Treating with Vitamin C

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I posted this in our local forums thought I'd share my experience after 6 month of observations.

I have Zoas and SPS in both of my systems. I cant say anything about LPS since they do well but I do not see any noticeable growth. So I will limit my comments to only zoa and sps. This is my observation after dosing VC in my display for alittle over 6 month now.

The corals I have been keeping an eye on are(Not all just to name some)

SPS
ORA red planet
ORA pearl Berry
Purple Haze
Green Slimer
Pink birds nest
Pink branching monti
Superman Montipora
Too many zoas to name.


Both system runs 24" T5, one fixture a mix of Current and Geissman bulbs, the other all Current USA bulbs.


Growth:

In my display tank(Where I dose VC), when I do not run the skimmer and do not dose VC, I had really good growth and color was ok. When I finally started VC and skimming the growth almost stopped completly for most(HOwever all SPS, purple death and Bam Bam still kept growing at the same rate as before VC )

The Frag tank has no VC or skimmer, everything did great as well. I move frags between the 2 tanks all the time, and have never noticed a growth difference. The growth is good in this tank as well even the sps.


Coloration:

Display tank, the color improved when I moved corals around the tank(Closer/further from the light), made no noticeable difference before or after VC.

Frag tank, colors are good there as well. Again I move frags around between both tanks, and do not see any color difference other than moving the zoas closer or away from the light source.

Polyp extension.

Display tank they extend like crazy. But they are also being blasted by a MP20 powerhead.

Frag tank ok extension. It's only powered by 2 Maxijet 900's.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14406457#post14406457 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pufferpunk
It would be great to know your dosing schedule/amounts. What VC did you use?

I am using the Buffered Sodium Abscorbate from Iherbs, dosing twice a day at a full teaspoon each time in a 40gallon tank. My testing results was affected by Ike(Around the time when I first started dosing) but it's pretty much been accurate for the most part.
 
Jeff,

Thanks for the link to the post on the sugar. I had no idea.

So whats the Vodka do ??? Does me good on the weekends... no idea i could share a shot with the tank.

Paul
 
anyone notice after 5-6 mo's a increase in both ph and KH. I have slowly watched it increase and the ONLY thing i add right now is vt. c (the bufferered form form i-herb) and dt's phytoplanktin. I am now possitive that vit. c will increase both slowly over time. Any advice on how to decrease both ph and alk? I am down to doseing 3 grams 2x a day. My ph has risen now to 8.3-8.4 and my alk has been increased to around 13-14. Both too high i know. Everything else is at zero (nitrite, nitate, ammonia, phosphate). I have watched iph increase over last mo. from 8.1 to current 8.3+. My fuge w/lights keeps any swing from accurring, it just seems like they both are slowly rising and i cant seem to change it....make it go down although i have yet to try anything other than water changes.
 
Your pH should be around 8.3, so no biggie. Mine has remained at 8.3 since I started dosing 18+ months ago. I usually have been adding a little less alk than I used to before that but not much.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14413474#post14413474 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by PAS Photography
Jeff,

Thanks for the link to the post on the sugar. I had no idea.

So whats the Vodka do ??? Does me good on the weekends... no idea i could share a shot with the tank.

Paul
Vodka and sugar dosing are basically the same thing. Different carbon sources.
 
Ok about two weeks in! currently @ 1/2teaspoon/ 12ppm all but one colony have shown improvements, It remains closed up, only two of the 25+ polyps are open. I have dipped this coral and kept it clean of algea, and debris, but for some reason it won't open. No signs of pests. All params golden!
ph 8.2
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
amon 0
kh 9
mag 1200
phos .25/mgl coming down w/phosban reactor
temp 78.7-79.9 swing about 1deg day/night thanks to ACJR

I too seem to notice cheato to slow some as well. All growth in tank seems to have increased, and polyp extension and color on my sps is awesome! Thanks again for all the help and the continued work to keep or piece or the reef healthy!!!
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14422387#post14422387 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by macman4
Should i be running a skimmer, if I was to dose with VC. I have a 29 BioCube.
Skimmer is very helpful for removing undissolved metabolites/nitrate. I have a Backpac on my 15g frag tank, there's no reason you can't run one on your 29.
 
