makeme1098
Reader
I got this piece a year ago and it hasn't grown at all. I tried different spots in my tank but nothing....Please ID this piece for me.
Slow Growing SPS
- Thread starter makeme1098
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kevinpo
Expert
Hello,
Acropora sp. It looks like it is getting too much light for good coloration. I would move it to a lower light area and make sure it gets plenty of water flow.
HTH,
Kevin
Acropora sp. It looks like it is getting too much light for good coloration. I would move it to a lower light area and make sure it gets plenty of water flow.
HTH,
Kevin
makeme1098
Reader
Thank for replying. I actually have this piece low in the tank. When I first got it, it sat in the sandbed for 3 months or so. After that, I placed in hi-light, hi-flow area and it didn't seem to like being there so now, I have it attached to a rock in lo-light, hi-flow area. I have 6-24wtts T5 over 33 gallon cube. Everything else in my tank is thriving but this piece.
kevinpo
Expert
Hello,
I have seen some Acropora take more than six months to settle in after moving locations in the same tank. On average if you have 50+ Acropora a couple are not going to be happy no matter what you do. Sometimes after a couple of years I give up and give them away. Occasionally I hear back that they turned into very nice colored corals. Lighting type and spectrum can have a large impact on coloration.
HTH,
Kevin
I have seen some Acropora take more than six months to settle in after moving locations in the same tank. On average if you have 50+ Acropora a couple are not going to be happy no matter what you do. Sometimes after a couple of years I give up and give them away. Occasionally I hear back that they turned into very nice colored corals. Lighting type and spectrum can have a large impact on coloration.
HTH,
Kevin
makeme1098
Reader
Thanks for the info. I guess I will leave it there for 6 more months and if nothing happens, I will give it away.
apollothesun
Well-known member
if you frag a piece let me know, i can try it in my system and compare it with yours. 
makeme1098
Reader
if you frag a piece let me know, i can try it in my system and compare it with yours.
Ok, I will let you know if I decide to frag this piece.
apollothesun
Well-known member
dose some iodine, helps corals regain there color due to too much light.
makeme1098
Reader
I might have to give that a try. I haven't dosed Iodine before. Do you dose Iodine to your tank?
Thanks,
HT
apollothesun
Well-known member
yes, once a week. i use the aquavitro line by seachem. i bleach some of my chalices due to an overdose of ozone and too much carbon at the same time and are now rebounding after three months. i saw noticeable difference when i started dosing the iodine. now just a habit every monday to just dose the iodine.
before you start dosing iodine, im curious on
what your calcium, alkalinity and magnesium levels are?
before you start dosing iodine, im curious on
what your calcium, alkalinity and magnesium levels are?
makeme1098
Reader
It sounds like I should give Iodine a try.
The water para is usually:
Cal -440 -450
Alk - 7 - 8 dkh
Mag - No test kit
apollothesun
Well-known member
try bumping up your alk to about 9dkh. magnesium should be around 1400ppm. i believe magnesium is just as important as alk and calcium. magnesium helps to maintain your alk and calcium levels. what's your salinity at?
makeme1098
Reader
I forgot to ask, can you ID that peice by any chance?
makeme1098
Reader
The saltinity is 1.026 w/ refractometer.
kevinpo
Expert
I have not seen any studies showing that iodine has any effect on Acropora coloration. Can you post a link to your reference?
Iodine/iodide can be quite toxic so a test kit for it should be used to prevent overdosing. I used to dose iodine (because the LFS told me I had to
) but for the last 10 years or so I haven't used it. I haven't seen any changes since. Boomer in the chemistry forum can better give you the technical process/reaction of iodine in the reef aquarium.Your other Acropora corals look to be doing fine so I don't think your tank parameters are out of range. I tend to run my tanks at close to NSW levels with the exception of alkalinity being slightly higher.
Average NSW levels are:
Calcium 400ppm
Magnesium 1200ppm
Alkalinity 7.0-7.4 dKH/2.51-2.63 meq/L.
SPG 1.026
My target levels are:
Calcium 390-420ppm
Magnesium 1200-1300ppm (or about 3x calcium ppm).
Alkalinity 8-9 dKH/2.86-3.20 meq/L.
SPG 1.025-1.026.
At these levels you tend to have an easier time maintaining the balance between them. As you get closer to saturation they tend to bounce more. This is not to say you can't have great coral health and growth at higher levels (many people do) only a recommendation of what has worked well for me over the years.
Regards,
Kevin
apollothesun
Well-known member
its not for coloration, its for bleaching
in the book julian sprung and delbeck book 3. not sure what page it is but check the index under iodine.
in the book julian sprung and delbeck book 3. not sure what page it is but check the index under iodine.
Boomer
Well-known member
I think some people see things they do not understand and want to believe in Kev. Meaning, the addition of Iodine is not as claimed but may be "curing" so to speak, some issue the corals my have had, as an infection and the iodine is acting as a biocidal, especially based on the conditions of over dosing with ozone and carbon. If the redox or Bromine level got to high it could "burn" the tissue and the excessive GAC would /can crash corals from stripping the system to quickly. We have seen this before.
Vibrance
Most iodide supplements on the market are simply potassium iodide. When added to an aquarium environment, iodide becomes unstable converting to elemental iodine (which is biocidal) and iodate (which is useless to corals, toxic at elevated levels, and can’t be tested for). Iodide is the only form of iodine available to corals for uptake. Because of this instability, iodide must be stabilized for aquarium use.
