Dosing Iodine??

[MrSandman]

Does anyone here dose iodine? There aren't many posts concerning iodine and what it is good for. I was just curious to find out who doses it, why do you dose it and what kind do you dose it with? Are there any corals that require it?? or inverts? Reason being, my buddy just gave me an extra bottle of Kent Marine Tech I iodine that he had left over from his old reef tank. I don't think it has even been opened yet. I also read somewhere that this stuff is hard to test for, is this true? I hate putting anything into my tank that i can't monitor. Any ideas on iodine?

[Tadashi]

Reference TRA Vol 1, Pg 251.

Iodine in natural seawater is about 60 parts per billion. It is said to stimulate Xenia growth and prevent soft coral crashes. Algae also use it. It also is said to detoxify active oxygen produced in photosynthesis. Helps to prevent bleaching. It is critical in the development of pigments in corals. Bleaching and poor health has been linked with iodine deficiency.

I dose with Kent's Iodine also. I have a 12-gal and I dose 5-8 drops a day. I know it is more than what it states on the bottle. I have noticed that my coral colors are more vibrant and they are more expanded than before I started. Plus I added a 250-watt MH on my tank and went from a photoperiod of 6 hrs to 12 hrs in 6 days with no bleaching.

Start off with the normal bottle dose and if you want increase it slowly. If you notice an algae bloom then reduce it slowly until you reach an equilibrium. Not all tanks are the same so even if you measured you may need more than someone else depending on the population of your tank.

I was also told it is hard to measure because it is quickly converted to other forms or used by corals and algae. It can harm fish and inverts if you overdose. Some stony corals also do not like direct applications.

[money pit]

Hey Mr.Sandman I use Natureef iodine+. I've read that it acts as a preventive measure against coral diseases. My mushrooms seem to be healthier since I began using it. It is rather toxic if overdosed,so be careful. I don't think I'll continue using it after this bottle is empty, since doing regular water changes probably supplies enough.

[reefworm]

Tadashi just about sez it all for the benefits. In addition, crustaceans utilize iodine for growth of their exoskeletons. It *is* difficult to test. Don't exceed recommended dosage and watch for algae blooms as Tadashi suggests.

[Steve Richardson]

I've never bothered, and probably will not. Personally, I believe there is enough iodine to be had through feeding and water changes.

Dont *assume* you need to add extra, just because you have a bottle of it. If you decide to try it, go easy...

[Ironreef]

ditto even Ron Shimek will say this if you feed heavy cuz the foods have it. And if you have hair growth you know you have enough. You need it in your tank but its added many ways w/c.feedings, 2 part additives.

[Doug]

Hi MrSandman,

I used to dose Iodine for a long time and the only thing that I saw was that it increased the growth of my bubble algae. I did not notice any impact in coral growth or coloration when I stopped using it. I also have not noticed any change in the molting frequency of my shrimps.

If you do use it make sure that you do not overdose.

HTH

Doug

[mengerin]

My observation was with mushrooms and xenia. Both grew faster while I was dosing iodine than when I was not.

It does have a negative affect on sps in high amounts (causes them to brown if you have a colorful species).
So, depends on what sort of a tank you're keeping. If it is primarily softies, I wouldn't hesitate. If you have primarily stonies, then there isn't as much of a need.

Cheers,
Matthew

[MrSandman]

Yes, a majority of my tank is softies. I have alot of blue/red mushrooms, 2 species of colts, 2 species of leathers, an anemone, star polyps and yellow polyps, 2 diff types of xenia, a pistol shrimp, yellow gorgonian, and also a bubble coral and gonio to say the least. I would like to dose with this stuff and see if i notice any improvement. I only do water changes once a month about 10%. Only items i add to the tank are DT's, reef solutions, and tropic marin bio-calc. I also feed once a day, usually frozen foods. Thats pretty much it. I would really love to get my xenia to multiply, especially my red sea pulsing xenia. Does iodine also help in coralline algae growth?? I'll give it a shot and slowly ramp up the dosage to the recommended amounts. I'll give it about a month or so and if i don't see anything noticeable in the smallest amount, then ill just discontinue usage. Does this sound safe? I hate dosing stuff i cant monitor, so hopefully everything goes well.

[Ironreef]

I had a 55g with sofies dosed iodide daily. then quit no differance in growth of xenia , shrooms or any other corals.
I do see a differance in my 120g with 2_250w halides and 2_110 vho the xenia grows very fast even the 'shrooms spread fast once they became aclimated. The sinulara almost doubled. I don't dose iodide. in chemical form. Its in the food I feed. I've had corals for along time and the only diff I've experiance being water quality alway being good (cal.alk,ph nitrates ect..) is the more light I have the better the growth. My 55g had 4_110w vho which if fair light but my corals never had the growth they do under halide. The same corals. The only thing I dose is kalk. buffer when needed or turbo when needed but mainly kalk daily in top off and heavy feedings. I use to dise everything in the begining like most ppl do but not anymore and my tank has been doing better. Besides I have to save my $$ for the higher electric bill now can afford trace elements. I had xenia in my 55g growing and covering the back glass completely no iodide. I include DT,alga paste golden pearls in my feedings but if a hobbiest does notice a change in there tank its there tank and maybe I would still do it but I never noteced it when i quit I used lugols ,combisan everything.

