Dosing Iodine?

[teller]

My humble take on this discussion.
When people say they do not dose iodine/iodate and are fine, it is important to understand if these people are doing regular water changes. Why?
It is simple, because here in R2R there are several threads when people test their new new salt water by ICP and it usually indicates higher levels of Iodine, iron, manganese, zinc, vanandium and others.
If you do regular water changes, you are actually dosing these elements.
I believe that @Randy Holmes-Farley was doing about 1% water change every day.
Not saying it is required but making a note.

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

My humble take on this discussion.
When people say they do not dose iodine/iodate and are fine, it is important to understand if these people are doing regular water changes. Why?
It is simple, because here in R2R there are several threads when people test their new new salt water by ICP and it usually indicates higher levels of Iodine, iron, manganese, zinc, vanandium and others.
If you do regular water changes, you are actually dosing these elements.
I believe that @Randy Holmes-Farley was doing about 1% water change every day.
Not saying it is required but making a note.

True. I use a very basic salt, so dosing trace elements is more important. Also, if you have a lot a growth, you may not be able to replenish the trace elements fast enough with water changes alone.

I really like the 1% water change per day idea. Probably not super difficult to implement, especially if you take a lot of water out of your tank when you give frags away like I do In fact, I'm probably not that far away from implementing that concept today!

 

[teller]

Also, if you have a lot a growth, you may not be able to replenish the trace elements fast enough with water changes alone.

I would say it is very true. The thing is these metal trace elements "disapear" quite fast in our tanks because they bond with organics particules and are skimmed or taken by activated carbon. That is why these elements usually are pre bond with other organics compounds like EDTA or Gluconate or others. So they rest more time in the water, and slowly by biologicaly (bacteria) or by light input are released or by another process that now i do not recall the name at this time, where algae, like macro algae and zooantellae in corais can take apart the element from organic bond.

 

[teller]

Also I believe that macro algae and corals can store these elements for further use. Just like we do as humans with our fat and other elements to further utilize and convert in energy and só on. Só if you do regular water changes every week for an example, you are providing these elements to your corals. Even if these elements "disapear" After two days your corals already had time to store in their tissue for further use. Then next week the same cicle. My point is if you do not dose and do not do regular water changes you may be in risk.
Because of work and family it is so easy we do not make any water change in three weeks and more, happens with all of us.
My humble opinion.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My humble take on this discussion.
When people say they do not dose iodine/iodate and are fine, it is important to understand if these people are doing regular water changes. Why?
It is simple, because here in R2R there are several threads when people test their new new salt water by ICP and it usually indicates higher levels of Iodine, iron, manganese, zinc, vanandium and others.
If you do regular water changes, you are actually dosing these elements.
I believe that @Randy Holmes-Farley was doing about 1% water change every day.
Not saying it is required but making a note.

Yes, I cannot rule out that the small amount of iodine naturally in my system was adequate for whatever processes others may think it is beneficial for.

I also need to caution that folks dosing Lugols are potentially changing much more than iodine, including the speciation and possibly even the concentration of trace elements such as iron that it may react with.

Iodine depleted pretty fast in my system and 1% daily water changes do not add that much relative to the rapid decline as algae and other organisms consume it.. Feeding nori added much more to my system, I think, than did water changes, but nevertheless, the values ran low without dosing:

When tested by ICP, I got 0.02 ppm, although it is not clear what form that material is:

My Triton Testing Results: By Randy Holmes-Farley - REEFEDITION

Recently, Triton GmbH in Germany has initiated a method of testing many ions at once for a single price. In the US, that service is coordinated by Unique Corals. For $49 they will send you a couple of tubes to collect a tank water sample, and a prepaid mailer to send the sample back to them...

www.reefedition.com

from it:

Iodine (I). I don’t generally think that dosing iodine is useful for me based on my experience in dosing it for years, then stopping and seeing no difference. Many people have had that same experience. I also know that iodide and iodate deplete in my aquarium based on kit testing I’ve done in the past. So it does not surprise me that it is depleted since I do not supplement. Triton also detects organic forms of iodine, so when some folks (maybe especially those not doing water changes or skimming) get very highly elevated levels of iodine, it may be organic forms they are detecting. That is an interesting area to pursue since this sort of test is the only way to do studies on organic iodine levels.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I cannot readily find the old graph I had of iodine depletion, but I did find this statement of mine from a post in 2011:

" There is no doubt it is being used up. I've studied that very carefully. In my system it dropped from NSW to undetectable in 1-2 days. Mostly it is taken up by algae (macro and micro). But most things, even the algae, do not grow better or look different with it. "

Thus, whatever my husbandry methods were then, it did not maintain NSW levels of iodine as tested with an iodine kit (Salifert, I think).

I dosed iodide at that time. Not Lugols or iodate or any organic forms except in foods.

I found iodate to deplete more slowly, and can lead to excessive levels if not carefully adjusted. Iodide didn't accumulate and didn't require much measurement, IME, to prevent overdosing.

 

[MichaelReefer]

I ordered some Iodine and a test kit, so I guess we will see if it makes a difference.

 

[teller]

People listen to @Randy Holmes-Farley about different forms each element can go. I made a mistake before when mention iodate when I wanted to mention iodade. From what I understand iodate can be a toxic form of I, oidine at certain levels. The ICP, as far as I know test the elementary form of Iodine, the I, not the type of I. The same for other elements.
But in your vial you send to the company who performs the ICP test you only get this elementary I atom counting. Not if it was iodade or iodate or whatever form it is.
I personaly dose potassium iodide. Not iodate. 20 ppb two times a week.