how much does iron help with chaetomorpha...?

[flipteg]

i was just wondering if iron really does make a huge difference with chaetomorpha health... i don't dose it right now but i was wondering if it's ok to start dosing it as per the directions even without regularly testing for iron...? the directions suggest 1 drop for every 6.25 gallons of water...

i feel kinda bad adding something that i can't test for, but that's another test kit to buy and use and i want to be able to do without it if possible...

just to add, i added the chaeto about 3 weeks ago... my nitrates are at around 10mg/l... when i added it, i also started using Rowaphos around that time... the first 2 weeks, the macro algae was growing and has reduced my nitrates all the way down to 0.2mg/l... i think the chaeto has now depleted the water of the nutriets it needs... i only have 4 fishes in the tank... 3 of them are small gobies... the other one is a clownfish... i only feed once every 2 days...

i just want to know if iron will help in my case...

[futrtrubl]

Well, iron usualy helps as it tends to be the limiting nutrient. If your other nutrients are low enough to be limiting then dosing with iron _shouldn't_ help.
You could always try starting with like 1/2 the recomended dose and see if there is a change.

Edward