Iodine - Do u dose it or not? Vote and please explain

[primereefaquatics]

Just frequent water changes for me.

[Gecko]

water changes here

[Dee45]

I never used iodine in my tank; the only thing I do use is Trace Elements from Kent when I do a water change. And everything in my tank is doing well.

[ChuckG]

7 people have stated in the poll that THEY DO dose idodine yet apparently didn't leave any comments. Why?

We want to hear from you. The iodine police aren't going to take you away for speaking up.

I have dosed iodine but I don't on a regular basis anymore. However, I do still dose iodine after a fragging session. I figure it can't hurt to get a little good old anticeptic into open wounds.

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by ChuckG

...
I have dosed iodine but I don't on a regular basis anymore. However, I do still dose iodine after a fragging session. I figure it can't hurt to get a little good old anticeptic into open wounds.

Chuck, Could you clarify this. Are you dosing iodine, in small amounts, as you would a trace element using a test kit, or is this an iodine based dip to stop possible infection while fragging?

[ChuckG]

After fragging, I dose the whole tank with 10 ml of Kent's Tech-I.

This is 1/4 of the recommended weekly dose the bottle calls for for my gallonage - 200gal.

At this rate - no, I don't test for it for several reasons.
1) In the past when I was dosing it I was dosing a much larger amount then every once in awhile when I frag and had no problems then so why test now?
2) I've read that iodine test kits aren't necessarily accurate anyway. There are several forms of iodine and some kits test for one or the other. If you have a kit that is only picking up on one form and you dose your tank to acceptable levels it is possible that the other form has built up to toxicity level. (so I've read).


Since this thread is about the use of iodine I'll throw this one out there. I've read that skimmers take out iodine rather quickly. Depending on how fast the skimmer depletes the stuff it would make you think that maybe dosing of iodine may actually be needed. One would need test kits that they know are reliable to figure this out though and I don't trust mine. Back when I was dosing I could get an acceptable reading of iodine a couple of hours after dosing and come back the very next day and it would test out very low.

I actually misread the bottle initially and was dosing the weekly dosage DAILY!!! I did this for at least a week. You would think that I would certainly have overdosed the tank. I lost nothing and the polyp extension of the corals were great. This is also when I was coming back the next day and the test kit was reading low again. Almost makes you think that the skimmer must have been pulling it out very quickly.

[bstewart78731]

I dose iodine because I have 9 shrimp in a 90 gallon tank and don't believe that regular water changes will provide enough iodine for molting (although I can't prove it). I don't test because everything I have read would indicate that trying to test is a waste of time. I have used Kent Tech-I at the recommended dosage for a couple of years with no problems.

[MDPinUSA]

There should be no need to iodide (not iodine) if you use a decent marine salt.

Iodine appears to have a synergistic relationship with bromide/bromine.

A decent marine salt will have 60-65 ppm. of Br.

Using a marine salt that contains Br only as an impurity (5-8 ppm.) then dosing Iodide can do far more harm than good.

Some brands of Iodide supplements are so watered down, it is generally agreed to be a needless waste of money to use them.

There can be closed marine systems that can beneift from controlled dosing of iodide (I).

It is essential to understand exactly which organisms might benefit from enhanced levels of iodide. Then using a salt water medium that contains Br at NSW levels (65 ppm.) and having the ability to accurately test for iodide or any other additive selected for use.