6 months into nano tank

[scubacane]

This week marks 6 months into my biocube 14 gallon tank and overall I am pleased. One of my arrow crabs lost a claw about 4 mo ago and it still has not shown any signs of regeneration- he is having a hard time lately grooming himself with one claw and appears to be growing algae colonies on his one good claw- I am afraid the end might be near for him. On a good note I have been able to keep mt BTA alive despite getting skewered on this forum for putting an anemone in a small tank but he appears very healthy with nice bubble tips and greenish coloring- I feed him a bay scallop every 3 days - this must be making up for the relative lack of light for survival - 4 watts per gallon. My live rock sprouts something new every week- there is a nice patch of soft pinkish anemone-like coral spreading over one of the rocks. I might have to prune it back soon . On a sad note one of my hermits crawled into the flow outlet and was shot out like a cannon- my wife heard a loud pop- when we looked the crab had lost its shell and appeared to be injured- in short time several other hermits descended upon him- they really are vicious!

 

[cthegame]

Hi glad to hear everything is going well for you after 6 months. Hermits will be hermits...they are funny to me.

 

[Altohombre]

with cleaners you are gonna have a few loses, even if its an arm or a leg.

 

[Piggy]

How's your iodine? Thanks for update. Sounds like your doing pretty good.

 

[scubacane]

iodine? havent check it, what am I looking for by checking?

 

[UnderwaterWorld]

all inverts need iodine to help with thier molting and skeletons

 

[scubacane]

I see- does that naturally come in something like Instant Ocean or do I need to add it seperate?

 

[yote]

You r salt mix probably has enough iodine in it.But you can add it extra too.

 

[UnderwaterWorld]

I do add it, I use the Kent Marine, but there are many different brands, I know Seachem has it, I use some of their other products

 

[fatman]

Xenias, soft corals, invertebrates and macro algaes are all heavy users of iodine. Sea salts are in general geared for the majority of the trade market, which means fish keepers. Fish are not heavy users of iodine. Large cleaning crews can easily strip a reef tank of available iodine/iodide. Usually water changes of at least 25 % per month are needed to keep iodine levels up without invertebrates and water changes of up to 20% per week are recommended with tanks with heavy iodine users. However iodine supplementation weekly, with typical monthly water changes is normal. Iodine is also considered responsible for increased coral polyp expansion and brighter coral coloration. It is a must if keeping tridacna clams and large crabs. Basically, if you have any more than one snail per 2 gallons of water, or one hermit crab per 5 gallons of water, you should seriously consider iodine supplementation. If you have soft corals you should definitely supplement. As well if you have heavily developing coraline algae you should supplement, if you also have invertebrates or soft corals.

 

[scubacane]

I have some coralife liquid gold pro plus but rarely put it in the tank. Does this have iodine in it? I do about 8 % water change every 4 days and my coraline algae is spreading like crazy as is this patch of soft pink anemone like coral on one of my rocks so I think Im OK. Is there away to measure iodine levels ?

 

[yote]

You can get test kits for iodine from about all the online venders.
Dont know anything about the liquid gold since I've never used it.

 

[fatman]

Iodine in liquid form is usually never added to other chemical preparations as far as I know. As is, it has a limited shelf life and changes forms very quickly once added to a tank. I would very much doubt Thiel would mix Iodine with any of his other preoarations , and if I remember right Liquid Gold is one of his preparations. Albert is big into vitamins in marine tanks. Lugol's Iodine is about the most economical Iodine supplement as it is not diluted. It is used by the drop full, versus most others by the teaspoon.