Ascorbic acid/vitamin C question

[bobbychullo]

so ive been using vitamin c in my tank for a little over a month now. i was doing some reading and found out it is derived from glucose and looks much like a sugar on a molecular level (if i am comprehending correctly lol).

does this mean i am putting a carbon source into my tank? much like dosing vodka or sugar? just trying o get a better handle on things...

thanks in advance for your help

Rob

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, it is a carbon source , and that might be the only biological effect it has in a reef tank.

 

[bobbychullo]

so, as a carbon source it makes certain nutrients available when it bonds with them? this could be the reason for LPS inflating more when using it in my tank (or am I simply imagining it lol), basically more food is available to them?

hopefully i am understanding the concept of carbon dosing...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

No, it drives bacterial growth as they eat the organic matter, and to grow they take up nutrients.

Not sure why the LPS inflates. It could be from reduced phosphate or nitrate, irritation of the coral by the ascorbate, consumption of the ascorbic acid by the coral, etc.

 

[tmz]

I'd expect trouble similar to those encountered with sugar with it from some corals since it's a glucose derivative.

 

[bobbychullo]

thanks guys!

I've actually slowly started cutting my dosage right now. i've been using the brightwell aquatics product which is purported reef safe but who knows for sure except the guys making it...

i may give the tank a rest and see what happens...

i started dosing the Vit C not because of nutrient issues but mostly because of weird stuff going on with my zoas (random polyp melts when the rest of the colony would be growing). My zoas and LPS do look better (they stay open much more now which may be due to the increased amount of bacteria in the water?), my zoas recovered and look great. i noticed an added effect that my ORP rose consistently (its now 50 points higher than it was when i started, used to hover around 280-290 now its up at 320-330) and my water looks clearer...

 

[tmz]

I've noted that zoanthus in my system grow much better and are g more vibrant since I started dosing vodka and vinegar over 2 yrs ago. I suspect it's either the additional organic carbon or the bacteria that are helping as might be also the case with ascorbic acid.Zoanthus do not show a feeding response like palythoa so perhaps they rely more on absorbtion of organic carbon to supplement photosynthesis. The consistently low nitrates and phosphate resulting from the carbon dosing could be helping them too.

 

[GeorgeMonnatJr]

I'd expect trouble similar to those encountered with sugar with it from some corals since it's a glucose derivative.

I hate to resurrect an old thread, but someone local is dealing with dino and being told to dose Vitamin C. Has there been any new evidence that Vitamin C does anything better than vinegar or vodka or that it has similar problems to dosing sugar?

Thank you in advance.

 

[DerrickH]

I would be the local guy. Any help would be appreciated. Heres what Ive tried:

GAC non stop
GFO non stop
Chaeto in sump
Wet skimming 2g a water out every 2 days or so
7 days black out(moved corals to QT, they showed no signs of dino after 1 day in QT)
Dosed 7.5ml of peroxide twice a day for 7 days straight, didnt do anything but kill all my pods and tick off my zoas
Water changes just made it worse

Nitrates show 0, phosphates show 0 but not a low range kit
Any questions, please shoot holes in it. Im about ready to tear the tank down and start over. Tanks pretty new so I can see this being a "puberty" stage but at the rate this stuff populates, theres something in there driving it to total tank domination...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You are talking about for dinos?

Are you sure it is dinos? Snotty and such?

 

[DerrickH]

Yes dinos. I havent put it under a microscope but by all other measures, its dino. Ive read all the horror stories and get the exact same results as others did. E.g. water changes make it explode. Lights out made it all but extinct. Now its back with a vengeance. Im going to QT my corals this weekend and Not sure if I should even attempt 14day black out or just take the rock out, sun bleach it, and start over with new sandbed.

Wish I could get a pic of it but difficult to get camera to focus on a bowfront tank. Its fine strings with bubbles on the ends and there is specks in the strings. When lights go out, it receeds quite a bit. There is a layer of it on the sandbed with strings that flow with the currents. Light tan color. Can be blown off the rocks with a baster, or sucked up same way. One of my rocks, right in front of the powerhead, has a fuzzy film on it that I can scrub off with a small brush. One day later its back. If I turn the powerhead off, the strings start forming from the fuzz.