Re: [APD] Flourish iron & KH drop

[Kevin_Buckley at uk.neceur.com]

That's been my experience also.

I recently bought a Hagen test kit (
http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/product.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=124&PROD_ID=01078350020101
).

Tap water reads zero (i.e the test sample stays clear).  My tank water 
read zero initially, & after a few days of adding Flourish iron, it 
increased to 0.1mg/l (the lowest reading possible - i.e the test sample 
has a noticeable bluey tinge).

I agree with you.  I bought it so that I could see if adding the iron was 
doing something at least (I don't plan to rely on the measurement!).

Just FYI - I tested the "5ml in 2l" sample.  The bluey tinge was off the 
scale!  So the test definitely reacts to different levels of Iron.

Like all of the colour-chart based tests, it's quite hard to distinguish 
between the colour above & the colour below.  Depending on the light & the 
angle of viewing, the resulting error can be quite high.

Regards, Kevin

>
>S.Hieber wrote:
>
>What's your method of testing for iron. For the minscule levels one needs 
for aquatic gardening most of those of-the-shelf tests are pretty much 
>useless, imo. One way to make use of them, if they register any iron at 
all, that's usually enough.
> 
>sh
> 
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Francisco? Cable cars, Lombard St., Chinatown -- and a simply huge aquatic 
>plant auction.
>
>The 2006 Aquatic Gardeners Association Convention will be November 10-12 
at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel -- San Francisco International Airport. 
>
>Details will be posted soon at http://www.aquatic-gardeners.org/ 
>
>
>>----- Original Message ----
>>From: Kevin_Buckley at uk.neceur.com
>>To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com
>>Sent: Friday, March 24, 2006 5:57:33 AM
>>Subject: Re: [APD] Flourish iron & KH drop
>>
>>
>>I guess a 500ml dose each time would be quite interesting to watch!
>>
>>My tank initially measured 0mg/l Fe so I made an initial dose of 2 x 
>>"capfuls" (~4ml - 5ml).
>>
>>After that, I was dosing a capful every other day & my Fe was hovering 
>>around 0.1mg/l.
>>
>>I used the "5ml added to 2l" quantity so that the test was do'able & the 

>>result likely to be measurable by a "hobby" KH test kit.
>>
>>Trying to add 50 microlitres of Flourish iron to 2l would be pretty 
>>impossible & I'm sure the result would be unmeasurable using a "two 
drops 
>>per degree KH" test kit.
>>
>>However, what I can tell you is that, within 2 minutes of adding 5ml of 
>>Flourish iron to my 50g, the pH started to drop from it's controlled 
level 
>>of 7.30, down to 7.15 after about 15 minutes.
>>
>>So it seems to me I don't need to look elsewhere for the culprit!
>>
>>Regards, Kevin
>>
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