Natural Juices in Tank water

[newreefman1]

Ok doc,

I know this may sound crazy...or may not.

In talking with some of my fav. LFS people(go on for hrs....) him and his roommate both mentioned(and they do know quite a bit) they stick very small amounts of juice into their system. Cranberry, apple etc.

They said that the simple sugars in juice help to release the inactice iodine particles in the water(among other items). Is this true, or just a Kooky habit that probably didnt do anythign to their tank cause it was such a small dose?

I know they do this more than once....so its not killing anything, just wondering if there is some truth to it.

Thanks alot once again and hope you are having fun at JD.

=-)
jason

[rshimek]

Hi Jason,

Nutso...

The juices would add some sugars which would boost bacterial growth. Depending on the juices they could add a bunch of other things, tannins, organic acids, preservatives, etc...

Nothing I would want in my tank. I am moving this to the Reef Chemistry forum, Randy may have a different take on the practice.

:D

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Jason:

<< They said that the simple sugars in juice help to release the inactice iodine particles in the water(among other items). Is this true, or just a Kooky habit that probably didnt do anythign to their tank cause it was such a small dose? >>

I've got a great chapter in a book that details many of the reactions involving iodine in seawater (there are a huge number). Unfortunately, the book is at home. Tonight I'll check it and see if there are any that involve sugars, and repost tomorrow.

[dela]

I had a "friend" once a while ago who added 1 table spoon of sugar to a 10 gallon quarantine tank. The tank turned completely white from either some sort of chemical reaction or a massive bacterial bloom. It took him about four weeks to get the water to clear up.

My "friend" never did this again! :D

He (my "friend".. not me.. :D ) always wondered if this could be a viable way of culturing massive amounts of bacteria which could then be used for feeding things like sponges or corals that capture tiny foods.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

dela:

I added sugar (either sucrose or glucose, I can't recall which) to my tank a while back to see what would happen. I did not get the visual bacterial bloom that others seem to have gotten (which has been suggested to be desirable from certain standpoints like lowering phosphate/nitrate, providing planktonic food, etc), but some corals did change color (tan polyps turned brown, etc).

I noted nothing positive from the experiment.

[dela]

Well maybe not adding it directly to the tank, but using the bacteria water in a similar way to green water.

I guess the advantage would be that you don't have to deal with the hassle of making green water.

[FMarini]

Randy:
Apple juice= coral vital.
Honestly all the claims that were made about this product were based on the fact that coral vital added sugars to your fish tank (most likely glucose or sucrose). Kind of like adding glucose to a human via IV.
my opinion
frank

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Jason:

<< They said that the simple sugars in juice help to release the inactice iodine particles in the water(among other items). Is this true, or just a Kooky habit that probably didnt do anythign to their tank cause it was such a small dose? >>

There may be a kernal of truth behind the juice additions and iodide, though whether or not anything is being accomplished is open to question, IMO.

Particulate iodine is mostly pieces of dead organisms that contained organic iodine compounds. For example, a dead alga cell or fragment thereof that contains organic iodine is called particulat iodine by scientists. Particulate iodine can also simply be aggregates of organic material that contain organic iodine compounds.

In nature, these chunks float around or settle to the bottom, and are eventually consumed/processed by bacteria, and the product of that consumption is inorganic iodide (I-).

Nothing in juice is needed for that process. One could argue that adding juice will build up the bacterial populations, and that higher populations might process the particulate iodine into iodide faster.

Another possibility for the original idea is the bacterial processing of iodate (not particulate iodine) to I- in anoxic regions. Craig Bingman discusses this process in his iodine article:

http://www.animalnetwork.com/fish2/aqfm/1997/dec/bio/default.asp

In order for that reaction to take place, the bacteria will need a source of organic matieral to oxidize. One could speculate that adding organic material in juice will speed this reaction.

Craig also shows in his article that virtamin C (present in some juices) can reduce iodate directly to iodide. I don't know if this happens in reef tanks, but it is a possibility.