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Looking for a source of EDDHA chelated iron without dye

Miller's Ferriplus EDDHA contains red dyes, I know I have close to 2000 gallons of kool-aid water currently and it sounds like Sprint 138 may contain red dye as well. Does anyone know if sequestrene 330 contains red dye? Or do you know of any other location we can purchase EDDHA without the red dye?

I live in an area with large amounts of limestone, so our water source is not only high in carbonates, but also high in PH. We're topping off with rain water to help alleviate the situation, but until the point where we can start using a DTPA I would like to find a source of EDDHA that doesn't make my albino tilapia and catfish look like goldfish!

Thanks for any help you can provide.

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Permalink Reply by Jonny on October 16, 2013 at 12:21pm

I have about 500 gallons of reddish water 3 weeks after having added Sequestar's 6% EDDHA. Frankly, I don't yet know enough about iron chelates to say whether or not it's due to a dye or just due to the nature of the particles in the chelate. I do know that even though I have not tested my iron level, a number of plants have been negatively impacted. One type of lettuce, whether or related or not, has become stressed. Could coincidentally be due to other reasons, however. That said, a couple other types of plants have seen reddening of parts of their leaves. Hope that helps.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Veidel on October 16, 2013 at 1:15pm

You likely added too much....how much did you put in there?

Jonny said:

I have about 500 gallons of reddish water 3 weeks after having added Sequestar's 6% EDDHA. Frankly, I don't yet know enough about iron chelates to say whether or not it's due to a dye or just due to the nature of the particles in the chelate. I do know that even though I have not tested my iron level, a number of plants have been negatively impacted. One type of lettuce, whether or related or not, has become stressed. Could coincidentally be due to other reasons, however. That said, a couple other types of plants have seen reddening of parts of their leaves. Hope that helps.

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Permalink Reply by Jonny on October 16, 2013 at 1:19pm

Well, I would agree. I am assuming I did put in too much. It had been recommended to me to use 1 ounce, which was 1/4 of the 4 oz bottle. I used two teaspoons, which probably was about 1/4 to 1/3 of 1/4 of the bottle (meaning, about 1/4 to 1/3 ounce).

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Permalink Reply by Alex Veidel on October 16, 2013 at 1:20pm

Check out The Aquaponic Source website:

http://www.theaquaponicstore.com/AquaIron-DTPA-Iron-Chelate-p/agsas...

I've been using this stuff; it does the job.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Veidel on October 16, 2013 at 1:28pm

Oh, that doesn't seem like a lot...You know, I'm wondering if the iron chelate products that are advertised for soil gardening aren't good for aquaponics for some reason. I've got a friend (who definitely had put too much iron in his system) who had the same symptoms to the extreme...maybe it's not the amount that's the problem. If it is the amount, I guess I don't know how much to put in there. I've always put in a teaspoon every once in a blue moon.

http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/profiles/blogs/chelated-iro...

Jonny said:

Well, I would agree. I am assuming I did put in too much. It had been recommended to me to use 1 ounce, which was 1/4 of the 4 oz bottle. I used two teaspoons, which probably was about 1/4 to 1/3 of 1/4 of the bottle (meaning, about 1/4 to 1/3 ounce).

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Permalink Reply by Chris Lukenbill on October 16, 2013 at 2:03pm

Now that I have some experience with this, I can explain it out a little better in case someone is looking to this in the future for information.

EDDHA - I have yet to find one that doesn't turn the water red. It's also not just the iron, it is definitely a dye. It really doesn't hurt anything, so if your PH is above 7.4 (which mine definitely was before I started), need to produce at a semi-commercial level then plan to use EDDHA and get over the fact that it turns the water red.

DTPA - is a great source of iron, but only if your PH is below 7.4. The amount you add and repetition depends a lot on the purity of the iron, amount of water in the system and amount of plants in the system.

If you have questions on either of these, go check with the aquaponics Dr. (PhD) over at the http://verticalfoodblog.com/. He has at least one blog and youtube video on the subject.

Also, I've been using Sequestrene 330 and have had great results now since I've gone below 7.0. You can get it for a reasonable price online: http://www.sunshinegardensfl.com/servlet/the-92/SEQUESTRENE-330-FE-...