[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: iron and TMG etc



Scott wrote:

> However, I suspect that if I had no
> iron (0.0ppm), this difficiency would show up in the plants.

Not true.  The necessary amounts of iron are actually far lower then the
test kits can measure.  If you can measure anything at all then either
the kit is wrong or your tank has far more iron in it then the plants
will use.  Plus, the only plants that would even care what the iron
content of your water is are the floating and maybe the attached
plants.  The rooted plants can get their iron from the substrate.

> I hadn't heard that others scoffed at red sea test kits -- that's good
> to know.  Good test materials are much rarer than the number offered
> for sale.

Several years ago I bought one of those things and tested my tank
water.  I got 0.1 ppm, which I thought was surprisingly high.  Then I
measured my tap water and it read 0.1 ppm -- it should have been 0.0
ppm.  So I added so much DTPA iron to a quart of tap water that I could
easily see color in the water and I tested that.  It measured 0.1 ppm. 
I threw the kit away.


Roger Miller