Treating with Vitamin C

It works for some doesn't for other's let's keep it at that.

I for one had horrible results and lost lot's of corals while following instructions. It is what it is and we move on.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15687942#post15687942 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zoadude
I won't bother arguing with you on this. There are other forums and other pple besides just this site that have had both good and bad results for the use of Vit C. I will let you have your moment and think that you have the absolute cure all, really , because it makes no difference to me one way or the other. It didn't work for me, you only know what you have seen in your own system, you are no chemist and no expert though you want to be, but as I said, doesn't really matter to me. It did more harm for my system than good, whether you want to claim otherwise or not, I am glad it works for you, try to accept the fact that your system and some others that it works for are not gospel.
I stopped using it almost a week now and that is when my tank started to improve and getting better by the day. It was doing great until about a week after I started dosing.
Click to expand...
Agreed, sorry if I came across so strongly. I just figured that you hadnt used it correctly since the vast majority of the few people that didnt get good results used the pills or didnt dose correctly. Over the course of this thread there were people that read the thread and simply chimed in to say it doesnt work, no explaination or testing at all. There were skeptics when metal halides, skimmers, and other hobbiest tested new technology hit the hobby as well. The vast majority of the people that spent a few dollars on the vc and followed her directions had great results, most of them with outstanding results. I am just interested in other testing of the sodium ascorbate. There are other people testing it in a couple other forums and the ones I have read all started with Pufferpunk's method. If there are other people that are using it in a different way I would be interested in reading about it. It isnt a cure all but it does work for most of the people that have followed her recommendations. My experiences are not only based on my own tank, but the few dozen people that participated here.
Sorry it didnt work for you zoadude.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15687910#post15687910 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 650-IS350
I also started getting red bubble algae on one rock and lots of red turf algae over 30% of my aquarium There could other things happening that could have contributed to this.

Everyone's tank is diffenent, different ecology/system etc....
Click to expand...

Just wanted to clarify that the red bubble algae and red turf algae problem started when I Stopped dosing Vitamin C for several months. Both types of algae disappeared when I started dosing VC again.
 
VC should be starving your system from excess nutrients/nitrate. My cheato has completely disappeared from the fuge.
 
Last edited:
I placed my order for a bottle of Sodium Ascorbate from iherb.com this week. I wanted to document my experience as detailed as possible so I'm sure I'll posting a lot in this thread.

Because I'm not suffering from any issues with zoanthids melting or really, any issue whatsoever I plan to dose in the under 5ppm range.

My estimated total water volume is 160g (120g tank, 40g sump filled to 30g, and 10g frag tank).

Based on the information from the first page of this split:

For 100 gallons
5 ppm ----- 1892 mg VC

In order to get the total for 160g I multiply 1892mg by 1.6 which is 3027.2mg per dose, twice a day.

The first week or so I'm going to be dosing to reach 1ppm, to get this measurement I divide my total for 5ppm, 3027.2, by 5 resulting in 605.44mg per dose twice a day.

I've been skimming wet for the past few weeks to get the most out of my Octopus skimmer, so hopefully my skimmer will be able to remove the all the excess bacteria that carbon source dosing requires. I have never used GFO or any other phosphate removing products on my tank, carbon is the only medium I have been using to clean my water (which frankly hasn't seem to make a noticeable difference in whether I use it or not). I do however grow chaeto at an impressive rate so I'll be watching it closely to see if it's grow will slow any.

If anyone can see any mistakes in my math or dosage please let me know.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15615219#post15615219 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zoadude
No before and after pics but I have been using it for almost a week 2 times a day and I notice, besides some problem zoas that are now opening, that turf algae, which has been invading my LR and keeping my zoas from spreading, has been turning white and flaking off.
Click to expand...

I went back and did find some impressive before and after shots in a previous split. The problem I had with this thread was the large number of unqualified endorsements such as the one quoted above, which was in response to my question about qualifying and quantifying positive results. Nothing good happens quickly in reef keeping. To say something is a sweeping success after "almost a week" is irresponsible. If your turf algae was actually dying off within a week, then you clearly have chemical imbalance issues.

So here we are a week later and now the same additive you raved about is the cause of all of your problems. This is why advice is a hard pill to swallow on aquarium forums.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15695477#post15695477 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ludnix
I placed my order for a bottle of Sodium Ascorbate from iherb.com this week. I wanted to document my experience as detailed as possible so I'm sure I'll posting a lot in this thread.

Because I'm not suffering from any issues with zoanthids melting or really, any issue whatsoever I plan to dose in the under 5ppm range.

My estimated total water volume is 160g (120g tank, 40g sump filled to 30g, and 10g frag tank).

Based on the information from the first page of this split:

For 100 gallons
5 ppm ----- 1892 mg VC

In order to get the total for 160g I multiply 1892mg by 1.6 which is 3027.2mg per dose, twice a day.

The first week or so I'm going to be dosing to reach 1ppm, to get this measurement I divide my total for 5ppm, 3027.2, by 5 resulting in 605.44mg per dose twice a day.

