Iodine

[reefkeeper2]

You always need to test when you dose anything. How are you going to know if you are adding too much or too little? Especially with the small water volume of a 29gal biocube. Iodine breaks down into iodate and iodide in the aquarium and different tanks metabolize it at different rates. Iodate can build up over time and you could damage your livestock. If your not going to buy the kit and test for iodine, you are taking an unnecessary risk.

 

[JohnK]

Paul, could you elaborate a bit (in laymans terms) on the testing and how to use the salifert kit usefully?

From Randy's article I got that it can get muddled about which; iodine, iodate and iodide - test kits are actually measuring and which is or is not accumulating. What does the salifert kit tell us, and how reliably in your exp?

 

[reefkeeper2]

The Salifert kit tests for iodide, iodate and molecular iodine. If I remember correctly iodine breaks down into iodide and then iodate in the tank. It is iodate that can build up over time. There is a good explaination in the instructions. I'm not home at the moment to take a look so I have to rely on memory. I will update this later if I get it wrong. The kit is not exactly simple to use but you don't have to be a Sheldon Cooper to figure it out. Anyway, for a hobbyist grade kit it is pretty good. It is certainly good enough to keep you from overdosing your tank. I recently sent out a water sample to AWT and they got close to the same answer I got with the kit. As it turns out it was a little high. What is important to remember is that even though you might be dosing the same amount on a regular basis, the levels in your tank can and willl change. There are many factors such as dissolved organics and the amount of algae present that will cause this. And since conditions in our tanks are constantly changing it is important to keep an eye on it by testing.

 

[GobyWanKenobie]

I only do a 3 gallon water change on my 29 biocube every week or two. 5 gallons a week on such a small volume of water makes a big change in the parameters. How big is your bioload?

 

[choff]

I bought the red sea iodine test kit. I used it exactly once. That is not a test I would want to perform on a regular basis. Of course I don't dose iodine, but starting to think about it after reading this thread. Great info. Thanks!

...stupid auto correct

 

[jpr135790]

six line
Yellow watchman gobie
Blue fine damsel
Clown fish
And bunch of coral