Why should i not dose iodine

[Redhawk_44]

Was at the LFS this past week and was introduced to a HARD CORE sps keeper (crazy what he has invested into his tank). He has been reefing about 22yrs, and was giving some of us LFS rats some advise. So i thought i would pass his advise through you guys and research before doing anything. This was the advise given:

 

He told a local reefer to completely stop dosing iodine. The local reefer has a 100g reef set up with all the "fixins", calc reactor, monster protein skimmer, and lights, ozone reactor, and alot of flow. He has a good looking set up but all he doses after he put in the calcium reactor is iodine and magnesium. We didnt catch the "Why" on stop dosing iodine. We always thought iodine was what was helping bringing the colors out in everything.

 

Also he said the first main piece of equipment to invest in is a phosban reactor. Which i know it works better than throwing a bag of it in the sump. But he was adamant on this being one of the first and most major pieces of equipment added to keep a healthy and stable tank.

 

Now i do know this guy knows what he is talking about for the simple fact i have seen his tank, and i would have to say it is the most beautiful SPS only tank i have seen, in person, in my life. Could one day be a RC TOTM.

 

Just wanted to pick all of yalls brains and maybe find out why to stop dosing iodine. and focus on a phos. reactor. What do you guys think?

[BKtomodachi]

Dosing iodine could be equated to poisoning your tank if it isn't tested regularly. With frequent water changes, the iodine levels in most systems remain within acceptable parameters.

[Pickle010]

My only question woulb be: Are you testing for iodine?

 

If the answer is no: Then don't supplement it.

[Redhawk_44]

My only question woulb be: Are you testing for iodine?

 

If the answer is no: Then don't supplement it.

 

 

Yes iodine has been tested from the start, and everything is in order. Just wondering why he was so adamant on not dosing iodine at all.

 

i mean, looking at his tank he seems to know what hes talking about.

[kgehrke]

Phosban reactors help a lot with BIG tanks. BIG tanks have trouble with nitrates and phosphates. Small tanks often don't.

[The Propagator]

* aintttttttt * ( buzzer sound)

 

Thats bass ackwards son

Large tanks are easier to maintain and have generally lower trites, trates and ammonia where as small tanks build up faster.

 

You should dose Iodine if you have a heavily stocked tank IMO.

Just follow the manufacturers suggested regular doses though per tank volume and make sure nothing else your adding in your system ( not likely other than salt ) add to it.

LPS, SPS, most all softies.. benefit from it.

 

 

Ozone reactors are old school and totally out dated now.

Skimmers have advanced so much now days there really is no need for them IMHO.

 

Phosban reactors are a good piece of equipment if you have phosphate problems, or frequent uncontrollable algae blooms. If you don't its a waist of money as with the small water volumes most of you have a simple water change will eliminate 70% of the initial problem right out of the gate.

Most will tell you "well if you have excess nutrients from over feeding it will remove them."

So will your skimmer. Don't skimp on the skimmer folks.

 

Now the reason he is running all of those pieces of equipment isn't because its a necessary staple for a healthy tank. Its because he has an SPS dominant tank and has to feed filter foods heavily to make sure they all get some. The Ozone reactor helps his skimmer skim more efficiently, the Phosban reactor helps control phosphates from the over feeding and anything his skimmer may miss-return to the tank and become phostphates, and the calcium reactor ( you know what thats for )

He has to dose Mag due to the massive amounts of Calcium all those sps are eating up. Not as much as you might think but still he does because it balances the Calcium and Alkalinity relationship and consumption.

Like wise the Iodine is a necessary item for him because its a heavily stocked tank.

 

IMHO in a tank with a volume of less than 40 gallons you don't need any of the above but a good skimmer and maybe a refugium.

 

Also remember what works for one may or may not work for the next guy due to any number of possible reasons. Take me for example. My 100 is stocked full of more acropora, montipora, zoanthids, various LPS, and leathers then any one should safely house all in the same tank due to chemical combat issues.

But some how some way it works for me.

I can just about guarantee you if 10 people on here tried the same thing at least 8 of them would have total failure trying it long term.

 

So again... what works for one may not work for another

[kgehrke]

My mistake, sorry about that. Apparently I was misinformed.

Thanks Prop.

[The Propagator]

Nothing to apologize for.

Its all about the learning game man.

I don't know every thing either. I learn something new every day like the rest.

