Effects of Iodine in SPS?

[P3FE]

I can't figure out what effects would Iodine have in SPS if any. I have been having issues keeping SPS healthy on my 400 gallon tank for some time now, and after crossing out all the obvious things like stability, lights, nutrients and a lot of testing and talking to a lot of people, I have not figure out why SPS won't thrive in this particular tank. Talking with my LFS guy yesterday about the tank and running out of ideas we looked at my Triton results again and the only thing that was odd was that Iodine was 0. I don't know what kind of effect will 0 iodine would have on SPS, I can't find anything in my books or the inter webs. I always though Iodine was more of a softy corals element. Any help on this topic it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Kungpaoshizi]

Some think it doesn't do anything, some do. I myself was determined to find some things at one point, giving light to the subject one way or the other. So far the mechanisms involving coral biology are far from complete in our knowledge databases. I did however find a few tidbits, far from complete themselves, that pointed to a biological necessity. Whether it's relevant or not I'm not sure. But zero is zero...

 

[Rob Lion]

Iodine is part of the Halogen element group, along with Bromine and Fluorine. These act as antioxidants and oxidative agents within the soft tissue and mucus layer of corals, reducing the possibilities for coral bleaching. In active reef systems, these elements are depleted quite quickly due to their high oxidative abilities and reactivity with organic materials. Over dosing is dangerous to SPS.

In a reef tank, ideals are;

Iodine 0.06 ppm
Bromine 65 ppm
Fluorine 1.3 ppm

Check your salt to see if these are included within the makeup of your salt mix and to what amounts they are.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I've not seen any evidence that typical SPS corals benefit from supplemental iodide and/or iodate (the forms of iodine in seawater).

But if you are having issues, it is a fine experiment to try dosing iodide and see what happens. It is very unlikely to hurt anything by dosing it. I dosed it for many years, before stopping because I saw no apparent benefit.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Iodine is part of the Halogen element group, along with Bromine and Fluorine. These act as antioxidants and oxidative agents within the soft tissue and mucus layer of corals, reducing the possibilities for coral bleaching. In active reef systems, these elements are depleted quite quickly due to their high oxidative abilities and reactivity with organic materials. Over dosing is dangerous to SPS.

In a reef tank, ideals are;

Iodine 0.06 ppm
Bromine 65 ppm
Fluorine 1.3 ppm

Check your salt to see if these are included within the makeup of your salt mix and to what amounts they are.

I'm not convinced that there is clear evidence that iodide in corals has the bleaching protection effect you are suggesting.

FWIW, iodate (the main form of iodine in seawater) is not an antioxidant. It is already fully oxidized.

Iodide (another form in seawater) can possibly react with oxidizing species to become iodate, so has some antioxidant properties.

Iodine is rapidly depleted from aquaria, likely because algae is taking it up. What exactly the algae uses it for isn't entirely clear in all cases, but it may be for synthesis of organic compounds that deter herbivores by making it less palatable.

I discuss iodine in detail in these articles. While the chemistry is unchanged,they are now fairly old in terms of recent scientific research papers:

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Iodine in Marine Aquaria: Part I ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/chem.htm

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Iodine In Reef Tanks 2: Effects On Macroalgae Growth ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/april2003/chem.htm

 

[P3FE]

Thanks for the info. I'm going to see if it has any effects on my tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sounds good.

My recommendation is to dose iodide (either sodium or potassium) instead of Lugols which is partly I2, a reactive and somewhat unnatural form for seawater.

There are many suitable brands.

 

[Clownman727]

@Randy Holmes-Farley I received my results form Triton and Iodine is reported to be low and they recommend dosing for these reasons.



I: We have detected a lack of iodine.
A Iodine dose can have the following benefits for your aquarium:
- Improves overall health of SPS corals and macroalgae
- Promotes metabolic processes in the reef aquarium
- Can be helpful against parasites and inhibit their reproduction

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don't think there's much evidence to support those claims of why it is important, but it is easy to dose a suitable supplement and see if you see any apparent improvement in the tank.

 

[bif24701]

Only thing I have seen is an improvement in blue colors of my corals. Some that already bright blue remained blue and others that where not gained a vibrant blue color. Also saw that my ORP would drop.

I would add about .1-.3ml of Brightwell Lugols.

