JBL Products

[calvin]

Can anyone tell me if it would be worth my time to buy the following:

JBL Trace Marin 1, 2 & 3?

[Pies]

I don't use any trace products from anyone. Most people have a CA Ractor and add calc, not much else. Personally I wouldn't bother YMMV.

Pie

[calvin]

pies, I have been adding RedSea Calcium 3 (i think). I think my tank might be a bit too small for a reactor though. Take into consideration that I do not have a sump.

[Pies]

You may find that adding kalkwasser is enough to keep calcium at bay. also check with JetSkiSteve about his 'DIY' calcium 2 part, very popular and cheap as chips. Its only when you have huge calcium drain the reactor becomes more important.

Pie

[calvin]

Thanks for that. I will have a word with Steve. What can you tell me about iodine? I have a finger leather and a anemone in the tank.

[Pies]

Again I don't bother to dose iodine. Some do, some don't. Personally I don't think its nessessary if your doing water changes. There is lots of info on RC about iodine, but personally I see no value in adding it.

If you must add it, you can buy lugols soultion from the chemist, which is the most popular form of iodine added to tanks. Some companies like salifert etc claim there iodine is better or magical, however from what I have read on RC there isn't, just maketing at work.

So water changes, add nothing is my motto.

Pie

[calvin]

Thanks. One more question. My anemone moved to the back of my tank after being in hte tank a week. I suspected that it didn't like the waterflow and changed the direction of the powerhead. I also turned the rock that it was on around and it was happy for about 3 weeks. Last night I got hame and it had moved again. Could it be that it's getting too much light? I have T5's on the tank with 4 tubes. Sorry to be such a pain. :oops:

[gregb]

Iodine is a small % of sw. You can add it if you want but I notice that people with large sps setups dose with the stuff. I add marivit by sera every now & then as well as 2 tsp of pure garlic juice to 100Lt. That will make your corals inflate to explode mode.

[calvin]

... as well as 2 tsp of pure garlic juice to 100Lt. That will make your corals inflate to explode mode.

Please explain

[chimera]

Could it be that it's getting too much light?

probably not enough

[Pies]

Your anemone is not happy, hence it is moving. Almost definatly not enough light and not enough random current.

2 of my Anemones at the moment are sitting high (3inchs from the surface) under a 250watt MH light, 4 T5 strips and a 3ft NO fluro. Hammered by 2x Streams throwing 24000 litres an hr at them. So the LOVE light and current.

It is VERY VERY dangerous to have power heads with the anemones. The anemones will move around and get caught in the powerhead, then the anemones will get shredded and die, THEN you will probably loose other animals due to the death.

Mark

[dan_from_nz]

If you must add it, you can buy lugols soultion from the chemist, which is the most popular form of iodine added to tanks. Some companies like salifert etc claim there iodine is better or magical,

Pie

I brought an ammonia (fresh water) test kit of tetra today not only was it MASSIVELY over priced but in the instructions they try to explain why their gravel vac is better than a normal one " it sucks out wasting plant matter AND detritus" lol :roll:

[petplanet]

You should buy the JBL step 1,2 and 3. I am selling them at such great prices!!!

As far as iodine goes, softies use it up at a rapid rate. If you add more than is naturally found in saltwater, their expansion and growth rates increase. It also helps corals (and anemones) adjust to new light levels.

[Pies]

You should buy the JBL step 1,2 and 3. I am selling them at such great prices!!!

As far as iodine goes, softies use it up at a rapid rate. If you add more than is naturally found in saltwater, their expansion and growth rates increase. It also helps corals (and anemones) adjust to new light levels.

Not true. Lots on RC about the detrimental effects of using Iodine. Also measuring it is a major problem as the test kits available (salifert , JBL etc) are wildly inaccurate.

Some people add Iodine because they belive it helps Pulse Xenia grow and not crash or have problems. Many others don't belive it makes any difference. Ever seen JetSkiSteves tank? No iodine in there and his Xenia is going NUTS, infact he has so much its likley that most of us that have some have it from his tank.

I would put it to you that just because JBL/SALIFERT/HAGEN sell it, doesn't mean its nessessary. The are usefull things to spend your money on for the tank, Iodine is not one of them.

My coral growth, anemone health, and polyp expansion is outstanding. Nothing added. I would strongly advise against the use of Iodine and strontium.

