using iodine in reef tank !

[Faisal1976us]

Hi ,,,

is using iodine in reef tank important ? and how i use it ?

thanks ...

 

[Blown 346]

Yes it is important to have iodine for good coral growth.

But If your tank doesnt have a load a SPS or high demands for Iodine I wouldnt add it or anything else. The salt you use for water changes has enough of the essential elements for the tank. Unless your test kits are showing certain levels are low would I start to dose things seperatly.

 

[Frick-n-Frags]

a)what are your levels?

D I don't even think we need a b )

seriously, if you can't measure for it you shouldn't add something that is toxic in concentration.

 

[Hop]

Frequent waterchanges and good husbandry are all you need when it comes to this *trace* element.

 

[KDodds]

NSW concentration of I2 is about 0.06ppm. Yes, 6 parts in every 100,000,000 parts of everything else. If you go dropwise, conventional acceptance of a "drop" is 20 drops per mL. There are 30 mL in an ounce. 128 ounces to the gallons, or 76,800 drops per gallon. So... if I2 were depleted to 0ppm, and the smallest unit you could add was a drop, you'd need a 1,300 gallon tank not to overdose. If, like many today, your aquarium is around 100g, you'd be overdosing by 10x. Of course, companies that distribute I2 supplements are probably diluting them a significant amount to avoid this. That amounts to you dosing something that is probably mostly water. And how much did you pay for that? LOL. Anyway, as you can see, concentrations of I2 are INCREDIBLY low in our tanks. Our test kits are incredibly poor at accurately testing concentrations that low and it is incredibly easy to overdose. Not to mention that I2 doesn't ever really leave the system unless it's exported in bio-mass or water changes. Because today's salts are all overcompensating for almost all "necessary" elements, it's highly likely that a simple 10% water change will already bring your I2 levels over NSW levels.

Short answer... no, dosing I2 is not necessary and yes, can be dangerous.

 

[mille239]

Very well stated KDodds.