Masquerade Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Yesterday I noticed that my yabby Darling was eating his own poo. Not accidentally or in passing mind you, he was plucking the stuff right out of his tail and putting it right back into his mouth. My first reaction was EW! My second reaction was the semi-serious thought of renaming him Bear Grylls. My third and somewhat delayed reaction was the realization that this could be bad, so I sat down and did some intensive googleing. After a while I found a seemingly authoritative source that said that this behavior was caused by a deficiency of minerals, predominantly iodine, which should be addressed through use of maine iodine supplements applied at half the prescribed dose. Now these people have some pretty impressive credentials listed so I wasn't about to dispute their advice. So I badgered Dad into taking me to the petshop but unfortunately they didn't stock any of the "marine iodine" that The website recommended, the trip wasn't a total waste though. It meant I was aloud to shop online. This was the only kind I could get to suit my purposes, naturally I'll dilute it a lot before I use it, but I'm beginning to have a little after-shop incredulity. Firstly, after a some further googleing I discovered a few things that make me feel a bit incredulous. Firstly, this was the only site I could find that recommended the use of iodine for crayfish and other invertebrates. Now I can understand that some tricks of the trade can take a long while to latch onto the mainstream industry, but these guys recommend iodine for everything. Is your crayfish lethargic? give it iodine! Is it off it's food? Give it iodine! Is it having trouble moulting? Gosh darn it give that crayfish some iodine and shame on you for not doing so in the first place! It makes a girl a bit suspicious, you would think if it was that successful in improving invertebrate health then someone else would advocate it too. Do any of you people use iodine with your invertebrates? If so do you believe that it is really that successful in improving the health of your invertebrates? Secondly, I'm not entirely sure how much to dilute this iodine and how often to dose it. I was thinking that diluting it to 1 part iodine and 6 parts water and adding a drop or two every other day would be sufficient for my 65 litre tank. But the product blurb says that it has an "unstable nature in solution", does that mean that it will loose its beneficial effects if I store it in a diluted state? Should I try mixing only very small doses at a time or should I just add one drop of the pure stuff a week or so. Can you over dose iodine? I'm a bit confused so any advice on how to best use this product would be appreciated. Accounts of your experiences with the use of iodine and information about its properties would also be much loved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 You don't need it, iodine is used to help them molt and can be stressful, it's not needed and only used in marine tanks, try nori if you really want, sea weed is high in iodine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masquerade Posted February 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 (edited) You mean the stuff in the sushi? Would kelp based algae wafers do the same job? I don't want to sound frugal or cruel here, but I have already bought this stuff so I would like to do something other than leaving it in my drawer to go stale. When you say that it helps them molt, do you mean that adding a very small amount to the tank during the molting process will hep him. Or do you mean that adding a small amount at regular intervals (say, once a fortnight) will help him. I double checked that site again and they say that adding iodine only during molting does no good but adding it regularly (once a week) will benefit them in the long run. Please understand that I don't mean to insult you or throw your help back into your face, I just want more details because at the moment all I have is your word against the words of several other people. Could you please elaborate some more if at all possible? Edited February 9, 2012 by Masquerade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Should work but I honestly doubt you will see any difference in his behavior, these guys eat anything, including their own poop. It helps bring the molt on, he shouldn't need it though, they incorporate it into their exoskeleton and take it up during a molt. Keep in mind iodine is highly toxic, if you wish to dose iodine you will need a iodine test. Iodine in sea water is 0.06ppm, less in freshwater I believe, how is it the these animals function perfectly well in the wild with these tiny amounts of iodine but apparently need higher amounts in captivity to survive? Something seems sus to me, especially if it is the only website you can find about it. I have a yabby here I don't want anymore, you want it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masquerade Posted February 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Sorry, no room. If I ever upgrade my tank I'll be sure to give you a call though. Speaking of which, do you know of anyone willing to swap 20 dollars worth of iodine for twenty dollars worth of something else I can actually use? Thanks for your help. I really should have consulted here before I bought the stuff <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 You could always use it to test for the presence of polysaccharides I'mmsure everyone wants to do that.... If you already have it you may as well try it, just make sure you have a test kit, what else is in it besides iodine? I know some places dissolve it in ethanol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masquerade Posted February 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Oh, or I could Use it to display the effects of osmosis! Science is always fun! All I know from the blurb is that"PRO-CORAL IODINE contains iodine in its most effective form, as elementary I2." I don't know much else. I suppose I was so wowed by all the credentials (the guy has an ancient fossil named after him, how cool is that!) and the size of the database I forgot my usual incredulity and took it for gospel. I'll know more about what's in it when it arrives in the mail and I can read the small print. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_95 Posted February 9, 2012 Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 Oh, will be fine then thought you may have gotten it from the chemist or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masquerade Posted February 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2012 nah, I didn't think the chemist variety would be aquarium friendly. I ordered it from Age of Aquariums (yes I did sing that line, what of it?) and I bought some other things I actually needed from that site while I was at it so it wasn't a totally wasted experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
les Posted February 22, 2012 Report Share Posted February 22, 2012 Hey Masq they need to have a molt befor they can spawn so if you induce a molt then you may become lucky and get a spawn happening let us know if it works Cheers les Ps we have lots of Yabi farms over hear and they induce some with Iodine so I wouldnt fret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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