Food to supplent Certain elements
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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Yes, seaweed has lots of iodine, but I'm not sure a lack of it limits anything in the tank.
All meaty foods have a good amount of iron.
All meaty foods have a good amount of iron.
OP
OP
Im not sure if you understood my question, or I misunderstood your response. But im asking if kelp would raise iodine in the tank overtime, not if it has lots of iodine.
And do you think it's worthwhile to try it for that purpose?
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Well, trying to raise the iodine level in the tank implies that you are adding more than algae and other creatures int he tank use it. So yes, it can raise iodine if you use enough. Whether you achieve that, of course, depends on how much you add and what the demand is. Iodide is sucked up fast in reef tanks (often from NSW to none detectable in only a few days).
Same is true for iron.
I'm not convinced that the iodine level has an apparent effect on most tanks.
Iron certainly has benefits (especially with an ATS or growing macroalgae), and I have dosed it for years, but it also has some potential drawbacks and I'm not 100% sure it is best to supplement it or not.
Same is true for iron.
I'm not convinced that the iodine level has an apparent effect on most tanks.
Iron certainly has benefits (especially with an ATS or growing macroalgae), and I have dosed it for years, but it also has some potential drawbacks and I'm not 100% sure it is best to supplement it or not.
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Okay. If iodine is sucked out fast in reef aquaria, wheres it going?
Im not interested in dosing iodine, but maybe other foods to supplement indirectly small amounts of iron and iodine so it isnt in very low concentrations. I only feed micro pellets and wonder if other foods would help.
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Iodine is taken up by algae, primarily. It is thought it may be a way to prevent being eaten.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300908406001970
Brown algal kelp species are the most efficient iodine accumulators among all living systems, with an average content of 1.0% of dry weight in Laminaria digitata, representing a ca. 30,000-fold accumulation of this element from seawater.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969797001824
The chemical species of iodine in seven marine algae Codium fragile, Ulva pertusa, Monostroma nitidum, Gracilaria confervoides, Sargassum Kjellmanianum, Dictyopteris divaricata and Laminaria japonica were studied
The highest iodine content of 734 mg/kg (wet basis) was found in Laminaria japonica, with 99.2% of the total iodine being water soluble. The iodine contents of the other six algae are lower and soluble iodine makes up 16–41% of the total. In the aqueous leachate, iodine is mainly I−, which amounts to 61–93% of total water-soluble iodine; the percentages of organic iodine making up 5.5–37.4%, while the contents of IO3− are the lowest, 1.4–4.5%
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0300908406001970
Localization of natural products in the gland cells of the tetrasporophyte of Asparagopsis armata Harvey was examined using light microscopy, epifluorescence microscopy, and TEM. A. armata produces a range of halogenated metabolites that deter herbivores and inhibit bacterial fouling.
OP
OP
Interesting. So its useful as a defence for mainly algae. I suppose because its toxic.
Have you seen anything suggesting a lack of iodine would cause problems with algae?
What type of foods would you feed to raise trace elements?
Have you seen anything suggesting a lack of iodine would cause problems with algae?
What type of foods would you feed to raise trace elements?
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No, but it might. I tested it in the article below (where no grazing or overgrowth was involved) and did not find a statistically significant effect, but there was a trend to a small effect.
They also use bromine for a lot of the same purposes, and that may be adequate for them in most cases.
Chemistry And The Aquarium: Iodine In Reef Tanks 2: Effects On Macroalgae Growth ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2003/chem.htm
OP
OP
Why would they use bromine? Is it toxic too?
Good article, but why use a paper towel to dry the algae? Maybe user error accounted for the weight difference. Do you think thats possible?
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On the bromine topic, it is even possible that enzymes intended to incorporate bromine into something act on iodine instead.
The reason to use a paper towel is to remove moisture from the outside before weighing, without drying out the macroalgae. There may be plenty of random errors, but it's the only experiment I've seen where anyone specifically tested the effect of supplemental iodine on macroalgae growth.
As to bromine, there are loads of organobromine compounds made for various reasons, but toxicity may be an important one. Since bromine is present at far higher concentrations than iodine in seawater about 1000x on a weight basis), they may be easier to make.
This older article has more on bromine use in the ocean:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030626...twork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/oct/bio/default.asp
The reason to use a paper towel is to remove moisture from the outside before weighing, without drying out the macroalgae. There may be plenty of random errors, but it's the only experiment I've seen where anyone specifically tested the effect of supplemental iodine on macroalgae growth.
As to bromine, there are loads of organobromine compounds made for various reasons, but toxicity may be an important one. Since bromine is present at far higher concentrations than iodine in seawater about 1000x on a weight basis), they may be easier to make.
This older article has more on bromine use in the ocean:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030626...twork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/oct/bio/default.asp
