Importance of Iodine? - Chemistry Science Fiction

[Garf]

Got the seachem iodine kit, couldn't get it to work, returned it. The first part of the test indicates if elemental iodine is present (presumably if the kit works, lol). Their advice to reduce/remove elemental iodine is to add "Prime" to the tank, first time I've heard that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Got the seachem iodine kit, couldn't get it to work, returned it. The first part of the test indicates if elemental iodine is present (presumably if the kit works, lol). Their advice to reduce/remove elemental iodine is to add "Prime" to the tank, first time I've heard that.

What happened on trying it?

 

[Garf]

What happened on trying it?

Couldn't get it to read anything on tank water, fresh salt and finally the reference solution. Got another one turning up by Thursday. If I can get an elemental iodine reading on something with my Lugol's, I'll try the "prime" trick on that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Couldn't get it to read anything on tank water, fresh salt and finally the reference solution. Got another one turning up by Thursday. If I can get an elemental iodine reading on something with my Lugol's, I'll try the "prime" trick on that.

It would not surprise me that anything that can break down Cl2 can also break down I2.

 

[Troylee]

It would not surprise me that anything that can break down Cl2 can also break down I2.

Can’t you test it with a Hannah calcium checker and different reagents? I looked Into it once but seemed like a ton of work and I’m lazy so I never bothered trying it lol..

 

[capted]

I think the problem with the seachem test kit is the instructions. I had 0 for every test I performed. After looking at the pictures on the instruction I realized when it states add one drop with the small pipette it looks like the pipette is filled to the bottom of the bulb (just like the sample pipette). When I measured it that way the kit gave me readings! You also must check the results within one minute or the color changes rapidly.

 

[MnFish1]

That’s an interesting idea. I do not know how plausible it might be, but I don’t think anyone can prove it isn’t important without some sort of complicated experiments.

The redox speciation of trace elements in a reef tank is a totally unknown frontier of knowledge, both from the standpoint of knowing what balance of all the redox species is in any given aquarium, and what impact any of those differences have on the organisms we keep. The best one can do is analogize to the ocean, which has many similar but also many different aspects to redox processes. We have no way to measure it outside a major laboratory endeavor.

For this reason, when folks report an effect of some additive it is worth knowing the redox effects of that additive, which may play a role in impacts it has in the aquarium (or maybe it doesn’t). Lugols for iodine, vitamin C for organic carbon dosing, hydrogen peroxide and ozone use, etc.

IMHO it is not plausible

 

[taricha]

Yes, it can be done for iodine. I've done that in the past using total iodine and an iodide tests.

Did you find a measurable amount of both I- and IO3- in tank water? That is, was there a stable-ish split between iodide and iodate in tank water in a similar way to what is found in the ocean?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Did you find a measurable amount of both I- and IO3- in tank water? That is, was there a stable-ish split between iodide and iodate in tank water in a similar way to what is found in the ocean?

It was so long ago...

I found a post of mine at Reefcentral from 2002 where I was noting my iodate experiment which was already then in the past, but no data or link to info about it. When I dosed iodate, I certainly detected it because the problem was it was accumulating at the same total iodine dose as I previously used for iodide, where it did not. I do not recall if there was detectable iodide then or not (or if I even looked for it).

I do not recall any data from other times whether I detected iodate or not (or even looked carefully for it).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Can’t you test it with a Hannah calcium checker and different reagents? I looked Into it once but seemed like a ton of work and I’m lazy so I never bothered trying it lol..

That's a question for the hacker testers. lol

 

[Troylee]

That's a question for the hacker testers. lol

USING HANNA CHECKER HI-707 TO TEST FOR IODINE

USING HANNA CHECKER HI-707 TO TEST FOR IODINE In my quest to improve my testing accuracy and precision I found the standard colorimetric tests for Iodine difficult to get any kind of accurate reading and the repeatability (precision) was not...

www.reef2reef.com

I see Hannah actually has a iodine checker now.. interesting:

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

USING HANNA CHECKER HI-707 TO TEST FOR IODINE

USING HANNA CHECKER HI-707 TO TEST FOR IODINE In my quest to improve my testing accuracy and precision I found the standard colorimetric tests for Iodine difficult to get any kind of accurate reading and the repeatability (precision) was not...

www.reef2reef.com

I see Hannah actually has a iodine checker now.. interesting:

That’s hack using a different device. Hannah doesn’t have a device useful as is for iodide.

 

[Troylee]

That’s hack using a different device. Hannah doesn’t have a device useful as is for iodide.

Correct.. then I saw this today.. didn’t know they made one lol.. I’ve only been aware of the hack.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Not useful. Wrong form of iodine (I2) and not nearly low enough detection levels.

 

[taricha]

here's the iodide test hack:
Seachem iodide run through hanna SiO2 checker.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/iodide-test-seachem-kit-and-hanna-silica-meter.391003/

 

[kdtorgy]

I could be one of those that saw an improvement upon adding iodine. In fact I am so convinced that it impacted my tank positively I also did the DIY Iron and Manganese soon after. The difference between dosing these and tropic Marin A + K, is day and night to me. These almost immediate improvements also confounded my "bag of sand" test, as such improvement was unexpected, ie Alk uptake increase, growth tips sprouting.

I started the Reef Moonshiners program 2 months ago. In addition to dosing Iodine, I'm dosing about 15 other elements and keeping tabs on the concentration with ICP tests. I can't say for sure which elements made a significant difference but I can see a significant improvement in color, overall health and growth. I'm getting growth tips on all SPS corals and my Alk, Ca and Mg demand have more than tripled in two months.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I can't say for sure which elements made a significant difference

That’s the whole problem with trying to learn anything when you literally do 15 different things simultaneously. 14 of them may be wasted effort or even possibly detrimental if one of them provides a big positive.

IMO, some of the moonshine additives seem extraordinarily unlikely to be useful since they have no known role in any known organism.

 

[kdtorgy]

That’s the whole problem with trying to learn anything when you literally do 15 different things simultaneously. 14 of them may be wasted effort or even possibly detrimental if one of them provides a big positive.

IMO, some of the moonshine additives seem extraordinarily unlikely to be useful since they have no known role in any known organism.

Randy,

Yep, I totally agree that it's impossible to tell what were the agents of change when 15 things are changed at the same time. Obviously, the better approach would be to change one element at a time, wait for a while to see if there are any effects and then change another element. It's obviously more complicated that that because of all the redox reactions that can and probably are occurring between the different elements and different concentrations. That being said, at this point I'm OK with not knowing exactly what elements are really responsible for the benefits I'm seeing so I'm going to stick with the same program until I see some compelling evidence to change.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Randy,

Yep, I totally agree that it's impossible to tell what were the agents of change when 15 things are changed at the same time. Obviously, the better approach would be to change one element at a time, wait for a while to see if there are any effects and then change another element. It's obviously more complicated that that because of all the redox reactions that can and probably are occurring between the different elements and different concentrations. That being said, at this point I'm OK with not knowing exactly what elements are really responsible for the benefits I'm seeing so I'm going to stick with the same program until I see some compelling evidence to change.

I do not disagree with the idea of the approach of trying to keep many elements at natural levels (or some other preferred level), I’m just cautioning about conclusions that may come from it.

 

[kdtorgy]

I do not disagree with the idea of the approach of trying to keep many elements at natural levels (or some other preferred level), I’m just cautioning about conclusions that may come from it.

Oh, I get it. All I know from observation is that since I started the RM program the coral health, coloration and growth has definitely increased. Since I didn't change anything else, I can say there is probably some correlation between the health and RM program. What specific element or elements is anyone's guess at this point.