A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Low or Nop Iron in system

I just tested my "Total Iron" in my system and it shows zero (0) ppm.

Has anyone tried putting a small iron pipe or pipe caps in 3-4 media beds?I have about 30% of my expected grow beds working.

This may leech iron into the system.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on May 20, 2012 at 6:13am

If you put a bed inside by the window, you could grow water cress to help remove nitrates from the water so water changes won't be as necessary. Water cress doesn't need a huge amount of light.

Permalink Reply by Vlad Jovanovic on May 20, 2012 at 7:59am

hmmm...an RSG filter would help remove some nitrates and hopefully add some usable iron...

http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1523&am...

hmm...since I can't seem to link the link directly, here's the thread (page 2) where the link is embedded in TC's comment...

http://aquaponicscommunity.com/forum/topics/organic-or-otherwise-ho...

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on May 20, 2012 at 8:20am

both links seem to be working there Vlad

Permalink Reply by Dan Ponton on May 20, 2012 at 3:07pm

I could not find an iron supplement without a lot of other minerals.

He did say to spray my plants with molasses which should provide iron to the plant.

Permalink Reply by Vlad Jovanovic on May 20, 2012 at 3:29pm

http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=iron+chelate&hl=en&...

Link is for online purchase of 6% EDDHA Iron chelate...

Permalink Reply by Vlad Jovanovic on May 20, 2012 at 3:32pm

Thanks TC. Yeah I see that now. The BYAP hyperlink was being poopy and not showing up in blue..?

TCLynx said:

both links seem to be working there Vlad

Permalink Reply by matthew ferrell on May 20, 2012 at 5:57pm

Dan you can get chelated iron at all the box stores for about 5 bucks.

Permalink Reply by matthew ferrell on May 20, 2012 at 5:58pm

Would those other minerals be micro nutrients? Not a bad thing.

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on May 20, 2012 at 10:28pm

Chelated iron is not common in the big box stores where I live. They sell iron supplements but most of them are not chelated and I think the ones that are have zinc and copper in them as well as other things and I don't recommend adding much of those to a fish system. I've been getting my chelated iron from BWI but they are more for wholesale and sales to nurseries. Seems some parts of the country have the chelated iron available in big box stores and others don't.

Permalink Reply by matthew ferrell on May 21, 2012 at 5:55am

Interesting. I have found it in HD, Lowes, nurseries, Truevalue, and even Walmart. If any of you need some I'll be glad to get a bottle and send it your way USPS flat rate. The bottle ought to go a long way.

TCLynx said:

Chelated iron is not common in the big box stores where I live. They sell iron supplements but most of them are not chelated and I think the ones that are have zinc and copper in them as well as other things and I don't recommend adding much of those to a fish system. I've been getting my chelated iron from BWI but they are more for wholesale and sales to nurseries. Seems some parts of the country have the chelated iron available in big box stores and others don't.

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on May 21, 2012 at 6:55am

mathew, what brand? Can you snap a picture of the bottle sometime for us?

Now I have found that what the big box stores carry will be quite different from place to place. Heck, I know the ones right around me, one store will have certain things and the next store down you get looks like you have two heads when you ask for the same thing. But anyway, local demand can greatly affect what the local stores carry.

Permalink Reply by David on May 21, 2012 at 1:12pm

Adding iron oxide to the system now will not do anything beneficial for your system for at least 2 to 4 years. It takes time to convert iron oxide into a useable form which plants can uptake. The only way I know of to make this work is with humic acid. The process does work but it's definitely not fast. If you need iron get chelated iron. It is practically the only way to get iron into hydroponics without vermiculture.

TCLynx said:

it is hard to say if placing iron into a system will provide plant usable iron or not, and even if it does, it would take a long time to do it. You also need to make sure that it is pure iron without any other metals that would be bad for the fish (like the zinc in the galvanized coating on lots of iron pipe.)

I would use the chelated iron. But how did you test the total iron? Is the test accurate enough to really measure the amount needed? Are you plants showing signs of iron deficiency? What is your pH?