Need Help with Salifert Iodine Test Kit

[frnkynlop]

Hello All and thank you in advance for your time and expertise. I love the site.

Well first off I have a ninety gallon tank with 1-sailfin tang, 1-blue hippo tang, 4-damsels, 2-clowns, 1-diamond goby and 2-small colony of pomp pomp xnia. Along with a small clean up crew. I also have 80lbs of live sand and about 90lbs of live rock. I'm running a refugium with chaeto, live rock and miracle mud. System been up for about 8 months.

My water parameters are as follows.

PH-8.2 and sometimes it drops to 8.0
dkh-12
ammonia-0
nitrites-0
nitrates-20ppm
salinity-.022-.023
phosphates-.05
calcium-410



Well here's my question I recently acquired the xenias and I have been doing my research and discovered that they need iodine. So I went to the pet store and bought a Salifer Iodine test kit. So I was reading the instruction and I noticed that the color chart has yellow and green next to each other and going from light yellow and green to darker yellow and green as well as sharing the same numerical values. So i don't know what color I should be looking at when trying to determine the test results. I proceeded to follow the instructions. At first the test results yielded no colors at all. It was clear. I continued to goggle what that meant and found that it does that when iodide are not traceable. So I added Brightwell aquatics Iodide and after letting it cycle for about 2hrs I retested and got a reading on the Iodide. It was a very light yellow so I think it was about .03,but no green. I then tried testing the iodate and nothing it was clear. Can Someone please help. I don't really know what I sould be looking for. Should I even be testing for Iodate, and what is a good range for the Iodide and how do you test for iodine? The instruction only have for iodide and iodates, so how do I know when it would be nesscary to add the iodine. Please help me understand this kit. I don't want to misread the test results and cause damage.

Sorry for the long post, but did not know how else to explain my question. And again thanks for taking your time to help!!! :sad2:

 

[batt600]

What salt are you using and are you doing weekly water change ?. If your using a good salt it sould have Iodine in it. As for keep xenia you have to feed them on a daily baise to keep them alive. And i see you havent tested for mag thats important. what other coral do you have in the tank?. Your salinity-.022-.023 thats low it should be .024-.026 and your calcium you need to raise to 440ppm your nitrates you need to get to 0ppm are you over feeding your fish?.

 

[KathyC]

What salt are you using and are you doing weekly water change ?. If your using a good salt it sould have Iodine in it. As for keep xenia you have to feed them on a daily baise to keep them alive. And i see you havent tested for mag thats important. what other coral do you have in the tank?. Your salinity-.022-.023 thats low it should be .024-.026 and your calcium you need to raise to 440ppm your nitrates you need to get to 0ppm are you over feeding your fish?.

Your salt mix should have iodine in it as mentioned. I do applaud you for not dosing something you aren't testing for.
I have never fed Xenia, nor does it need to be fed daily - not sure where Batt is getting this info.
You salinity is a little low - you might want to bring that up a little.
I also see nothing wrong with your Calcium at 410
It is normal for PH to fluctuate a little - nothing worng with 8.0 - 8.2
Do get a Magnesium kit

Are the Xenia not doing well?

 

[frnkynlop]

Hey thanks for the replies

batt-I only have the xenias. And I'm only feeding once every other day to see if could lower the nitrates. Been battling with this problem for 2 month. And that the other reason I got the xenias because I read in alot of places that they are good for lowering nitrates and other nutrients and they look nice. I've been doing 20% water changes on a weekly basis and I still have the nitrates @ 20PPM.

Kathy- don't know if they are in good health as they are upright and opening and closing, but not pulsing and some of them are somewhat open. Majority of the time they are wiggeling their tentacles as if they are trying to catch something.

Again thax for the advise

 

[prattreef]

1) you do not need to feed Xenia, I know of no one who does so.
2) hobbyist iodine test kits are crap so don't bother.
3) use the Xenia themselves to determine if they need more iodine than your WC regimen is providing them-- if they don't look right ( start shrinking, stop pulsing etc.) slowly add a drop or two and see if they perk up.

 

[ReefFan]

Hey Frank.. just happened to notice your thread here. FYI i dont feed my Xenia, ever ..and you see how they grow out of control. I believe they absorb nutrients through thier stalks and pulsing is believed to be a form of degassing or something like. For mine, the less flow they get, the more they pulse. I have an oversized skimmer and open tanks (3 including sump) that the surfaces are being skimmed. So those two methods really help in gas exchange, if thats a big factor. I think xenia might thrive on fresh organics fed to tank and the older stuff gets pulled out by an efficient skimmer. Or its the other way around.

But we really just gotta compare your set up to mine, cuz Ive never seen Xenia propagate faster among corals -also dependent on ideal water conditions- than in my tank. So theres gotta be a basic difference or two, between em and could be the key to unlock your problem. Thats why i said a pic of the system would help, would also help me to find out what it is about mine that makes em do so well. Since yours came out of my tank, they are the same exact Xenia, just different enviroments... somehow. We gotta figure that out! Like i said though I hardly ever use Iodine and like these guys said any decent salt should have a proper amount of it.

Theres also the possibility that theres something EXTRA thats gettin into your tank that makes em unhappy. To rule that out as a possible you could get yourself some Chemipure Elite and a PolyFilter (both i use in an ouside powerfilter, hanging on my sump), just in case any toxins get in there.

Hope the info helps,

-Jay

 

[Dre]

www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/74797-xenia-question.html

 

[batt600]

hey guys I read some were that if you have a oversize skimmer that you have to feed the xenia to keep them alive it might be wrong . But people that had no luck with them said when they started to feed the xenia stayed alive . I guess it depends on your tank.