First Fragging encounter... help please

[mutts]

Well I had my first encounter with fragging last night.

A few days ago I bought a small rock with a few zenia colonies on it

[lReef lKeeper]

hey mutts, rubberbanding a xenia to tight may cause it to split again at the site of the rubberband. I would have probably super glued it to the new rock. just a drop or two on the bottom side of the xenia and hold it to the rock for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. (make sure the bottom of the frag is somewhat dry).

[RWalston]

Again I notice everybody uses Iodine. If you dose Iodine test for it. You can overdose and kill everything in your tank. Xenia consume Iodine yes but not at the rate you may think. Test Your water before dosing you may not need to.

[PurpleAardvark]

Iodine is a funny thing, I agree with RW that you should test for it but it is also one of chemicals that is dissipated the most. Everything takes iodine out of your water, skimmer, carbon corals, fish, inverts, ect... I have heard of people overdosing on the iodine but it is very rare happening. Having or dosing a little extra every now and then is not going to hurt anything and when a coral is damaged that is when it uses it the most. I would watch out for the marine snow because that can be overdosed too and lead to red slime.

[segraves1]

I have always heard "you can overdose iodine" but personally have been putting 4 drops per day of Lugals Iodine (supposed to be STRONG stuff) in my 20gal and everything is growing like nuts (macros, xenia, zoes look good, etc....) and neither the feather dusters nor the fish seem to notice.....

[lReef lKeeper]

good info on the do and don'ts of iodine, i do dose at 5ml every wednsday and have never had a problem. it is a low doseage but seems to really be helping my cup coral with its dead spot. it is now growing like a weed.

[mutts]

in my 55 gal i dose half a capful twice a week (the normal amount to add is 1 capful once a week). i was told that it was better to split the doseage in half like that.

also in the tank with it (besides some snails and hermits) is a clown fish, a algea eating blenny (this is until I ungrade), a kenya tree, and some zoas.

the xenia looks much better this morning. tomorrow i am going to try to remove the rubber band to see if it has attacked.

about the super glue... will regural every day super glue work of does it need to be a special kind?

also i run a carbon filter on the tank.

thanks... i will keep you all posted... help is always welcome

[lReef lKeeper]

i use regular WalMart superglue on most of my frags. just a drop or two and they should be good until they attach themselves. as long as the glue is made from cyanoacrylate it should do the trick.

[dakar]

Any ol' Super Glue should be reef safe... check the active ingredient should be Cyanoacrylate.

[peregrinus]

i justlet mine sit on a rock where i want is and it attaches with in a day..

[LiViD]

First time i have ever heard of OD'ing on iodine i got kindof scared reading this thread..lol... I add one cap once a week as per the instructions, and my xenia (both species) are doing gr8 as well as my other hard and soft corals. I am really new here and just a side note peregrinus what kind of clown is ur avatar and is that REAL!!?? it looks totally sweet

[RWalston]

Another of the additives that increases both the oxidation and the redox potential of your tank's water is Iodine, usually available in the potassium iodine form. It is used for a totally different purpose however. Iodine is needed by all living things and especially by macro-algae. It is removed rapidly from the reef tank by protein skimming and ozone, as pointed out again, recently, by Moe (1989).

Because it is a required nutrient some hobbyists add it as supplement, which is fine and should be done on a regular basis. The danger resides in the fact that one can overdose rather easily on iodine and make the redox potential rise too fast. Follow the instructions on the bottle that it comes in carefully.

Do not use Iodine as a redox potential altering additive. Use it only as a supplement required because it is a nutrient. Use any or all of the other methods to alter the redox potential.

THE MARINE FISH AND INVERT REEF AQUARIUM
Albert J. Thiel

[RWalston]

Iodine is a very important trace element for the reef aquarium. It occurs in natural seawater at a concentration of .06 mg/l. Iodine is rapidly depleted in the closed system by protein skimming, activated carbon, and by use of all forms of marine algae, including zooxanthellae and calcareous algae. All forms of corals (stony, soft, mushroom anemones, anemones and polyps) use iodine. It can also be used as a germicidal and has been linked to u/v reducing pigments in corals. Mushroom anemones and Xenia especially respond well to regular iodine additions. Concentrations in the closed system can approach 10 mg/l without adverse effects, it is recommended not to exceed this level.

[RWalston]

How Much Iodine to Use
You should look to have an Iodine concentration of 0.02 - 0.04 ppm of Iodine in your tank. Commercial test kits as of this writing are available from Salifert and Seachem.

It is generally recommended that dilute solutions of KI or NaI be used, 5-10% solutions are acceptable here. Commercial iodine preparations do not need to be diluted, they are very dilute anyways. Lugol's solution can be diluted by simply using 1/4 Lugol's and 3/4 water (by volume). Diluting these solutions will prevent overdosing. Overdosing Iodine can have serious consequences on your tank, as it is both a strong oxidant as well as bacteriocidal. In other words, if you add too much iodine, you can wipe out your tank

Eric Edelman