ferrous sulphate to cure iron deficiency?

[Murat]

Can I use ferrous sulphate to cure iron deficiency in a heavily planted and probably heavily stocked 165 liter tank? I have got in there; 40 or 44 neon and cardinals(2 cm), 5 angel fish(5 cm), 6 black skirt tetra(3 cm), 8 pink finned tetra(2.5-3 cm and do not know their real names?), 10 black neon(2 cm), 2 pleco(6-7 cm). I have got diy CO2 setup. I do weekly 20% water change. I also have 900l/h atman powerhead filter which's inside exit is blocked. Aquarium has been running with this population for 6 weeks.[/img]

http://rapidshare.com/files/2202021/DSC00091.JPG.html (pic of my aquarium)
My time zone is GMT+5 so i may not reply you imediatelly.

 

[czcz]

Welcome to AA

Without a chelator I think the Fe will fall out quicker than with DPTA or EDTA Iron (say from GregWatson.com or Seachem's Iron). Iron will enter the ferric/unusable state relatively quickly once becoming free in the water column.

Also, with regular input of a trace solution (say, Plantex CSM+B, Tropica's PlantNutrition, or Seachem Flourish), you'll hit your Fe target while supplying the other micronutrients. Such a product is the better investment unless you are targeting Fe alone for whatever reason.

 

[Murat]

Thank you for welcoming...
Here in Uzbekistan it is almost impossible to find such products as plant fertilizers or iron supplements. Is there another way of giving plants their iron?

 

[czcz]

A chemical supply may have DTPA and/or EDTA chelated Iron. If so, also ask for the percentage Fe and we can give you a formula to calculate dosing.

 

[Murat]

It is a tablet that contains 113 mg ferrous sulphate and something like D,L-серин 129 мg(in russian) and 34mg Fe+2.

 

[czcz]

If each tablet is 34mg Fe+2, each tablet adds 0.2-0.275 ppm Fe into your tank (depending on how much substrate and stuff is in there), which is good. Our plants can use Fe +2 from the moment it becomes available until it oxidizes to Fe+3, at which point it can enter the substrate and recycle and become available again. So it may work.

 

[Murat]

Does overdosing harm the fish?

 

[czcz]

If I remember correctly, overdosing is reported to cause infertility. A target of 0.1-0.5ppm Fe is reasonable. I dosed to 0.3ppm Fe and bred Whiteclouds and Psuedomugil gertrudae/Rainbowfish without trying, and lots of people have similar experiences. Most dosing methods dose Fe to these targets every other day, opposite macro dosing days. With no chelator you may want to consider daily dosing of Fe. Experiment and see.

 

[Murat]

Do you think that the tank is overstocked?