[Tadashi]

I agree that iodine dosing is not necessary if you conduct regular water changes. I did not know it was in the food also. However, if used properly it can improve the color and health of the corals.

I noticed a change within the first week of use (did not change the lighting until 6 mo later). The mushrooms were brighter (green and blue speckles) and more fully expanded. This also goes for the bubble coral (changed from pale white to flourescent green). My green button polyps became a deeper richer brown with green centers.

The browning is not necessarily a negative effect on the coral. Browns attract more light that is why anemones sometimes become more brown. (read that somewhere)

I did reach a point where I did have a algae bloom. I cut back on the dosing by 1/3 and everything balanced out again.

[MrSandman]

Ok, i dosed with iodine the other day and i took extra careful care not to overdose. I dosed only about 1/2 the amount per the dosage instructions. I looked at my Xenia before and after and took pictures of them for comparative purposes. All i can say is HUGE difference. My xenia really opened up. you can see from the photos below, the top one being the before and the bottom one being after dosage. I know the picture quality of the before one looks a little different but i didnt notice this until later on, since i didnt d/l the files to my PC right away, otherwise i woulda taken another one. Its a new camera so im still trying to figure it all out. If this isnt good, i also have the same comparison on my bubble coral. Call it coincidence, or what you may..but IMHO, i call it proof positive results.
BEFORE IODINE DOSAGE

AFTER IODINE DOSAGE

[Kirk Candlish]

I don't doubt your experience with you Xenia and Iodine. But I it seems rather obvious that the light has changed between the two photos as well, that certainly could contribute to the change.

FWIW

[MrSandman]

I know, I noticed that also. Like i said, i just got this new camera and i was playing with the settings. I think on the top photo, i had it set to indoor photos so the white balance of the photo came out different between the 2. The photos were also taken at a different angle. I think i also played with the exposure level too. Hell, i dunno what i did to my camera. But whatever it was, it sure couldn't affect the actual look of the corals. The lighting is still the same, its the photographer thats the problem.

[Ironreef]

how much do you feed? Mine pulse hard all day even at night. They rarely close up. before I was a heavy feeder and dose iodide the would pulse but they seemed to close up at night. But now i have a DSB and feed heavy the seem to stay open all day and all night feeding.They do close up but not everyday like they use to. But whatever works.

[Larry M]

I used to dose, quit because I didn't like not being able to monitor the levels. I think my tanks have looked better since without it. I would rather stick with regular water changes.

[MrSandman]

How much do i feed? well, i guess it depends on who i feed. I feed my fish once a day and my corals get DT's every other day. I also dose Reef Solution about once a weeks whenever i feel like it. My xenia pulse all day and at night they close up when its totally dark in the room. I do notice that when the lights are off and there is a light in the room, they still are pulsing. Hmm..weird, but what kind of xenia is it that you have?

[Ironreef]

mine pulses in the dark. i look with a flashlight. they never did before my dsb and heavy feeding. Don't know why. 24hr dosing of kalk.?? But anyway if whatever you do works fine. Even in RonS study most of the stuff is heavy in iodide and trace. foods. I have pom pom and elongated. i'm just saying dosing iodide isn't a MUST like alot of ppl belive. it comes in other forms.w/c, feeding ect..More stable ways.

[Martyn]

Like many others I used too dose iodine then stoped dosing iodine some time ago.
I could not tell if there was any differents from stoping the dosing of iodine as I had also changed many other things etc everything has improved this could be due to many of the changes I made and as the system matured a combination of them all I feel.
Now recently I had a problem with one of my fish and decided to start dosing iodine again just in case it might aid the fish in some way.
I dosed and tested for two weeks then the fish recoverd don't know exactly why the fish recoverd and certainly not because of the iodine thats a different story.
During these two weeks of adding iodine I noticed no improvements to my corals or things in my system.
what I did notice was some of my Acropora did not open there polyps as much during the day as they use too.
Now I have stoped adding iodine again the polyps are just starting to open as they use too.

For my system I feel that adding iodine is not needed likely it is added through foods I feed but not to the extent you get by adding a solution.
Martyn

[Cookoopod]

I dose Kent's Super Iodine. Have been dosing it at 20-30 drops per day for a 135G system. Before dosing, I never had luck with xenia. Now, the xenia in my tank has been propped into seven colonies. I believe I can say they are thriving and beautiful. It may very well be coincidence. Perhaps upgraded lighting. Many reefers on this board and others claim dosing Iodine reduces the chance for xenia colony crashes. Since I don't do frequent water changes, dosing the iodine at small amounts didn't seem to be a harmful course of action.

[CAT]

People are talking about using water changes instead of adding iodine. I thought Iodine was fairly volatile so I guess I didn't expect there would be any added to salt mixes. I just checked the Aquarium Frontiers article on the breakdown of salt mixes and Iodine is not one of the compounds they tested for - doesn't mean there isn't any of course...but does anyone know if there is actually any iodine added to the synthetic mixes?

[simonh]

Aquarium Frontiers didn't test for iodine in the salt mixes because Marlin Atkinson wasn't setup to do iodine analysis at the time

I have tested freshly prepared saltwater using the Salifert and Seachem test kits and it is included at around the 0.06 level in Instant Ocean.