What level should your Iron, Iodine, and Potassium be?

newlyreefd · Jul 27, 2014

Just what the title says. Is there a level to maintain these three? Mixed reef but mostly SPS and I have a Clam.

CoralHut · Jul 27, 2014

Well natural seawater has 392 ppm potassium, 0.0034 ppm iron, and 0.05 ppm iodine. What test kits are you using? How often do you do a water change and what percentage of your total water volume is it?

newlyreefd · Jul 28, 2014

CoralHut said:
Well natural seawater has 392 ppm potassium, 0.0034 ppm iron, and 0.05 ppm iodine. What test kits are you using? How often do you do a water change and what percentage of your total water volume is it?

Red Sea to test those, I change water weekly and 10%

CoralHut · Jul 28, 2014

Honestly I dont think that it is worth it in your case. Your water changes should suffice. If you had a ton of coral and your tank was going through a vast amounts of CA, MG and ALK. Then I might start looking into it. Most tanks do not use enough of these to warrant supplementation. The less you have to mess with the better. The amount of iron, iodine, and potassium that your tank needs is so small and it accounts for such a small portion of what your water is made up of. It's easy to through off your testing and overdose. No to mention the level of accuracy is not that great even when you properly completed the test.

[TABLE="width: 738"]
[TR]
[TD]Test Name[/TD]
[TD]Element[/TD]
[TD]Accuracy[/TD]
[TD]Range[/TD]
[TD]Test Type[/TD]
[TD]No. of test[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]lodine Pro[/TD]
[TD]I₂[/TD]
[TD]0.01 ppm[/TD]
[TD]0-0.09 ppm[/TD]
[TD]Colorimetric[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Potassium Pro[/TD]
[TD]K[/TD]
[TD]3 ppm[/TD]
[TD]150-450 ppm[/TD]
[TD]Titration[/TD]
[TD]40[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Iron Pro[/TD]
[TD]Fe[/TD]
[TD]0.05 ppm[/TD]
[TD]0-0.5 ppm[/TD]
[TD]Colorimetric[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

I have seen many people get their tanks out of balance trying to maintain these elements. IMO. How did you like the potassium test kit? :smile:

mcarroll · Jul 28, 2014

I've tried testing for Iodine and had best luck with Seachem's test kit, but the procedure is very laborious and error-prone until you REALLY get the hang of it. I had to have Seachem send me more reagents twice while I was testing - which they were excellent about doing. I can't swear it never worked or that I didn't at least imagine some results from iodine dosing, but ultimately, the level of effort and inconsistent results that seemed out of my control made me stop worrying about the "lesser parameters" and focus more on water changes.....especially making them EASIER and FASTER to do. Pretty sure this would take care of the other two parameters as well, but I've never tested for them.

I guess that's a lot of words to say: +1

-Matt

mcarroll · Jul 28, 2014

You might also like this Sticky:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/122294-parameters-reef-tank.html

mcarroll · Jul 28, 2014

Gonna have to save these....new to me just now:

Chemistry of Seawater by OceanPlasma.org

The whole article is interesting, but here's the excerpt of the moment:

Very nerdy, but interactive: (found within the linked article above)
Periodic Table of the Elements for Seawater

...which is not to be confused with the https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...9694-abundance-elements-x-periodic-table.html I posted here before!

Check em all out!

-Matt

newlyreefd · Jul 30, 2014

Thanks for the reply guys. The reason I'm asking is because I was thinking about using the Red Sea Color program. And I was always told, "Don't dose anything you don't test for". So I was curious as to what levels these should be, in case I start the program.

newlyreefd · Jul 30, 2014

CoralHut said:
Honestly I dont think that it is worth it in your case. Your water changes should suffice. If you had a ton of coral and your tank was going through a vast amounts of CA, MG and ALK. Then I might start looking into it. Most tanks do not use enough of these to warrant supplementation. The less you have to mess with the better. The amount of iron, iodine, and potassium that your tank needs is so small and it accounts for such a small portion of what your water is made up of. It's easy to through off your testing and overdose. No to mention the level of accuracy is not that great even when you properly completed the test.

[TABLE="width: 738"]
[TR]
[TD]Test Name[/TD]
[TD]Element[/TD]
[TD]Accuracy[/TD]
[TD]Range[/TD]
[TD]Test Type[/TD]
[TD]No. of test[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]lodine Pro[/TD]
[TD]I₂[/TD]
[TD]0.01 ppm[/TD]
[TD]0-0.09 ppm[/TD]
[TD]Colorimetric[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Potassium Pro[/TD]
[TD]K[/TD]
[TD]3 ppm[/TD]
[TD]150-450 ppm[/TD]
[TD]Titration[/TD]
[TD]40[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Iron Pro[/TD]
[TD]Fe[/TD]
[TD]0.05 ppm[/TD]
[TD]0-0.5 ppm[/TD]
[TD]Colorimetric[/TD]
[TD]50[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

I have seen many people get their tanks out of balance trying to maintain these elements. IMO. How did you like the potassium test kit? :smile:

The potassium test was better than I thought. The test I disliked the most was the iodine test. Having to float RO water in your tank for 10 minutes before you even start the test. I just want to get on and get the test over, lol.

gettaReef · Jul 30, 2014

newlyreefd said:
The potassium test was better than I thought. The test I disliked the most was the iodine test. Having to float RO water in your tank for 10 minutes before you even start the test. I just want to get on and get the test over, lol.

Float RO water in your tank?! Odd. Is the purpose to get it the same temp as the tank water?