Iodine and invertebrate molting - good or bad?

[Reef and Dive]

I´ve been searching for serious articles on the role of iodine in invertebrate molting.

- There is the hobby the belief that iodine is required for molting and is a required ion for that purpose (not specifically going into dosing controversies).

- There is also the belief that iodine dosing actually could harm invertebrates and they molt to get rid of it.

Is anyone aware of serious scientific studies that could lead to a conclusion about that?

I´ve been searching for studies and searched the forum (and there I found mostly opinions, but I would like to look for better evidence).

 

[Reef and Dive]

This discussion arrives often, but no evidence for or against....

Inducing exoskeleton shedding in Lysmata sp.?

Is it possible to induce exoskeletal shedding in Lysmata shrimp? I know that lysmata shrimp get berried post-shedding, and for the purpose of mass culture, is it possible to induce a large number of shrimp to shed on a given day to "align" their shed cycles so they'll all be berried at the same...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Reef.]

- There is also the belief that iodine dosing actually could harm invertebrates and they molt to get rid of it.

I wouldn’t have thought evolution moves that fast, for them to trigger a molt because of a bad substance in the water.

If you do regular water changes and your shrimps are melting fine, I’m not sure why you would think iodine is needed.

There are many tanks with shrimps living happily without iodine being added.

 

[Reef and Dive]

- There is also the belief that iodine dosing actually could harm invertebrates and they molt to get rid of it.

I wouldn’t have thought evolution moves that fast, for them to trigger a molt because of a bad substance in the water.

If you do regular water changes and your shrimps are melting fine, I’m not sure why you would think iodine is needed.

There are many tanks with shrimps living happily without iodine being added.

That´s exactly the question I´m looking to answer. I often serve as an influencer here in Brazil, so I´m very worried about source of information and dissemination of myths.

I´m not talking if iodine should or not be dosed. I´ve dosed many times. Not dosed many times.

But while dosing it is extremely frequent to observe frequent molts.

That said, I´m very interested in get any better evidence (trying to search articles but none found until now, not for one side nor to the other.

On forums, I´ve found many times both info by respected aquarists:

- iodine is required for molt (and they have high iodine content)

- iodine is harmful and they molt to get rid of the excess