Just stopped my vit.c after several months. I have seen a slight increase in ph and alk. Now i have slowly dropped the doseage down to 5 ppm and now i have stopped. want to see the effect on ph, alk, nitrate and phosphate.
 
not sure. During the period i added a phosphate reactor and carbon. I no longer have any issues with water quality. I verafied this today. And All of my zoos are open except for 1 large new colony (2 weeks in tank). I cant get the entire thing to open, it was open when i added it and for the first 3 days, since half has been closed. This is the first day of not doseing and so far some of the zoo's that had only been half open during doseing are now all open. Some things that did happen from doesing: I had some ugly purple tag-along zoo's, they are now green and purple and pleasent to look at. I have had 4-8 new colony's start from out of nowhere. My zoo frags have grown at a fast pace, faster than i remember before. Some of my SPS has faded in color, some of my zoos have become lighter in color, algea growth (cheato) has slowed. Skimmer does more skimming when dosing. Fish seem to have brighter colors. No outbreaks or sicknesses of any kind.

Thats what i have gotten out of it. Dont know if increased ph and alk was related, but think it was more related to when i 1st started doseing and did it with rose hips in the ingreadents before getting the stuff from i-herb. I tried to buffer it then and may have not noticed the alk levels being so elevated. not sure.

Have fun and i will let you know when/if i restart. I just want to see what happends with n itrates and phosphates and algea growth. And wil my zoo' stay open
 
Just ordered some too but now i'm not so sure about it....figures right? I'm not having any major problems right now so i wouldn't say i NEEDED to try this. I do have some sps in the tank that i'm a little concerned about being affected by the VC.....i think what i'm going to do is try dosing at half the reccommendation...see if that'll give me more benefits with less drawbacks....what do you think? i've read a lot of this thread, but i can't remember ALL of it....lol
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14433078#post14433078 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by puckbs
Just ordered some too but now i'm not so sure about it....figures right? I'm not having any major problems right now so i wouldn't say i NEEDED to try this. I do have some sps in the tank that i'm a little concerned about being affected by the VC.....i think what i'm going to do is try dosing at half the reccommendation...see if that'll give me more benefits with less drawbacks....what do you think? i've read a lot of this thread, but i can't remember ALL of it....lol

Dosing at half the recommended dosage is a good idea if you are concerned about your sps. I have actually cut my dose down to around 2-3 ppm and have not noticed any change. My corals are still doing great, my nutrients are still low, and my fish are really healthy. I am also dosing sugar to keep my nitrates down so your milage may vary.
One of the beneifits of dosing sodium ascorbate is that it acts as a carbon source much in the same way as sugar, vodka, ZEO, Prodibio and/or vinegar. If you read up on some of those sources, you will no doubt read of some problems with sps becoming more pale. Usually those folks make up for it by feeding heavier. You shouldnt have much to worry about by feeding more since you are decreasing nitrates and phosphates anyway by dosing the vitamin c. Go slow though and take some "before" pictures :).
 
OK...my first bottles of VC are delivering tomorrow :)
want to verify two things please:
1) Because I have just finished Furan 2 dipping for pox, is it safe to start dosing VC immediately at 30ppm or do I need to start at 5ppm and work up the amount slowly?
2) I read somewhere that the "dosing" process is a simple process of mixing the VC powder in a bottle of tank water and pouring it directly into your sump...is that correct?

if it matters, keep in mind this is a small 14G nano :)
 
I have been telling people to start low and slow so unless its an emergency, start at around 2-3 ppm and double the amount every 2-3 days to your target amount. If you notice a coral or two acing upset then cut way back for a couple days until things improve.
As far as the way to dose, Puffy throws it raw into her sump and underneath her skimmer cups. I mix it with some tank water and pour it into an overflow. I dont think it really matters as long as it doesnt go directly onto the corals.
 
Started my first dose today, I have a 29 gallon BioCube and added less than 1/8 tsp, should put me around 5ppm. I'll take some pictures.

Bob
 
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