Brightwell Iodion

[Trenton Henderson]

Just asking to see if anyone has had an experience with the iodine product Brightwell Iodion. I got my ATI ICP test back and my iodine was about 0.01223 ppm (quite low). I bought some Iodion to bring it up, but the instructions are quite confusing:

I followed the equation for my 60 gallon tank, but I used 50 gallons for a conservative dose. I wanted to raise it to 0.05 ppm (as to not risk going over). With this, I got 2.36 mL.

Now, my confusion lies in the fact that they state 1 ml raises 1 gallon by 0.8 ppm, but they tell you if your tank is low to dose the maximum dose of 5 ml per 25 gallons. Dosing 10 ml for 50 gallons, and using their 1ml per 1 gallon rule, the iodine level would increase by 0.16 ppm!

Why would they tell you to do this? Are they assuming your tank is super stocked and it would soak it all up?

I dosed just the 2.36 mL, but I don’t want to risk over dosing, as I don’t have a test kit.

The reason I cared to dose it was because I can’t keep a stony coral from losing tissue and my hammer bailed out both its heads. That was the most glaring issue on the ICP test. My montipora frag was almost completely dead and it has regenerated nearly half its tissue in 8 days! Here is a before and after:

I’m also switching salts (from Fritz RPM to Red Sea Blue Bucket), but I’ve only done 2 10% water changes, so I attribute the change to primarily the iodine.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would not get too worked up over confusing Brightwell direction details. They do not have a god handle on chemical matters.

I'm not convinced iodine is needed or useful, but it's a fine experiment.

The problem is going to be how long you wait to dose again. One dose doesn't solve the issue. In many tanks, it is depleted in a few days (algae uses a lot).

I'd recommend dosing 0.06 ppm about once a week.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

I would not get too worked up over confusing Brightwell direction details. They do not have a god handle on chemical matters.

I'm not convinced iodine is needed or useful, but it's a fine experiment.

The problem is going to be how long you wait to dose again. One dose doesn't solve the issue. In many tanks, it is depleted in a few days (algae uses a lot).

I'd recommend dosing 0.06 ppm about once a week.

Even despite a basically nonexistent coral load?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Even despite a basically nonexistent coral load?

Two comments, but in general, it seems far more likely to be insufficient than excessive.

1. If coral load is nonexistent, one should never be dosing much all for reef as there is little demand for alk or calcium. Excessive alk seems a far more likely problem than excessive iodine.

2. Corals are not the only, and probably not even the major user of iodine in many aquaria. Macroalgae and microalgae are big consumers of iodine. In a tank with no hard corals, the demand for iodine may be higher than in a tank that is mostly hard corals.

 

[Trenton Henderson]

Two comments, but in general, it seems far more likely to be insufficient than excessive.

1. If coral load is nonexistent, one should never be dosing much all for reef as there is little demand for alk or calcium. Excessive alk seems a far more likely problem than excessive iodine.

2. Corals are not the only, and probably not even the major user of iodine in many aquaria. Macroalgae and microalgae are big consumers of iodine. In a tank with no hard corals, the demand for iodine may be higher than in a tank that is mostly hard corals.

Most of my alk and calcium consumption is low, but primarily coralline algae. I have a few small zoanthid colonies and a decent sized Kenya tree. But I do have some algae growth on the back wall, so that might suck up some iodine. I also have a small refugium with Chaeto.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Most of my alk and calcium consumption is low, but primarily coralline algae. I have a few small zoanthid colonies and a decent sized Kenya tree. But I do have some algae growth on the back wall, so that might suck up some iodine. I also have a small refugium with Chaeto.

I see no reason to think you have a smaller than normal iodine consumption relative to alk demand.,