These guys have lost it here and have no clue what they are talking about. You can test for Iodate, Salifert makes a test kit for that. They seem to have lost it that Iodine in seawater is mostly Iodate and not Iodide. They say raise the Iodide to 0.06 – 0.08 mg/L. That is NSW total Iodine, IO3 and I-. Iodide is only suppose to be 0.01 -0.02 ppm in NSW. They have you at 4- 6 X. Yes, Iodide will converted to Iodate and they are not saying anything about that conversion and what the levels will be when done dosing. 75 % of the Iodine in NSW is Iodate. I do not know where they get the idea that Iodide is some how converted to elemental Iodine in sweater as it is not. It has never been detected in seawater. Certain algae's can and do convert it to elemental Iodine for their use internally. Any elemental Iodine that enters seawater is immediately converted to iodide via hydrolysis. It has a half-life of 0.5 sec. If one is running ozone any Iodide is rapidly converted to Iodate.
What they have you doing here is dangerous. This means that if one keeps a Iodine level of 0.06 - 0.08 ppm Iodide the total Iodine will be on the order of 0.35 - 0.32 ppm Total Iodine, if converted and NSW is 0.06 - 0.08 total Iodine. That is 4- 6 x NSW. And that will continue to rise as you add more of their Iodide. Awhile back 24 reef tanks were tested for total Iodine, some may have been sup's and where on the order of 2 - 50 x NSW.
Is Iodine up-taken by various forms of marine life, yes but there is not one shred of evidence on how much is need, let alone that it needs to be sup'd
Is it possible that if one adds Iodine there is a color change ? Yes, but that does not mean it is needed. There are many ions that can be added to seawater to cause a change in coral color, that does not mean that they are need. With that, said, I understand that many reefers what really bright colors, but that is another matter, as far a "Need " goes. Danna Riddle for months has been working on this issue on how to make corals brighter. Try not to confuse brighter with NEED.
Ref
Iodine in Marine Aquaria
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/chem.htm
The Marine Chemisty of Iodine, G.T.F. Wong, Reviews in Aqauric Sciences, 4(1)45-76 (1991)
Vibrance
Most iodide supplements on the market are simply potassium iodide. When added to an aquarium environment, iodide becomes unstable converting to elemental iodine (which is biocidal) and iodate (which is useless to corals, toxic at elevated levels, and can’t be tested for). Iodide is the only form of iodine available to corals for uptake. Because of this instability, iodide must be stabilized for aquarium use.
These guys have lost it here and have no clue what they are talking about. You can test for Iodate, Salifert makes a test kit for that. They seem to have lost it that Iodine in seawater is mostly Iodate and not Iodide. They say raise the Iodide to 0.06 – 0.08 mg/L. That is NSW total Iodine, IO3 and I-. Iodide is only suppose to be 0.01 -0.02 ppm in NSW. They have you at 4- 6 X. Yes, Iodide will converted to Iodate and they are not saying anything about that conversion and what the levels will be when done dosing. 75 % of the Iodine in NSW is Iodate. I do not know where they get the idea that Iodide is some how converted to elemental Iodine in sweater as it is not. It has never been detected in seawater. Certain algae's can and do convert it to elemental Iodine for their use internally. Any elemental Iodine that enters seawater is immediately converted to iodide via hydrolysis. It has a half-life of 0.5 sec. If one is running ozone any Iodide is rapidly converted to Iodate.
What they have you doing here is dangerous. This means that if one keeps a Iodine level of 0.06 - 0.08 ppm Iodide the total Iodine will be on the order of 0.35 - 0.32 ppm Total Iodine, if converted and NSW is 0.06 - 0.08 total Iodine. That is 4- 6 x NSW. And that will continue to rise as you add more of their Iodide. Awhile back 24 reef tanks were tested for total Iodine, some may have been sup's and where on the order of 2 - 50 x NSW.
Is Iodine up-taken by various forms of marine life, yes but there is not one shred of evidence on how much is need, let alone that it needs to be sup'd
Is it possible that if one adds Iodine there is a color change ? Yes, but that does not mean it is needed. There are many ions that can be added to seawater to cause a change in coral color, that does not mean that they are need. With that, said, I understand that many reefers what really bright colors, but that is another matter, as far a "Need " goes. Danna Riddle for months has been working on this issue on how to make corals brighter. Try not to confuse brighter with NEED.
Ref
Iodine in Marine Aquaria
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2003/chem.htm
The Marine Chemisty of Iodine, G.T.F. Wong, Reviews in Aqauric Sciences, 4(1)45-76 (1991)
Boomer
Well-known member
Yes, It is " believed " that it helps corals from bleaching. Again, they are saying, as I said above, it may be acting like a antibiotic helping the coral. But, if you read all of it what else does it say ? That the iodine my inhibit calcificaion also, reduce photosynthesis and limit the production of active oxygen. Iodine supp'ing is an old thing and not done by most anymore.
kevinpo
Expert
Thank you Boomer for the explanation and the link to the article.
Regards,
Kevin
Regards,
Kevin
makeme1098
Reader
Thanks for all the info. I'm not sure if that frag is bleached. It looks bleached in the picture because my photo skills are pretty bad. The tips are light purple and PE on the tips are purple.
