Iron (III) hydroxide polymaltose complex INN dosing?

[s21rc]

Hello all,
I have read Randy's article of iron dosing, and looked for Ferrous Gluconate in the local drug store (I am from Bangladesh). Though the large pharmaceuticals here listed it in their product list but it is somehow not available in store.

I have found the following in Syrup/liquid form (200ml bottle, less than 1$):

Iron (III) hydroxide polymaltose complex INN 200mg equivalent to 50mg of elemental iron/5ml

Is it safe to use in reef tank? what would be the amount to dose for a 150G mix reef?

Thanks.
Fazlay

 

[Dan_P]

It is the wrong oxidation state of iron if you're intent is to add iron (II) but that is not to say that chelated iron (III) won't be as beneficial as chelated iron (II).

 

[bertoni]

I'm not sure that marine organisms will take up iron (III). This article discusses iron in some detail:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/8/chemistry

You could try dosing what you have. I don't think it'll be harmful, although trace contaminants could be an issue.

Randy seemed to be dosing 1-2 mg at a shot into 250 g, which is an enormous dose. I suppose you could try 0.1 ml for a dose, which likewise is huge. I might dilute that solution by a factor of 10 and dose 0.1 ml of that, though. I am not sure that the solution will remain stable once diluted, though.

 

[s21rc]

Thanks Dan and Bertoni. I have read the article of Randy before and got the idea of dosing iron in my tank, but I am completely ignorant of chemistry and my knowledge was of high school. So off course missed that iron (III) will be insoluble in our case.

Now as I have looked for more iron supplement drugs, I have got the following choices:

Ferrous fumerate 200mg which contains 65mg elemental iron (tablet/capsule form)

Ferrous sulphate 200mg/5ml (syrup form)

I googled and seems both are iron(II) state. Among those two, which one should be safe if any?

Thanks in advance.
Fazlay

 

[Dan_P]

The iron needs to be chelated or it will precipitate out rapidly. Having said that, I just read that "fertilizing the ocean" experiments with iron was accomplished with iron sulfate, no mention of chelation. I can't explain the disconnect unless I misread the article.

I'm sorry that I can't give you any further help.

 

[s21rc]

thanks Dan, I will try to dose Ferrous Sulfate, lets see what happen.

 

[bertoni]

You could try the ferrous sulfate. Some of it should be taken up before it is converted to iron (III). If you could get some citric acid, you might be able to create a chelated supplement.

 

[s21rc]

Finally bought lab grade ferrous sulfate heptahydrate and sodium citrate dihydrate. The mixture becomes light green in color. After starting dosing chetoh exploded with dark green, and a new type of macro also emarge So far good. Thanks all for support

 

[bertoni]

That's interesting. I hope the results hold up over time.