Iodine dosing, is it worth it?

Sean Duggan

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Hi everyone I recently did an ice test and my iodine was low. Some of my zoas aren't opening up fully, thought this might be the reason why. Based on the reading I've done there's a lot more cons than there are pros to iodine dosing. Just wanted to know if anyone thought that it would be worth it. Practically all my other zoa colonies are fully open and growing, it's just one that isn't. Wasn't sure if the risk would be worth the reward since all my other zoa colonies and corals in general are doing spectacular.
 

OREGONIC

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I had tested very low on an icp test about a year ago. Started lightly dosing and noticed my corals looked happier after a few months of dosing. Saw a big difference in my zoas. I had also had a space invader pectinia that was in my tank for a year with no growth and after started growing like crazy not sure if that was related or just coincidence.
 
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Sean Duggan

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Okay so follow up question. Which specific brand should I get and how often should I dose, weekly, twice a week?
 

OREGONIC

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I use the aquaforest iodine and do a half dose as per the instructions. If I recently have done a water change I skip dosing for a week or two. I only do a water change every month or two tho.
 

C. Eymann

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I use the aquaforest iodine and do a half dose as per the instructions. If I recently have done a water change I skip dosing for a week or two. I only do a water change every month or two tho.

Basically the exact same regime I used when using lugols to dose iodine w/o testing.

From my reading, corals take advantage of the anti oxidative effect when they convert iodide to iodate, this is important in neutralizing the buildup of free radicals in their tissues that are byproducts of the zooanxthelles photosynthesis. I theorize the same excess of free radicals occurs when temps are too high or light intensity it too much ( increasing rate of photosynthesis in the zooanxthelle to a point where corals cannot keep up with this process, and the coral expels the zooanxthelle as a self preservation tactic.
 

OREGONIC

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Basically the exact same regime I used when using lugols to dose iodine w/o testing.

From my reading, corals take advantage of the anti oxidative effect when they convert iodide to iodate, this is important in neutralizing the buildup of free radicals in their tissues that are byproducts of the zooanxthelles photosynthesis. I theorize the same excess of free radicals occurs when temps are too high or light intensity it too much ( increasing rate of photosynthesis in the zooanxthelle to a point where corals cannot keep up with this process, and the coral expels the zooanxthelle as a self preservation tactic.

I left out a good point that you kind of touched on. Dosing w/o testing. This is why I did not do a full dose aswell. Overdosing iodine is supposedly really bad, way worse then being iodine deficient.
 
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Sean Duggan

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Thanks for all the advice and input guys. Went to my lfs after work and got some fuel by aquavitro. Dosed half the recommended amount because they didn’t have any iodine tests. Was going to get Red Sea one. I know it won’t be perfect but will hopefully be better than nothing. I’ll update how the zoas look soon
 

Magellan

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I use about 75% of a capful every other day. (It says one capful per 20g and I have a 28g tank). doing the math, I’m actually slightly below the recommended weekly dosage even though I dose more often, haven’t had any issues in about 9 months now and I know my corals and tank love it.
 

Hemmdog

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Thanks for all the advice and input guys. Went to my lfs after work and got some fuel by aquavitro. Dosed half the recommended amount because they didn’t have any iodine tests. Was going to get Red Sea one. I know it won’t be perfect but will hopefully be better than nothing. I’ll update how the zoas look soon
I recommend Red Sea trace elements abcd fwiw. I also like Red Sea aminos (reef energy a&b)( basically fuel) a lot better than fuel.
 

Hemmdog

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Haven’t used Red Sea, what was the difference other than price?
It’s trace elements are separate from amino acids. It’s more beneficial to dose aminos daily, but if you dose fuel daily it causes issues. I’ve had much better results with Red Sea trace & energy(aminos)I used fuel for over a year and made the switch, huge difference. Fuel is mainly aminos, don’t think of it as a trace element supplement. The aquavitro product you want to use for iodine is vibrance anyways, fuel has trace amounts of it. Vibrance will actually boost your iodine. I still prefer red sea’s iodine though.
 

Magellan

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It’s trace elements are separate from amino acids. It’s more beneficial to dose aminos daily, but if you dose fuel daily it causes issues. I’ve had much better results with Red Sea trace & energy(aminos)I used fuel for over a year and made the switch, huge difference. Fuel is mainly aminos, don’t think of it as a trace element supplement. The aquavitro product you want to use for iodine is vibrance anyways, fuel has trace amounts of it. Vibrance will actually boost your iodine. I still prefer red sea’s iodine though.

do you know if the Red Sea Trace & Energy contains Manganese? That’s why I got Fuel in the first place, I’ve been keeping a Goniopora Stokesi like the optimist I am...
 
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Hemmdog

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do you know if the Red Sea Trace & Energy contains Manganese? That’s why I got Fuel in the first place, I’ve been keeping a Goniopora Stokesi like the optimist I am...
I think part D of the trace elements has it, it’s hard to find exactly what’s in it due to it being proprietary. But it works good. If you really want to be precise you can get the triton individual elements.
 

Magellan

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At this point I am really nervous to change anything. I’ve recently passed the 6 month mark with the Goni, and that’s supposed to be the point that most of them will suddenly die. It’s so sensitive that if I make even the smallest change it lets me know about it, but I am finally getting it to slowly grow.
 

Tastee

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I run Aquaforest Reef Salt and dose AquaForest 3 part component+. Their recipe quotes 6 ppm and I do test occasionally to ensure it is at that level (which it has been so far). Iodine is important to many corals, particularly Gonioporas in my understanding. So far so good.
 

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