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Re: iodide in the planted tank
On Tue, 25 Jul 2000, Neil Travis wrote:
> Iodine is not added to table salt because people need it but purely to make
> it flow better as normal cooking salt which has is not iodised tends to mix
> freely with water and as such would clog up the salt shaker etc. and goes
> hard with moisture from the air as salt is hydroscopic. Iodised salt in high
> concentrations is poisonous to fish and should not be used in an aquarium
> only natural or non idodised salt is suitable.
> cheers
It's my long-standing understanding that iodide *is* added to table salt
for nutritional reasons. It's for the health of your thyroid.
Not all table salt is iodized. For some reason my wife buys uniodized
table salt. I don't think that adding iodide to salt does anything to keep
it from clumping in humid conditions. They add calcium silicate and a few
other things for that purpose.
As to the toxicity of iodide... I actually add it to some of my tanks.
It seems necessary for the long-term maintenance of ghost shrimp. At the
levels I use it, I've not noticed any problem with the fish in those tanks
and certainly the plants don't complain.
Iodine, on the other hand, is toxic and quite unstable.
Roger Miller