WOW!!!! Fluorite is REALLY iron rich....

[madasafish]

Hi all,

I'm sure most of you know that the reason Fluorite and Fluorite red are so red is that they have a certain amount of iron in them. Well, this clay tuns out to be a lot more iron-rich than I thought.....

Today I was using my Hagen magnet glass cleaner (((used to hate them, love them now. Can so quickly get rid of that nasty photosynthetic algae!))) and I happened to move it too quickly. It dropped to my tank's bottom. I reached to pick it up and brought about 30 pieces of fluorite up with it. I was a little puzzled at first, and thought that these pieces were caught in the fibers of the felt. NOT SO!! They were completely magnetically stuck to the magnet. It was incredible. They were hard to remove--obviously they were truly Iron-rich. It was as if my substrate consisted of iron shavings! And here I was, worried that the plants were sucking the iron out of the substrate lickity-split!!

Just thought the plant and chemistry/physics/geology nuts out there might get a kick out of this! I sure did!!!

 

[MantisX]

Wow, I didnt think that was possible. Plants can use iron like that?

 

[TankGirl]

Plants really love the iron, MantisX. I have Fluorite in my 55 and use a magnet cleaner sometimes too (finally getting control of algae, YAY!) but that has never happened to me. My young daughters love to use the magnet, and usually get the tank half stuck and I have to fish it out, but it is generally in the ARLC tank, which has aragonite sand (BTW, particles of sand in a magnet cleaner? Scratch City!!)

I think I am going to have to take that magnet to my Fluorite!! Cheap thrills for Tank Girl, so sad....

 

[MantisX]

I wanted to use fluorite for my tank, but by the time I found out about it I had already setup gravel/laterite. Initially its very messy but I can tell it helped the plants out lots. Im starting on a 20 gallon soon, hopefully I will be able to try fluorite there.

 

[djlen3]

You want to be real careful with those magnetic algae pads when used in conjunction with flourite. Especially if the kids use them. I have seen some really scratched up glass, due to pieces of substrate getting caught between the pad and glass.
When I clean my glass, I use a credit card to clean the bottom of the glass, to about 2" above the substrate, because those magnets will grab flourite even when just passing over it. I know it kind of defeats the purpose of having the magnetic ones, but I only have to use the credit card once a month or so, just to trim up the bottom edges of the glass.

Len

 

[TankGirl]

You want to be real careful with those magnetic algae pads when used in conjunction with flourite. Especially if the kids use them. I have seen some really scratched up glass, due to pieces of substrate getting caught between the pad and glass.

That is exactly right. Even before I had fluorite in my tank if the tank half of the magnet fell off tiny bits of whatever would get stuck in the pad, and has the potential to scratch, but the worst are the sand tanks. I no longer leave the magnetic pads in the tank, but when I am done I take them out and put them in the stand cabinet which, like everything in my house, has child locks on them.

 

[William]

like everything in my house, has child locks on them.

Trying to keep a kid out, or your husband?


[ I'm a guy, I know we can't open anything childproof. LOL! ]

 

[brendan]

You mention that fluorite is really iron rich, does this do anything harmful to the water chemistry? Do fish might the high levels of iron?

TIA

 

[TankGirl]

This iron is accessible through the plant roots. Many plant fertilizers contain iron, and it is not harmful to fish at proper levels for plants.

quote:


like everything in my house, has child locks on them.





Trying to keep a kid out, or your husband?

Yuk! Interestingly, the 3-yr-olds know how to work many child locks we used for the stereo cabinet and under the kitchen sink, for example. We had to get the super duper kind that requires more dexterity, but if they really, really want to, they can get into places. I can't leave them alone in a room! It is just like keeping a couple of baby orangutans. My 10-yr-old did not prepare me for this!!

 

[brendan]

You mention that fluorite is really iron rich, does this do anything harmful to the water chemistry? Do fish might the high levels of iron?

TIA

 

[Guest]

You mention that fluorite is really iron rich, does this do anything harmful to the water chemistry? Do fish might the high levels of iron?

TIA

No Brendan the Iron in Flourite is not harmful to the fish. It's bound up in the fired clay and in a inorganic form. It's only available to the plants after the substrate matures and then in small amounts.