 

[Redhawk_44]

Thanks Prop for your info. I will copy/cut/post to my friend. We just couldnt understand why he almost freaked out about dosing iodine and told us to stop dosing. We were kinda freaked out a bit... but he never told us why.

[The Propagator]

Iodine is easy to over dose if your tank is not so heavily stocked because nothings really using it up.

That aside, I would say he OD'ed his tank at one time or another and is now very weary?

 

Not for nothing but if the guy doses it why is he against it as well ?

Sort of an oxymoron there isn't it?

[jeremai]

I love how this so-called 'expert' doesn't understand that what works well for one tank could be disastrous for another. Also, maybe he doesn't get that the same rules don't apply to 'hard-core' SPS keepers as to more relaxed, mixed reef nano keepers.

 

22-yr noob?

[SPS20]

I dose one drop of lugol's per 20 gallons every week, and always have.

 

I also use a skimmer and make heavy use of carbon (both of which remove iodine).

 

This guy may have a nice tank, but he's a noob if he thinks iodine is always a bad thing to dose.

[masterbuilder]

The only thing I know, dose whatever your tank needs...but...you MUST test the levels of anything and everything you dose. If you cant/dont test for it...dont dose it. Thats a new idea...huh?

 

Mark

[Redhawk_44]

Thanks for all the info guys, I think you guys are right. He must have overdosed at one point and has been scared of it ever since. Im going to continue to dose when needed and ill tell my friend to do the same as long as he is testing for it. Thanks again

[The Propagator]

Sounds like you have a good plan in place to me

 

I am not saying this guy doesn't know what he's doing.

If his tank is as nice as you say it is then he obviously knows a thing or two.

We have all gotten scared of something at one time or another from an OD or a near OD.

If you haven't then you simply haven't been in the hobby long enough cause it WILL happen

I would say he O'D'd the system when it was young and not so heavily stocked, then began testing for it and worked out the dosage.

 

He was probably so adamant about you guys not using it because of the small volume tanks you have

and your time in the hobby thus far. ( he may have written you off as noobs and gave the safe answer? I know I have a few times if some one has come off as a complete green horn when they asked questions. I gave them the safest most bullet proof methods I could think of. Not saying you guys are noobs or retards or anything. Just giving you a possibility. )

[lakshwadeep]

Dosing will also be good for your crustaceans since they specifically need iodine to properly molt.

[BustytheSnowMaam]

the short "it's 2 am and I can't sleep answer" is that iodine comes in so many forms (iodide, iodate) and no test kit tests for all these forms. The best way to make sure inverts have proper levels for molting is to make sure their food is enriched with it and that you do regular water changes. I'll give a more thought-out answer with references in the morning, but your friend was exactly right- it is a waste of time and money.

[The Propagator]

Not always.

 

I am telling you I see great results in my heavily stocked tanks, and mixe din my light stocked tanks.

[er1c_the_reefer]

depends on the type of iodine your dosing blah blah blah potassium iodide is the best since it has the most bioavailability yadda yadda otherwise you might get a build up of iodate which can be toxic etc. read it here.

 

does anyone even know why iodine is dose?

 

reason why he's probably not using it: think of it like a VERY effective antioxidant where it acts as a reducing agent. it'll react with other reactive compounds, like O3 aka ozone, and reduce them to a less reactive state (someone check my chemistry on this, i'm a little rusty). this would kill the point of having an ozone reactor, but more so having the ozone reactor kills the point of adding iodine.

 

iodine is good exactly because of ozone. just because you don't have an ozone reactor doesn't mean it doesn't exist in your tank. stray voltage can generate ozone, as will having a skimmer (since a skimmer is just a big bubble maker, some of if it bound to have ozone), and also UV light given off by lighting sources can generate ozone. ozone is damaging to corals and other organisms, and iodine helps reduce that affect. even in a tank running an ozone reactor where theoretically all the ozone should be reduced in the carbon chamber, iodine would be useful for catching any free ozone molecules.

 

but then again its 1:30am and i could just be making this up.

[The Propagator]

I agree with what your saying. ( I never knew the exact science behind it though and THANK YOU for that info BTW ! )

 

Back to my question that never got answered for a second, Why doe she dose Iodine and tell every one else not to?

 

He told a local reefer to completely stop dosing iodine. The local reefer has a 100g reef set up with all the "fixins", calc reactor, monster protein skimmer, and lights, ozone reactor, and alot of flow. He has a good looking set up but all he doses after he put in the calcium reactor is iodine and magnesium. We didnt catch the "Why" on stop dosing iodine. We always thought iodine was what was helping bringing the colors out in everything.