 

[Dennis_IT]

I have been struggling long with my SPS corals growth in spite of a very 'sps friendly' set up in terms of lighting, triad (Triton balling) skimming, flow and nutrients ... I tried dosing Sr and I as a last resort attempt after Triton-testing a few times over two years and noticing I constantly around zero and a very low Sr level. The change was terrific in terms of improvement in colors and growth. I realize this cannot be generalized as each tank is different, but this was really the only change I made: I could witness improvement in about two weeks. Tried ramping down dosing for a month and was back to bad ... At least in my case this seems to do the trick.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have been struggling long with my SPS corals growth in spite of a very 'sps friendly' set up in terms of lighting, triad (Triton balling) skimming, flow and nutrients ... I tried dosing Sr and I as a last resort attempt after Triton-testing a few times over two years and noticing I constantly around zero and a very low Sr level. The change was terrific in terms of improvement in colors and growth. I realize this cannot be generalized as each tank is different, but this was really the only change I made: I could witness improvement in about two weeks. Tried ramping down dosing for a month and was back to bad ... At least in my case this seems to do the trick.

Thanks for the input.

What exactly did you dose?

 

[tgionet]

I found Iodine was the key for me to stop water changes. Daily dose of .25ml. I went from slow growth and 20% weekly water changes, to overall significantly healthier acros/sps and a whole lot more growth and better color.

Relevant ICP tests:
https://www.triton-lab.de/en/showroom/aquarium/auswertung-b/icp-oes/51981/ 5/13
https://www.triton-lab.de/en/aquaria-administration/aquarium/auswertung-b/icp-oes/52257/ 4/10
https://www.triton-lab.de/en/showroom/aquarium/auswertung-b/icp-oes/55993/ 2/17

After the 2/17 test I did only the corrective dose, the 4/10 test is when I started the maintenance dose.

 

[skim]

I have been having issues keeping SPS healthy on my 400 gallon tank for some time now

Could you be a little more specific about your issues and maybe add the results from your Triton.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I found Iodine was the key for me to stop water changes. Daily dose of .25ml. I went from slow growth and 20% weekly water changes, to overall significantly healthier acros/sps and a whole lot more growth and better color.

Relevant ICP tests:
https://www.triton-lab.de/en/showroom/aquarium/auswertung-b/icp-oes/51981/ 5/13
https://www.triton-lab.de/en/aquaria-administration/aquarium/auswertung-b/icp-oes/52257/ 4/10
https://www.triton-lab.de/en/showroom/aquarium/auswertung-b/icp-oes/55993/ 2/17

After the 2/17 test I did only the corrective dose, the 4/10 test is when I started the maintenance dose.

Same question for you, what exactly did you dose?

 

[tgionet]

Same question for you, what exactly did you dose?

Just the Triton Iodine supplement

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Just the Triton Iodine supplement

Do you recall the color? Colorless, or dark reddish?

The reason I'm asking has to do with the fact that many people dose Lugols as an iodine supplement, and that may have effects beyond being an iodine supplement, such as altering the bioavailability of some trace elements by being an oxidizer.

 

[tgionet]

Do you recall the color? Colorless, or dark reddish?

The reason I'm asking has to do with the fact that many people dose Lugols as an iodine supplement, and that may have effects beyond being an iodine supplement, such as altering the bioavailability of some trace elements by being an oxidizer.

Colorless

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Colorless

OK, thanks. Probably sodium or potassium iodide.

 

[Anchor]

I have been recently looking into the effects of Iodine in the home reef system. I came across many of Randy's artiles and though tI would post this bit of anecdotal information here.

In may 2019 I had a very nice torch coral bleach out fully. It stayed alive but colorless and I wanted to find a way to try to get its color back. I investigated several of the trace elements and landed on possible iodine depletion. My tests were reading zero(0) with a Salifert kit. I purchased a couple bottles of Lugol's solution off Amazon and was dosing 1 eyedropper drop per week for a month. I increased it to 2 drops per week and the colors are starting to return since Dec 2019 till now. The only thing I can attribute to changing in that time was the addition of the Lugol's.

I have read tht sometines bleaching corrects itself over time.. but this was dramatic. It has not fully recovered but is well on its way. Will try to find old and new photos