Dosing Iodine... how to?

[Paul-sn]

I know lots of people dose Lugols's solution to their tanks. I plan on dosing iodine, but since I can't get a hold of Lugol's here, I'll be using tincture of iodine.
I'd like to know how you dilute your Lugol's, and how often you dose it, so that I have somewhere to start with the tincture.

I know that Lugol's is quite a bit more concentrated that tincture, but I want to start slow, wait for results, and then add more if it seems necessary. Therefore, I'll just dilute it the same way that most people here dilute their Lugol's.

So, how do you do it?

Thanks in advance!

(Also, because I'm certain it will come up, I'm aware that tincture contains alcohol, and other things that the Lugol's doesn't contain, but I also know that they won't cause problems with the tank. If anything, the molecular form of iodine, I2, is probably more of a concern.)

[odyssey1]

I use Lugol's and I use 2 drops every three days in a high flow area of my tank. I have been doing that for 8 mo. now and everything seems to be doing fine.

odyssey1

[rmendis]

Hi Paul,
Just FYI, you can order Kent Lugol's Solution from Big Al's online. They ship within Canada: http://www.bigalsonline.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?inSupplier=&inKeyword=&inCatID=17:Marine+Supplements&inSub=&inStartNumber=22&inFinishNumber=22&inUID=1069650319.1069650319
No point in using something that may be reef un-friendly. You can also get Kent Tech I, which is easier to administer without over-dosing.

Also, and I'm sure you know this already, it's a good idea to measure your tank's idoine levels before dosing.

[VaderWS6]

Can't you just buy Lugol's solution from a drug store? Or do you need a prescription?

[odyssey1]

why take a chance on something that you dont know if it is reef safe or not when a bottle of lugol is only 20.00 and lasts about 8-10 mo.

[quack]

Careful with all iodine, especially lugol's!

Rec is 1 drop/25/week

I do 1/50/10days

water changes has I in it too.

[Paul-sn]

You can't even accurately test for iodine. Not with any current test kits. You pretty much don't know what's in your tank.

[rmendis]

Originally posted by Paul-sn
You can't even accurately test for iodine. Not with any current test kits. You pretty much don't know what's in your tank.

The Salifert Iodine test kit works pretty well. If you can't test for it, you probably shouldn't be dosing it. Regular water changes will suffice for trace elements (I, Sr, Mg, etc.). Fish food also contains some of these elements.

[Paul-sn]

Thanks for the info everyone.
I have done reading on the subject, and do know that tincture is no worse than lugol's. Its other constituants do not pose a problem. In fact, if anything, the molecular form of iodine (I2) found in both lugol's and tincture is more of a problem - but there's more in lugol's.

Also, as far as the Salifert test kits go, does it use a yellow indicator of a pink indicator?

[rmendis]

My Salifert kit uses a Yellow/Green indicator. You could ask Habib for more info on the Salifert forum. He probably has some good advice on idodine dosing as well.

[Paul-sn]

Thanks. I just wanted to check that it wasn't the old-style pink indicator test. I read some of Randy Holme-Farley's articles on iodine, and he mentioned the newer yellow test.
So you're right. I should definitely pick one up because it does a good job at detecting most forms of iodine, other than the organic ones.

He's also the one who told me not to worry about using tincture. However, when I'm all out, I'll probably just use something like potassium iodide to avoid any "contaminants" as well as molecular iodine.

Thanks again!