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Is Iron A Dangrous Trace To Dose?

2K views 3 replies 4 participants last post by  plantbrain 
#1 ·
...and by 'dangerous' I only mean that too much can directly lead to algae problems.

The reason that I ask is that I have always equated hair algae with too much iron. I have found this to be true in my tank, and others on this board have echoed that sentiment.

Now I read this on BBA: Control of Red Algae in the Freshwater Aquarium

This author suggests that too much Fe in the water can cause BBA.

So - for those of us dosing Greg Watson ferts via EI - should we cut way back on the iron? I ask becuase I have black paint on my Annubias (I think it is BBA...but it isnt furry, it is just like black paint).
 
#2 ·
It's hard to answer this without careful control experiments, maybe iron level is a trigger for hair algae growth. In the ocean for example, iron is competed fiercely by all microorganisms, so you will have a plankton bloom when iron is added. Not sure about freshwater algae though, there are too many factors to equal iron to hair algae.
 
#4 ·
Neil had trouble figuring out BBA.
Fe is not it.
That's old, like +10 years or so.

I've done enough experimenting to know beyond a doubt that it's NOT caused by excess Fe.

I took Flourish, a commonly used trace, added 200mls to an 80 liter tank with fish and shrimp. Waited a week, the water was tea colored.

Nothing, zlich, nada, nothing.

I've been adding 5-10mls 3x a week to an 80 liter tank for a decade, I've never found any credence during that time to the claim that Fe causes any species of algae.

Folks ascribe cause to things that are mere correlation.
When I go back and redo their test/hypothese, I never find these same conclusions.

Now for the hypothese to be correct, I should see algae when I repeat the experiment, when I do not, and I consistently do not and I know I am adding Fe and a heck of a lot of it, I know that it cannot be causing the algae.

Note: I did not say what was causing it, only that the excess Fe could not be causing the outbreak.

BBA is clearly a CO2 related issue: I can lower and bob the CO2 concentration and induce BBA consistently.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
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