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Micronutrients



Michael Rubin wrote:

>I have a
>Flourite substrate and haven't added any iron directly in months, but this
>larger amount of TMG supplies enough iron to the water column that it now
>tests as 0.1ppm (Hach color-wheel).  I think this is the amount of iron that
>Karen says she maintains?  

Well, I only dose once ore twice per week, but when I've tested soon after
dosing, I regularly read .5 ppm.  Using Karl Schoeler's iron test kit,
which uses Hach reagents.  I do not have algae problems at this level.  I
use TMG in most tanks.  I've also got one tank set up that I've been using
Flourish and Flourite in.  I have tested iron levels up to .5 ppm in this
tank also. (I have to add the Flourish more often to keep the iron level up
there though)  But I don't have any algae problems in that tank either.

>.  This may account for the poor showing
>of R. macanda - the plant may not like the harder water (7.5dGH, 4.0dKH with
>2.2w/g PC lighting).

Both my KH and GH are around 5.  That's not THAT much different than yours.
 I suspect something else may be the problem.  In my experience  R.
macrandra doesn't grow slowly.  It either grows like a weed, or not at all.
 This means that when it does grow, it's a very heavy feeder.  But I don't
think it competes well with other fast growing species.  It does best in my
tanks where it is one of only a few fast growing plants.  In the tank where
it must compete with many other fast growing stem plants, I have to be
careful to keep the water column nutrients up _and_ I have to pot it with
soil so that it has a good nutrient source at the root level.

Karen