Iodine : Why & what?

[Nickel]

I met a few reefers who keeps a permutations of SPS/LPS/ZOAS/Softies and some dose Iodine.

I read Iodine is used by such corals.

My queries are:

1. what does Iodine achieve for the corals ? Health, colours,....?

2. Are those selling in pharmacies suitable for tank use (much cheaper at $5 a bottle)

My concern is that those selligin pharcies labelled Iodine as antisetic and posionous ifuse in excess.

Any reefers can share their experiences? Positively, neutral, or negative is fine.

[brojj]

There are 2 schools of thoughts here. Some say they helps in the colors of corals, mainly soft corals, some will say no improvements after dosing or dun dose what u cannot test for. (Btw, saliert does have test kit for testing iodine, iodide or iodate but these are not very accurate anyway). There is no standard rules in reefing. All depends on whether u have positive or negative results after experiment on your own tank at the end of the day. Those have positive results could have something inside their tanks to convert more iodine to iodide & thus there is improvements, whereas some don't. Most fatal cases are tank crashes. U have to take care of iodate well. This form does not seem to be uptake by corals & tends to accumulate. Regular water changes will take care of that. Lugols solutions for reefing are the safest to use if u are worried about those iodine sold as medicine. Lugols solutions are very diluted iodine and normally dun cause too much problems if dosage instructions are being followed closely & start with underdose, then slowly to required amount, usually well over a span of few months. Iodine is unstable and will breaks down to iodide and iodate which are more stable forms inside your tank. And one small bottle of lugols can last quite long. <br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br /><br />

[brojj]

One more thing, iodide have been tested & proven to be uptake by corals, not iodine. Iodide will be more safe to dose compared to iodine. And skimmer will usually skims out them very fast & live stocks will uptake them fast, so unless water changes are been performed daily, if not, does not replenish them fast enough for use. Be careful of algae problems. Btw, I dose both iodide ( super underdose) and lugols for few years already, with biweekly water changes in my heavy stocked tank. <br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br /><br />

[Kakani]

One more thing, iodide have been tested & proven to be uptake by corals, not iodine. Iodide will be more safe to dose compared to iodine. And skimmer will usually skims out them very fast & live stocks will uptake them fast, so unless water changes are been performed daily, if not, does not replenish them fast enough for use. Be careful of algae problems. Btw, I dose both iodide ( super underdose) and lugols for few years already, with biweekly water changes in my heavy stocked tank.

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Bro any different you notice from dosing this two solution? Which is better to dose iodine or iodidi?

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[brojj]

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/3/chemistry

Just come across this article on iodine. Very long long but informative. Back to chemistry lesson.

[brojj]

Bro Kakani, sorri but i can't really answer your question as I am those who 'dose just in case...' & my tank consist of mostly SPS, LPS & zoas. Are zoas considered as softies? Also, I am dosing other color elements into my tank. However, what I can say that there is so far no negative effects. I have read somewhere that dosing iodide is more effective & safer than iodine but i can't find that info on the internet now. I do have mushrooms in my tank, their colors are very bright & nice but I don't know whether it is caused by iodide dosing. I have been dosing iodide since day one when i started reefing. Lugols come into play later, however, there did not seem to be any obvious signs.

[Nickel]

Thank you Reelfish for the informative discussion and info.

I gathered from the discussion and the linked info (good reading!), and I stand corrected, that the jury is still out on effectiveness of Iodine dosing as compared to Iodide dosing.

Any reefers can share exprience of Iodine's effectiveness if you are dosing it?

[MarcoVan]

I dosed iodide into my last tank. Not bad, all softies pui pui. Dosage was like one drop a week.

I'll be dosing iodide for my current tank too. Will let you know what I find.

[liquidnoise]

where can we get iodide? from LFS or phamarcy?

[brojj]

Lugol's solution for reefing is safer & is readily available in LFS. There are various brands, kent marine, brightwell aquatics, tropic marine....etc. The LFS may carry only 1 or sometimes more than 1 brand to choose from.<br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br />

[brojj]

Iodide also can get from LFS.<br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br />

[liquidnoise]

Iodide also can get from LFS.<br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br />

the dose (rule of thumb) 1 drip every 2 wks for a 322 tank?

[brojj]

I dose daily. Using brightwell, 2 drops per day. Tropic marine inside my inventory. That one 3 drops per every 100L, based on their instructions.<br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br />

[brojj]

Oops sorry. That is for lugol's solution. Iodide (aquapharm) 24ml per week. Using dosing pump to pump daily, around 3ml daily. 0.5ml per dose at intervals of every 4hrs. Underdose a bit here. Amount to dose will varys between different brands. They will have guidelines on the bottles. <br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br /><br />

[liquidnoise]

so maybe safer to dose like 1 drop every wk? or issit too little?

[MarcoVan]

wah reefish you damn fierce haha

[brojj]

For dosage, please follow the guidelines closely. Start with underdose a bit & very slowly. Monitor closely to the livestock reaction & increase to the required amount if everything is ok. Super underdose will equal to not dosing at all. Stopped immediately if there if any negative reactions. Lol, did not know i am very fierce, in dosing.<br />Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br /><br />

[liquidnoise]

went to 2 LFS in serangoon central. they do not carry....they advice to go to marine LFS. The nearest (walking distance) will be Golden Octopus. Do they carry?

[alcatraz01]

• Let me just add in a statement, iodide or iodine is more for shrimp whereby they outgrow and have to get the new shell harden quickly as they shred their old shell.
• any comment on the above statement, is welcome

[brojj]

True. Also for algae and some other corals. I have provided a link above where more info can be found.<br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br />

[erikokelf]

There used to be a common myth that with iodine and actinic light it will boast your coralline algae growth.

[brojj]

Very interesting myth. 1st time heard that.<br /><br />Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2<br /><br />