about the bottles of Floursih Iron I have. When I open them they are
>a clear yellow, but over time they darken & become somewhat more opaque (or
>maybe it just seems that way because of the darker color). Is this color
>change an indication that the iron has gone bad?
>
>- -Rachel
The darkening in color is normal and is not an indicator the iron
going "bad". The change in color is a result of mild oxidation of the
reducing agents we use in Flourish Iron (to keep the iron reduced).
Every time you open the bottle you let in a little oxygen which
results in some oxidation. Think of it like a buffer, the reducing
agents are the species getting oxidized keeping the iron "safe" in
the ferrous state. There is more than enough of the reducing agents
to prevent ever getting a precipitative loss of ferric iron in the
bottle.
Also, if the bottle is stored in a warm or hot environment there may
also be some darkening due to a process referred to as "Maillard
reaction" (also known as food "browning" chemistry). But again this
is just a change in color and not an indicator of loss of quality or
effectiveness.
--
Gregory Morin, Ph.D. ~~~~~~~Research Director~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seachem Laboratories, Inc. www.seachem.com 888-SEACHEM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~