Treating with Vitamin C

[Pufferpunk]

Sure but it's more expensive.

 

[Pufferpunk]

$5 off coupon code for I-Herb: FOR500.

 

[Nomercymike]

I have had great success dosing with Vitamin C in a 12 gal zoa dominated aquapod.

 

[lastduke]

I am going to buy the buffered pure powder. ONe more question, I need to dose around 875mg for 5ppm, at the beginning, how you measure the weight accurately?

BTW, puff, whats your emails address, I put you as the reference

 

[Pufferpunk]

luluwonderdog at yahoo dot com Thanks!

Depending on how large your system is: Start with 1/4 tsp for 3 days, raise it to 1/2 tsp for 3 days & then 1tsp. Leave it at that for a month & see if it helps. If not, go up every 3 days by 1/4 tsps until you get to 1 1/2 tsps. Dose 2x/day, into your sump. You can raise it again to 2tsps if necessary, for severe problems. I'm mainatining at 1 1/2 tsps now, in ~100g total volume system.

 

[Octopus8]

I started dosing the buffered powder from iHerb about a week ago. No change in most of the Zoas so far, but my Nitrates have gone from 15-20 down to about 5. I did notice that my Yellow polyps are no longer melting away. Several of them even have new small polyps appearing at the base. The only problem is the cloudy bacteria bloom I get after each daily dose. It takes most of the day to clear up. The last dose on Sunday made the water very cloudy and didn't clear up until yesterday afternoon. I've temporarily stopped dosing because of the extremely cloudy water(crystal clear now).

Suggestions?

 

[Pufferpunk]

Check our Ca & allk. I think it's funny you say there is no change in your zoas so far & then say: "I did notice that my Yellow polyps are no longer melting away. Several of them even have new small polyps appearing at the base."

 

[Octopus8]

I guess I never realized that Yellow Polyps were true Zoanthids. They are so different in feeding behavior I assumed they weren't true Zoas. Learn something new every day. Any other grammar, spelling or biological classification errors you want to point out before we address the cloudy water.

I didn't say that the Vitamin C wasn't working. I just want to know why I'm getting bacteria blooms(cloudy water) followed by reductions in nitrates every time I dose. I figured once or twice would be normal, but not every day. The water gets cloudy at about two hours after the dose then clears up depending on the size of dose.

Sodium Ascorbate Crystalline Powder dose for my Aquapod 24g:
Day one - 1/8 teaspoon water cloudy for a couple of hours.
Day two - 1/8 teaspoon water cloudy for a couple of hours.
Day three - 1/4 teaspoon water cloudy for about six hours.
Day four - 1/4 teaspoon water cloudy for about six hours.
Day five - 3/8 teaspoon water cloudy for about six hours.
Day six - 3/8 teaspoon water cloudy for about eight hours.
Day seven - 1/2 teaspoon water cloudy for about 26 hours.
Day eight - stopped dosing

Here are my current parameters.
SG: 1.026 (calibrated refractometer)
PH: 7.8 (calibrated PH meter)
DKH: 10
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5 (was 15-20 before Vitamin C)
Calcium: 450
Water temp: 80º-83º

I know the PH is a bit low. After an aeration test it seems that I need additional aeration. I have a venturi skimmer on order that will hopefully alleviate the problem.

 

[montanabay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13045213#post13045213 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Octopus8

The water gets cloudy at about two hours after the dose then clears up depending on the size of dose.

I'm not sure bacteria populations could react that quickly (use ascorbate as a carbon source such that their populations grow to a point that clouds your water, then die in a couple hours).

I wonder if you are having some type of precipitate occurring.

Do you use RO/DI water? The VC could be oxidizing or reacting with a compound or something in the water column causing that response (iron, etc).

Another thought, do you have any coral that produces a lot of mucus when you dose? Possibly the slime/stress could be causing the clouding?

Cheers,

Josh

 

[Octopus8]

I use RO/DI water.

Mushrooms, Xenia and a Cabbage/Flower Leather are my slime producers. Think that could be it?

Strange that my nitrate dropped so soon after dosing with Vitamin C. My nitrate never drops below 15-20 regardless of what I try.....until now.

As a test I just dosed 1/4 teaspoon. The water is currently crystal clear. All corals are open and looking fine except one frag of pink zoanthids that started looking like crap a few weeks ago. I'll report any changes later.

 

[montanabay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13045368#post13045368 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Octopus8
I use RO/DI water.

Mushrooms, Xenia and a Cabbage/Flower Leather are my slime producers. Think that could be it?

Strange that my nitrate dropped so soon after dosing with Vitamin C. My nitrate never drops below 15-20 regardless of what I try.....until now.

I've had slimers cloud my water a few times, not from VC dosing, but from other reasons.

I wonder if ascorbate interferes with the nitrate test. Might run it by Randy to see what he thinks. Also, does the nitrate level return when the cloudiness ends?

 

[Octopus8]

The nitrate has steadily decreased along with the increased dose. After nearly one day with clear water and no Vitamin C the nitrate is still at 5.

 

[Pufferpunk]

There have been many posts about cloudy water & it always went back to someting precipitating out.

Maybe it's time to post this link again:
http://www.livingreefs.com/forums/miscellaneous/590-use-of-vitamin-c.html

 

[Octopus8]

Thanks

 

[Jeff]

Kalvin has got to be getting jealous of that email address.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Ummm... he cant read, so he doesn't know. Please don't tell him, he'll be sad!

 

[JAMDivers]

Hello Octopus8,

Even though I didn't have any zoa issues when I started, (I just dosed to see if I could get better growth and color from my corals), I experienced the exact same results you are experiencing now....

...cloudy water, then would clear up, continued dosing VC, continued cloudiness during the first week, and nitrate reduction followed; continued to increase the dosage, yielding increased cloudiness that wouldn't clear up (2-3 days initially toward the end of the first week); stopped dosing for a couple of days, did water change; doubled up on micron polishing sheets, then resumed at a lower dosage- that worked; tank cleared, then slimy bacterial mats occurred inside filter.

Tough and a little frustrating initially, but I stuck it out and continued to dose. Nitrates went to zero; film algae on glass went to nothing; corals began to thrive-increased growth & color.

The only thing I did different (after the initial cloudiness and water change) was I started back with a lowered dose, then waited a week inbetween uping the dosages by 1/4 tsp, (instead of three days). Seemed to help system adjust better and the water has stayed clear ever since.

Oh, and my Alk/PH levels remained constant....so I couldn't tell you why the tank was cloudy. I thought it might be something precipataing out (maybe CA at first, but levels were fine). Then I assumed it was a bacterial bloom, especially with the onset of the mucusy slime that occurred in the filter. However, I can't explain that part of it.

Good luck Octo8, and hang with it because no matter what is EXACTLY happening, I think eventually you'll like the overall results.

 

[Octopus8]

Thanks for the encouraging reply JAMDivers!

So far my reduced dose hasn't caused the water to get cloudy after 3 hours. I'll slowly increase the dosage over the next few weeks and see how it goes.

 

[Skeptic_07]

Has anyone tested thier water for vitamin C to see if its actually present for more than a few seconds/minutes?

 

[lastduke]

I read the instruction of the VC pill , it says that the VC realeased out in 2 hours period. Have no idea how long it will stay in the water.