reef iodide

[pipefish]

has anyone ever put any reef iodide (not iodine but iodide) in there shrimp tanks. It is made by seachem and i was wondering if it was safe for shrimp, fish, and plants and if it was the same as iodine and if it does benifit the shrimp. My breeder told me to put 3 drops per 10 gallons so i was wondering what you guys thought. Oh and i already put 6 drops cause my tank is 20gallons. Thanks in advance.

[Kenshin]

The iodide is only for saltwater marine shrimps. You would soon kill your freshwater shrimps with that much dose. If you have done a search on iodine/iodide you would have found out that Mustafa (host of this site) have numerously stated that iodine/iodide is not necessary for freshwater shrimps. As long as the water is have enough hardness (with kH > 4 and GH > 5), you should be okay. If you would like to supplement them with calcium, just put a cuttlebone or crushed coral in your filter or into your tank. I personally use a cuttlebone and liquid calcium periodically. The food the shrimps eat such as fish flakes, shrimp pellets, or algae wafers have just enough iodine/iodide for them to develop their exoskeleton and aiding the process to molt. If you REALLY WANT to still use it, just add like a drop or 2 during each water change and they should be plenty. If you keep doing what you have done, you would end up poisoning the freshwater shrimps. Hope this helps.

[pipefish]

ok thanks a lot for the reply, i'll probably put 1 drop every water change since i already bought it... My kH is usualy from 13 to 15 cause i live in san antonio and its right over the edward's aquafer which is made of limestone. Do you think i will need to put some calcium supplement or any cuttlebone in my tank? oh and by the way i dosed it for the first time today at 3 drops per 10 gallons, do you think that will cause the shrimp to die? or would continueing that dosage kill them? thanks for the help

[pipefish]

ok well ijust did a search on all the iodine related threads and i have changed my mind if i have time in the next couple of days i am going to return the bottle of reef iodide to petsmart. Does anyone know petsmart return policy on open bottles? i hope they let me return it :-/. I'll probably start feeding them some spinach or something and i do feed them omega 1 which is made of shrimp and my breeder also says it is good cause it contains omega 3 fatty acids or something, is this true? thanks in advance , oh and do you think the 6 drops i put into my 20g will hurt anything? i hope not cause it is starting to worry me

[Ray1214]

I used to use aobut 1/4 dosage on my Hawaiian tank, but stopped. It seems that the water changes with salt provides enough iodide if the food does not.

Ray

[Jane of Upton]

Hello,

actually, I think a *little* bit is beneficial. The place I got my original RCS from suggests it on their website. 1/2 tsp for 25 gallons, once per month. I have the Kent's, and I err on the low side, usually only adding more with water changes.

This is from my own experience: My RCS were fine without it, but there was no breeding going on. After some online research, I decided the iodine could be a good idea, so added some at the rates noted above. The first thing I noticed was that in the course of the next two weeks, I found molt skins for the first time. Plus, I started seeing females carrying eggs. The ones I had were full grown before (ie, there was not a noticable size difference pre and post molt, so I don't think it was an immaturity issue). They also seemed to color up a little more, and their exoskelatons appeared more shiny.

Moderation in all things, of course. But for me personally, my shrimp are healthy, active, breeding and occasionally molting, so whatever my water conditions here are (actually, rather high in tannins here in the MetroWest suburbs of Boston), I have seen no adverse effects from iodine, and will continue to add it with water changes.

Just my 2¢.
-Jane

[Cajunspice]

this is the last person who asked about adding iodine or iodide or any liquid substances:

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