Treating with Vitamin C

[Jeff]

Logzor, not to be rude, but you really need to sort out your basic reefkeeping setup before going back on vitamin c. Then lets get you going on a dosing program.

 

[Logzor]

My basic reefkeeping setup is fine. Alk and calcium is fully automated and is right on track.

I simply forgot to adjust my refractometer. You really need to get a grasp of my situation before you insult my basic reefkeeping setup, thanks.

You have been very helpful to myself and many others but spare me the "getting me back on a dosing program". That sounds ridiculous.

I am going to hold off on dosing for now to see if this cloud is a bacteria bloom or not. Ill report back tomorrow.

 

[Jeff]

I didnt mean to insult you and I'm sorry you took it that way but the problems you keep describing over the last few pages dont seem to be related to vitamin c dosing which is what this thread is about. It's hard to give advice when you are having problems with water chemistry and kalk issues.
Holding off on dosing is a good idea but give it more then one day. Things take time in this hobby especially dosing a product that is still in the experimental stage. its hard to guage its effects if there are other variables going on right now.
Again, sorry if you are insulted.

 

[Logzor]

Im sorry, I was kind of insulted. I appreciate your concern a great deal. I put an insane amount of work into honing my system to perfection. I have simply had a few bumps in the road which are pretty embarrassing. The kalk slurry may or may not have happened - im just trying to narrow things down until I start dosing again.

 

[Jeff]

:thumbsup:
Let me know if theres anything I can do.

 

[Logzor]

Thanks Jeff. I appreciate it.

Ill keep you posted with any new findings and begin dosing once the waters have cleared....no pun intended.

 

[cjilge]

OK, today is day 5 @ 1/4 teaspoon on my 90gal twv almost all are looking better, and the zoas that were good before actually have popped some new heads! I only have one colony that is still closed up, only two or three polyps open on about 20-25. I hope it pulls through. My question is should I up the dosage? I haven't seen any ill affects to this point and all params in line. Thinking of going to 1/2 teaspoon 2x daily starting tonight.

 

[Jeff]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14357244#post14357244 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cjilge
OK, today is day 5 @ 1/4 teaspoon on my 90gal twv almost all are looking better, and the zoas that were good before actually have popped some new heads! I only have one colony that is still closed up, only two or three polyps open on about 20-25. I hope it pulls through. My question is should I up the dosage? I haven't seen any ill affects to this point and all params in line. Thinking of going to 1/2 teaspoon 2x daily starting tonight.

How many ppm are you at?

 

[cjilge]

right @ 6ppm Should I go up a smaller dose? most are showing some good signs of improvement, but one isn't at all yet. Today is the 5th day dosing. I thought about doing 3/8 tsp which would be 9ppm.

 

[Jeff]

Sounds good. You can go a little faster if you want. At this point a lot of people are doubling the dose every couple days.

 

[cjilge]

cool I'll start the increase tonight. Thanks for all the help!

 

[r-balljunkie]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14353195#post14353195 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Jeff
Its common for chaeto growth to slow way down and/or stop. I have the same size ball of chaeto that I did a year ago. i should really just throw it out. Without nutrients, the chaeto stops growing which is not a bad thing. As long as you dont go too low you will be ok. Keep an eye on sps color. I agree with Genetics when he says to feed more if this happens. Its the same thing when dosing v/s/v/, ZEO, Prodibio, etc with the ULNS (ultra low nutrient system) people, the drop in color is caused by nutients actually being too low.
The use of GFO and carbon has no real impact on this, they dont effect nutrients in the same way.
I feel that this is a good indicator that you may be dosing a bit too much and that dropping down to around 5 ppm might be the way to go if not there all ready.

after 2nd week of dosing, for the first time ever, my chaeto is starting to melt. i am noticing a whitish residue as well, on the top layer. i have been giving it away for years, every month or so due to strong growth.

i think i will pull out half of it. i dont want too much melting away.
c

 

[Jeff]

:thumbsup:

 

[Merfin70]

Yep, mine is down to a tennis ball size now. Was a bucket full before. Sad as it made a great micro bubble trap for me. I'll have to find something new for that now as the beneifts so far of the V-C far exceed my cheato.

 

[Zman42]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14336791#post14336791 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by r-balljunkie
when will my skimmer stop going nuts?


c

Within the past week, my skimmer stopped pulling out the junk that it was when I started dosing. Could this mean that I need to cut my dosing back a little? Could this possibly mean that the nutrient level is too low? My cheato is almost gone, but the sps look fine.

 

[Jeff]

I wouldnt guage your sucess with vitmain c based on skimmer perfomance, rather go with coral health. If your corals are healthy and spreading then cutting back may be something to think about. I have not found doses above 10 ppm do anything for my tank at all so I save money and dose under 10 ppm to save money. If using vitamin c purely as a carbon source, then IMO, save your money and go with a low dose and add whichever inexpensive carbon source suits you. In my case its sugar. As cheap as it gets and has solved my nitrate problems. I dose vitamin c and sugar but that another story...

 

[Genetics]

Jeff, what kind of sugar dose do you give your tank? Do you go daily or weekly on addition. Also, what corals do you keep and did you notice any problems when starting sugar?

 

[Jeff]

Daily. I dose 1 tsp vitamin c plus 1 tsp sugar with the morning dose of vitamin c and a half tsp of sugar with the evening dose of vitamin c. Not sure how I ended up with that sugar dosing regiment but it seems to be working. My nitrates are at zero and I avoided a bacteria bloom. I am starting to cut back on the sugar.
I am keeping all sorts of corals but not much sps.

 

[Genetics]

When did you start with the sugar?

 

[Jeff]

About a month ago. I had stopped dosing vitamin c for a month and my nitrates rose up because I feed very heavily. I decided to try dosing sugar along with vitamin c because it was cheap and people seemed to have a lot of luck with it. It took me around 3 weeks to drop my nitrates back down to undetectable levels.