sellout007
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I agree, its quite easy. I bought the calcium ascorbate and have seen no ill effects so far.
Treating with Vitamin C
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Pufferpunk
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I'm not sure why another poster here is concerned about being able to test their Ca before dosing, as this does in no way affect Ca.
jdieck
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Puffer: The sodium ascorbate you are using will not change the calcium but will imperceptibly affect sodium (salinity)
Sellout: The calcium ascorbate you are using will not affect salinity but may imperceptibly change calcium (2 ppm oer 1000 mg of vitamin in 25 gal aquarium water)
Neither should be concerned about those changes.
Having said that some formulations may contain calcium carbonate itself as a filler. Calcium carbonate in itself usually do not dissolve at our PH levels of 8 to 8.3 (Aragonite sand is calcium carbonate as well as the coral skeletons) but if finelly powdered and pure the little particles may seed some precipitation of calcium and alkalinity out of the water column which when deposited in a sand bed may either partially re-dissolve into calcium and alkalinity if the PH in the bed is below 7.5, may continue precipitating in between the sand grains amalgamating the sand into a sand rock or may do nothing other than to add to the rock and sand that you already have. Anyhow at the quantities added even if a pill or powder contains calcium carbonate the effects will be rarely noticed.
Note that someone at the begining of the thread mentioned clowdiness when using the calcium ascorbate which by the description seems to have been a bacterial bloom as there was no white powdery deposited on the surfaces typical of precipitation (snow effect). Difficult to find out if it was really related to the calcium ascorbate or to other side effect (like sugar or other stuff in the formulation) because other people using the calcium ascorbate are not reporting any similar issues.
I realize this didn't affect my Ca levels. The unbuffered C did something to my Salifert calcium test. I still can't get an accurate reading on my Ca levels, and it's been a couple weeks since I dosed for the 3 days I did. My test was fine, then I dosed unbuffered C, and I haven't been able to get an accurate measurement on Ca since. I can only assume it was the C.
It's not a huge problem, I can guess where my Ca level is, I just don't know for sure. I knew how much I needed to dose to maintain my level before I started dosing C, so I've been continuing that dosage of 2 part.
Until I get the Ca test sorted out, I don't think I should start dosing C again. I wasn't dosing C because I had a problem with my zoas, I was dosing to see if it enhanced colors and growth. It's been a couple weeks since I could get an accurate reading, and I would like to get a good reading soon.
Pufferpunk
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The products recommended from i-herb are pure Calcium & Vitaman C or Sodium & Vitamin C.
I'm still confused as to what is going on with the calcium test, as I use Salifert also. I think we all really should stop using the pills with all those unnecessary additives & get the pure C.
I'm still confused as to what is going on with the calcium test, as I use Salifert also. I think we all really should stop using the pills with all those unnecessary additives & get the pure C.
I'll do another Ca test tonight and take a picture of what I'm talking about. I was using pure ascorbic acid. There was nothing else in the powder. The bottle actually calls it crystals.
Pufferpunk
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I prefer the buffered form.
This is an interesting concept.
I would suspect that Zoanthus is able to synthesize vitamin C, but haven't found a reference for that.
Humans are actually somewhat strange compared to other mammals/birds/fish/reptiles/amphibians in that we lack L-gulonolactone oxidase, an enzyme that makes ascorbic acid from glucose. This is due to a genetic defect that we, guinea pigs, and a very few other animals share.
So, although its a vitamin to us (vital that we somehow aquire it), it is not a vitamin to the great majority of higher animals (because it can be made).
As far as more simple organisms, plants, algae, and even protozoa have been shown to synthesize it:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/ar...gi?artid=426231
http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...f2c67d390465282
Now exactly how Zoanthus and other corals use (and if they can make) ascorbic acid, or if dosing it would have a beneficial effect... there simply is no research that I could find on the subject.
I would suspect that Zoanthus is able to synthesize vitamin C, but haven't found a reference for that.
Humans are actually somewhat strange compared to other mammals/birds/fish/reptiles/amphibians in that we lack L-gulonolactone oxidase, an enzyme that makes ascorbic acid from glucose. This is due to a genetic defect that we, guinea pigs, and a very few other animals share.
So, although its a vitamin to us (vital that we somehow aquire it), it is not a vitamin to the great majority of higher animals (because it can be made).
As far as more simple organisms, plants, algae, and even protozoa have been shown to synthesize it:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/ar...gi?artid=426231
http://www.sciencedirect.com/scienc...f2c67d390465282
Now exactly how Zoanthus and other corals use (and if they can make) ascorbic acid, or if dosing it would have a beneficial effect... there simply is no research that I could find on the subject.
I'm going to try that once I figure out why my Ca test isn't working correctly.
Pufferpunk
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Thanks doctor, it's great to have scientific opinions about this.
Pufferpunk
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Same here. I really didn't expect this reaction to the C. I do not in any way have a SPS dominated tank so I didn't set it up to keep them happy & have always had problems with PE on them. Not any more! A brown stag now has lavender tips growing on them with purple polyps. Very prety! Some of my SPS have doubled & LPS tripled in size, since dosing VC.
im on day 4. two doses of 2000 mg today. No change in anything coralwise. But that little bit of cyano never did return. It was amazing as my prior experience with the stuff under the circumstances i was in for at least 3-4 more days prior to starting the C treatments.
The ONE little frag that i would say was doing poorly...a 3 polyp frag of red wines...has no change. Ive had the frag 3-4 weeks if i recall correctly and it was open more within two hours of being in my tank than it has been since. its 50% open and not deteriorating...but we all know they can only behave that way for so long before they start to go. hoping that one of these days i wil wake up and they will be smiling at me
The ONE little frag that i would say was doing poorly...a 3 polyp frag of red wines...has no change. Ive had the frag 3-4 weeks if i recall correctly and it was open more within two hours of being in my tank than it has been since. its 50% open and not deteriorating...but we all know they can only behave that way for so long before they start to go. hoping that one of these days i wil wake up and they will be smiling at me
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Pufferpunk
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fly, I'd give it at least a week to see any difference.
Pufferpunk
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It's all good! 
baloutang
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Im dosing buffered sodium asorbate for my 150 gal with apprx 200 lbs LR and a 30 gal sump. By the calculations I did I came up with roughly 1000mg of vitamin c to be added on a strictly prophylatic basis.
My question is this enough dosage for the tank and do I dose 2x's a day 1000mg each time or just once a day, as I couldn't tell by the article...
My question is this enough dosage for the tank and do I dose 2x's a day 1000mg each time or just once a day, as I couldn't tell by the article...
Pufferpunk
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2x/day--the C only lasts in your tank for 8 hours.
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