Iodine / Iodide / iodates off the charts

[ReefAddict]

Hello all. Last week I got an ICP test, I like to do them once or twice a year.

All came back in good / expected range except Iodine. When converted it came out to something insane like .28. I believe we are shooting for a level of .06.

Well I got a Salifert test kit and iodide and Iodine tested a bit high and iodates were off the chart high.

For the record I see no issues in the system.

I have a theory. I feed a homemade frozen mix consisting of Tilapia, Bay Scallops, Minced clams, squid, nori, shrimp. I feed quite heavy probably equivalent of 8-10 cubes a day.

Could the iodine be coming from this? I pour all the minced clams and juice in, I don’t strain anything. I love the PO4 .

So my obvious question is where is this coming from and should I be concerned?

Iodine result was 287µg/l = .287 ppm . It should be .06

 

[thrillreefer]

Could iodized salt be getting in somehow? Like from some of the fish/shellfish brined in it? It’s about 4x what you expect? Probably not a huge deal if everything is healthy. Softies should enjoy it, right?

 

[buddie]

I agree with your theory. Look into the source of the products and possibly have that tested if possible. At a minimum you can rule it out if it's not the cause.

 

[Terry Martin]

I had a case where i overdosed iodine and had about 10x normal for maybe 2-3 months and had no noticeable ill effects in coral (not that I recommend it!).

 

[ReefAddict]

Thanks for the help guys.
Yes it could be a salt bucket that was off, I use IO. Good news is I have gone through and moved on to a new box. Also my latest homemade food batch is almost finished. Next batch I’m gonna drain the minced clams. I need to look at the ingredients from that. For some reason I really suspect that. I have bought the pre minced pack from the supermarket the last couple batches and I’m wondering what that liquid is it’s soaked in (cause I poured that all in ).

I’m going to do about 5 weeks (once a week of water changes) then send in another ICP.

 

[serwobow]

Nori has massively high iodine levels (look at the nutritional label at the store). I think that is probably the source.

 

[shrimpchips]

I would rinse all frozen seafood after thawing as many types (especially shellfish) are treated with color preserving additives (although they’re mostly going to be sulfites and phosphates).

 

[ReefAddict]

I’ve now change my frozen foods and continue to have triton icp Iodine testing through the roof.

I guess the likely culprit would be my oyster feast dosing. I dose it quite heavily every 3 days. Could it really keep levels this elevated tough. I took this icp test water 2 days after my oyster feast dosing day.
It’s crazy. I still don’t know if I should be concerned about this.

 

[ChrisV]

I’ve now change my frozen foods and continue to have triton icp Iodine testing through the roof.

I guess the likely culprit would be my oyster feast dosing. I dose it quite heavily every 3 days. Could it really keep levels this elevated tough. I took this icp test water 2 days after my oyster feast dosing day.
It’s crazy. I still don’t know if I should be concerned about this.

View attachment 176842

Oysters do have a *ton* of iodine. This theory makes sense to me. It would be interesting to soak some oyster feast in water and then test with the seachem kit. I can't manage to keep my iodine up. When I dose it, my corals look great the next day. Having seen some of the frags you post, your corals sure seem happy.

 

[ReefAddict]

Yes these levels have never seemingly caused me any problems and may be beneficial but I’m slightly worried that it’s at the upper limits and one day it might cause a problem.

I am testing with my other growout system that has always tested normal levels of iodine. I been newly dosing oyster feast for a month and will give it another month and see if ICP comes back elevated again. Then I will know for sure.

 

[dz6t]

My opinion is that they really need to calibrate that ICP machine.

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

Yes these levels have never seemingly caused me any problems and may be beneficial but I’m slightly worried that it’s at the upper limits and one day it might cause a problem.

I am testing with my other growout system that has always tested normal levels of iodine. I been newly dosing oyster feast for a month and will give it another month and see if ICP comes back elevated again. Then I will know for sure.

If something seems off with ATI ICP, you can email them in a timely manner and have them retest. Maybe the one you use will do the same. Fingers crossed.

 

[ReefAddict]

I hear what you all are saying and the lack of confidence in ICP Tests in general. Although my elevated Iodine results have been present in a long run of ICP tests through about the last 2 years. It isn't a one-off strange result. Although the levels may be exaggerated because occasionally it comes back extremely elevated.

 

[reefer125g]

Iodine can damage your tank if it is not in check . Watch this video.

 

[ReefAddict]

Thanks for sharing. Really cool video.

 

[ReefAddict]

The ongoing mystery continues. Still my main system ICP Tests off the charts for iodine. This time I sent one to Triton and another to ATI ICP of the same water:

Triton:

Iodine

263.00 µg/l

30 - 90 µg/l

ATI:

Iodine

314.9 µg/l

67.45 µg/l

 

[Chris A.]

Do you add anything like fuel or RS AB+?
Those contain iodine. What’s funny is iodine without being added drops relatively quickly.

 

[dz6t]

I personally won’t worry about it.

 

[ReefAddict]

Do you add anything like fuel or RS AB+?
Those contain iodine. What’s funny is iodine without being added drops relatively quickly.

I do not. I went through all my items I add. The only one (and likely culprit) is the Oyster feast that I dose twice a week. Although months ago, I skipped a week of dosing it and then sent an ICP test in with the same results. Also, I dose the same ratio to my other system and that system tests in range every ICP test.

I personally won’t worry about it.

At this point it is less about worrying about it (as the corals in this system look great, maybe as good as ever), it is more of a scientific curiosity.

 

[dz6t]

It is very challenging to use ICP-OES machine to test iodide let alone in a complex matrix of seawater. Normally, to get a meaningful result, a much sensitive ICP-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) following alkaline extraction is used.