Pieman

[reef]

Speaking from many years experience I found that adding a small amount of trace elements does help coral.

Mushrooms thrive much better with iodine additions and since I have added iodine my xenia is doing much better and is growing at a much faster rate,

Mark are you still using Zeovit? do you use NSW?? If you are then you are adding supplements as it is loaded with trace elements. Amino acids etc.

I note that you state that test kits are wildly inaccurate; can you provide us with information on how inaccurate they are? Where can we find this information??

I have noticed that all the Xenia that is going really well are based in tanks that are using NSW, and my feeling is that this is because the high nutrient content of NSW.

So in terms of adding iodine, strontium, etc, I think it is beneficial based on my experience?

The trick is to add supplements in moderation, as more is not better and trying to get a balance.

[Pies]

I do use NSW, I don't use ZEOVIT (currently, but will probably return to it).

My Xenia grows fast, as do my mushrooms. Infact when it comes to Mushrooms/Xenia/Clover I would love to be able to retard their growth, as they are growing far to fast. Especially clover, that stuff grows so fast I am trying to not get any into my new tank as I have concerns about it taking over.

All I add is kalkwasser, and I use a CA reactor. The reactor has some sort of chips to add Magnesium. (10% of the reactor media). I add no other supliments.

Do a search on RC for test kit accuracy or just fire it into google. Lots of test out there. Mereck seem to be the best, Salifert are consistant for the core tests, but the Iodine & Strontium tests are unreliable/inconsistant at best.

You could be right about the nutrient content of NSW and xenia, as JetSkiSteve uses NSW and his tank is a Xenia machine. Its growing very well in my tank also, using NSW. If its growing well in your tank with the addition of supliments, maybee you should switch to NSW and save a few bucks and the hastle of adding them

An article written this year by Randy Holmes Farley (reefkeeping online or his RC forum) about the addition of strontium. He states that even though strontium is found in coral skelitons, this should't be confused with corals actually needing it, jus tthat when the skelitons are made the will absorb it from the water (through calcification I think?). He sais that the addition of strontium may be detrimental to coral health and a growth retardant and reccomends against its use.

RHF has also written a few articles about iodine or info on his fourm on RC. The general concensis is that corals need it, but the addition of it is un-nessessary. Something about there being so many different types of Iodine ions or somesuch, so artifical ballacned addition is impossible. I just took the recomendation to not use it, and don't. I have a bottle of Saifert iodine at home, still unopened.

Completely agree with the addition of them in moderation if you are going to use them. Trace element dosing pumps are the way to do it.

I would re-stress that you can get fantastic growth speeds & coral colours without the addition of these elements, but I do regular 20% (ish) water changes. At least once per month.

If I could find some compelling information about the addition of any elements I would consider it (I used to add iodine, strontium and even tried iron). Now that I don't use them my tank remains healthy and things look great.

Pie

[jetskisteve]

NNNNNNGGGG! Wrong a certain tank in Ewen st in Takapuna has GREAT xenia growth & uses ASW.

[Fay]

My experience with Iodine: Not that I know what I'm doing, I would have asked the same.

But anyway I used to add it every week at recommended

dose but could never get the test kit to move up, wish I could say the same for nitrates. Stopped dosing in July after talking with Pies on the subject<> result better looking everything, the Iodine was turning everything brown, now everything has more colour and expands more. I have always used NSW plus Iodine-Strontium-Trace Hard - Trace Soft- magnesium- Kalk. up until I started with Zeovit.

With Zeovit I have more colour more expansion. I still use Kalk and magnesium plus I shoot any glass anemones in the eye with Salifert Coral Calcium. I don't seem to have any problems keeping up the calcium levels. All these improvements may also have something to do with the fact that we do 5% water changes weekly with NSW as required with the Zeovit System.

[lduncan]

Iodine is a tricky beast. There are many stable forms in saltwater, there is I- , I2, I3-, IO3- and others I believe. This is why test kits are so tricky to make for iodine. You are really testing for 4 or more different ions with a single test, which I'd say is virtually impossible. I used to does iodine years ago, and never noticed a difference once I stopped, so I don't know if dosing it is useful.

Strontium is another ion which is difficult to test for, because of it's chemical similarity to other group II metals, namely Calcium and Magnesium. It can substitute for calcium in the calcification process for this reason. Like Pies said, whether this is beneficial or not is up for debate.

Layton