"Recycling" iron from plants

• To: "List, Aquatic Plant" <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>
• Subject: "Recycling" iron from plants
• From: "Shane E. Wernsing" <wern0047 at gold_tc.umn.edu>
• Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 17:18:16 -0600

Hello everyone,
	I don't always have time to fully read the digests, so I apologize if 
this has been discussed recently.
	When trimming back my plants, I've often considered leaving the 
trimmings in the tank and letting them degrade.  Although this would not 
make the tank look more attractive, I figure I would be allowing the 
release of iron (and other nutrients) from the decaying plant matter.  
Hence, the remaining plants could benefit from this slow, sustained 
release of nutrients.
	I'm sure that I will still have to add iron and trace elements, but I 
shouldn't have to add them as often.  As long as my filters can handle 
the extra bioload of decaying organics, I can't see any problems 
arising.  Can any of you?
	Perhaps this is common practice and I've just not heard of it...  Well, 
thank-you very much for any advice/thoughts.
-- 
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Shane E. Wernsing
University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis
wern0047 at gold_tc.umn.edu
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