Petshrimp.com Discussion Forum

Hey Guys,

So my plants in both of my shrimp tank appears to be suffering from chlorosis (iron deficiency) . The leaves looks normal except that they are not really growing and are yellowing. It could be a host of mineral deficiencies but for right now iron seems the most probable since I have wisteria in my tank and I read those things suck iron up like a sponge.

I'd rather not use plant fertilizers and my friend suggested using a Centrum adult multivitamin and let is dissolve in the water. So I looked up their specs:

iron 18 mg
copper 2 mg

Now I know both of these are toxic at high concentration, so here's what I'm thinking.

1 liter = 0.264172051 US gallon
1 milligram per litre (mg/L) approximately 1 ppm.

Using my 5 gallon as an example, that would be about 20 liters. Using half of a multivitamin tablet that would be 1/20 = 0.05 ppm Cu and 9/20 = 0.45 ppm iron. Is that within the tolerance/breeding level for cherries? Is this plausible or should I forget about the whole thing and hope for the best for my plants (shrimp lives and breeding always comes first). Are there other possible options? (like feeding them dark green vegetables -> rich in iron).

Appreicate your inputs.

p.s. Florida flag fish may eat algae, but what they really like is a shrimp buffet. I lost two shrimps within 3 minutes after putting 2 flag fish in to the water. They are now isolated.

(shrimp lives and breeding always comes first).

I am happy you feel that way because I think sometimes you will have to choose between your shrimp and plants if you keep certain plants in the tank. I use low light and easy to maintain plants like the java's (moss and fern) other mosses and petite nana's.

If you do decide to try the multivitamin please let us know the results

p.s. Florida flag fish may eat algae, but what they really like is a shrimp buffet. I lost two shrimps within 3 minutes after putting 2 flag fish in to the water. They are now isolated.

Thanks for the warning and reminder

Change your substrate to Fluorite and your plants will have all the iron they could even need without risking copper contamination.

My most heavily planted tank looks fantastic and I never dose any ferts. My plants get only shrimp poop and whatever minerals they remove from the Fluorite.

YuccaPatrol wrote:Change your substrate to Fluorite and your plants will have all the iron they could even need without risking copper contamination.

My most heavily planted tank looks fantastic and I never dose any ferts. My plants get only shrimp poop and whatever minerals they remove from the Fluorite.

If I ever setup a 10 gallon I will do that, thanks