[The Propagator]

You know what I just did a quick little search and read on the science behind Iodine in captive reef aquaria and Randy Holmes Farley recommends NOT dosing it at all. He goes on to say that it is only present in 0.06 ppm in all forms in natural ocean water and control of it in the captive reef is not recommended.

BUT if what you say holds true as well Eric then the reason it may be working for me so well is because I am running a huge skimmer for the tank size because of a huge bio load, and these intense 250 watt halides 6" from the waters surface could all more than likely creating a little ozone which the iodine is counter acting.

 

(See what I meant now kgehrke ? I just learned two new things in less than 10 minutes today )

[Withers]

Another thing to keep in mind...

 

I don't know why he was freaking out over it, but another reason to not dose iodine is because it's simply not required... in any tank. Your corals will still be healthy, your shrimp will still molt and your colors will still be vibrant, so why do it?

[BustytheSnowMaam]

^ agree with Vic

 

From what I understand, no one is completely sure what the depletion rate for iodine is, what in your tank uses it, how much of it it uses, and how it is converted.

 

Good article: Dosing Iodine

 

"Do I need to add Iodine..?

 

Well, yet again there is a bit of a myth, in that it is 'claimed' that Iodine is depleted from aquaria extremely quickly by the use of powerful skimming, Carbon, or simply by assimilation. What isn't frequently considered is the fact that if you are feeding on a regular basis and doing regular water changes, the chances are in most cases, that your keeping up with demand quite admirably. Commercially available, and natural frozen foods contain more than enough to keep the vast majority of normally stocked systems happy. Its only in heavily stocked, or powerfully filtered Reef aquaria that problems with depletion 'may' be encountered or where water changes are infrequent. Sadly the advertising chat on the backs of most commercially available Iodine additives doesn't highlight this fact, and simply gives a weekly recommended dose aimed as a 'just in case' method of attack. This is one mentality most experienced reef-keepers would disagree with quite strongly. In essence, most experienced aquarists would always say 'don't add it unless you can test for it, and that goes for 'any' additive.

 

The problem, is with the fact that iodine isn't a fixed 'single' element that can be measured easily like nitrate or nitrite etc... As already stated above, many forms are created and converted within the marine environment dependant on the system design and organisms present. so it doesn't take long to realise that there's no possible way to give a definitive guide to what should and shouldn't be present, baring in mind the hit and miss quality of many marine test kits when it comes to testing iodine...."

 

I think in Prop's case, a heavily-stocked and heavily-filtered SPS tank, the answer is it's probably not hurting. But otherwise, in our little nano-systems, it's not necessary and could potentially do harm.

[SPS20]

Honestly, i'm not sure what the exact effects of using it are. I have always dosed lugol's iodine, 1 drop per 20 gallons weekly in established tanks. I have never tested for it. Why do I use it? Because I read somewhere about 20 years ago that corals benefit from it and I have ever since. I know it sounds retarded, but that's why I started using it. I would stop using it if I ever had any problems, but I am from the school of thought that if things are healthy and growing well, and have been for some time, don't change anything.

 

We add lots of things to our aquariums that we can't test for. There is very little that you can test for.

 

It could be that I have never had any problems as a result of using Iodine because I use carbon and a skimmer, both of which are known to remove some amount of iodine. It could also be because my tank is very heavily stocked. Then again, maybe I have had problems as a result, and never knew Iodine was the cause.

 

Regardless, to say that using Iodine in a nano is always a bad thing is not neccessarily true. Just use any additives with caution and don't skip any water changes, ever, without exception, and you will be fine.

 

What's my point? We do alot of things to our reef tanks for reasons we don't fully understand. Find what works for you and keep doing it, tell other people what you do to maintain your tank, and ask them what they do. You will find a method that seems to work given enough time in the hobby and enough perseverence, and it is the method that keeps your tanks healthy. A stable routine of maintenence and supplementation is, in my opinion, THE key to a healthy reef tank. I have known people who dumped some really strange things in their reef tanks that might tempt me to call them idiots or crazy, but then you see their tank full of thriving healthy corals, and you can't argue with that.

 

- Josh

[SeeDemTails]

22-yr noob?

 

Yeah....I look at it this way....It either goes one way or the other for long time reefers. Either they adapt and embrace new technologies and methods.

 

Or they stay old school, and become ignorant to how out of date their methods are, which only worsens by the year.