I've been skimming wet for the past few weeks to get the most out of my Octopus skimmer, so hopefully my skimmer will be able to remove the all the excess bacteria that carbon source dosing requires. I have never used GFO or any other phosphate removing products on my tank, carbon is the only medium I have been using to clean my water (which frankly hasn't seem to make a noticeable difference in whether I use it or not). I do however grow chaeto at an impressive rate so I'll be watching it closely to see if it's grow will slow any.

If anyone can see any mistakes in my math or dosage please let me know.
Click to expand...
That sounds like a great plan. I like how you are planning on taking your time. I started low and increased to around 5-7 ppm and kept it there for over a year. I am now running around 2 ppm twice a day to keep things happy. Your chaeto growth will slow down and maybe stop if you are doing things correctly. It only means that you are starving it of nutients by dosing a carbon source.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15695661#post15695661 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mr.wilson
I went back and did find some impressive before and after shots in a previous split. The problem I had with this thread was the large number of unqualified endorsements such as the one quoted above, which was in response to my question about qualifying and quantifying positive results. Nothing good happens quickly in reef keeping. To say something is a sweeping success after "almost a week" is irresponsible. If your turf algae was actually dying off within a week, then you clearly have chemical imbalance issues.

So here we are a week later and now the same additive you raved about is the cause of all of your problems. This is why advice is a hard pill to swallow on aquarium forums.
Click to expand...
Agreed, unfortunatly when a large group of people get together, there are always a few that dont "get it" and cant participate in a mature/useful way. I'm all for people posting about problems they had but it's easy to figure out who is just trolling or simply argumentative. This stuff is still somewhere between theory and science but this forum and many others like it bring ideas, testing, theory and mistakes to help others pioneer and refine things like new filtration and lighting ideas that we had no idea about 20+ years ago. Heck for a few cents a week, I'll continue to dose it. It works great for me. I have used it and stopped it a few times over almost 2 years and it works great for me. Thats why she wants me to participate here. The whole idea behind this thread is to let other hobbiests know of Pufferpunk's method. I do think the majority of the minority of people that it didnt do anything for or worse were not using the correct product, dosing incorrectly or had bigger issues in their reefs.
 
Last edited:
ludnix, Looking forward to your posts here about this! Might I suggest turning down your skimmer a bit? I'm afraid you'll find if overflowing quickly, after dosing VC.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15697414#post15697414 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pufferpunk
ludnix, Looking forward to your posts here about this! Might I suggest turning down your skimmer a bit? I'm afraid you'll find if overflowing quickly, after dosing VC.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll keep on eye on it. I have my collection cup setup so it overflows back into the sump, so no floods, but it still an efficiency issue when it's overflowing so I'll make sure it doesn't over do it.
 
Last edited:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15699251#post15699251 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 650-IS350
Anyone notice how much crud build up in the skimmer ( not the cup ) there is with VitaC dosing?
Click to expand...
My skimmer has a tendency to skim very very dry when dosing vc. I get this mud/clay-like stuff that builds up on the inside of the neck and cup. I am running a Tunze Master Doc 9440 so it self-levels and has over-flow protection built in. When I am not dosing, the skimmate is "normal". Hope this helps.
 
Last edited:
I figured, the whole deltec for me gets all gumed up when I was dosing before. looked like masonary cement between bricks when it was wet. Harder to get off the skimmer compared to normal skimate.
 
I don't want this to sound like a negative post, but how does the VC removed by the protein skimmer effect the amount bioavailable in the system? Should the protein skimmer be shut off for an hour after dosing or is it always easily removed by skimming?
 
Skimmers dont remove VC (or sugar, vodka, or VSV for that matter). They remove the end result of it. A skimmer removes massive amounts of dead bacteria and dissolved organic solids. Like anything else in a closed system, whatever you put in, you need to take out (export). The good news is that what you take out has also consumed your excess nutients along with DOC's, fish crap, and uneaten food. I'm not a scientist and not really at the level that I can go further with this but you get the idea.
Keep in mind that VC is not effective for long exposed to water and light, thats why we dose so often. It's not at all "extremely labor intensive" to dump a half a teaspoon of it in an overflow a couple times a day :lol:.
Genetics, we need you in here to explain this better...
 
Like I said before, I'm not here to challenge anyone on their chemistry knowledge. My knowledge of reef chemistry is weak too, so I'm just looking for info. If VC doesn't stay in solution long, this would indicate a hydrophobic nature, meaning that it would be easily removed with protein skimming. The positive sodium cation combines well with negatively charged chloride anions, but the negatively charged ascorbate anion clearly precipitates or gets skimmed out quickly. Does anyone notice salinity climbing with daily dosing of sodium salts? Are there any articles out there on sodium ascorbate addition? You indicate that it is photodegradable. Perhaps dosing at night would be more efficient?

Protein skimming removes only 25% of the TOC in the system, but I understand what you are saying about the cause and effect of the cement-like substance being skimmed out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

AZBigJohn
New Build... I'm back
Replies
6
Views
191
griss
griss
AquaticReefTV
DIY Cable management time lapse
Replies
1
Views
465
S|\/|S
S
Reef Kinetics
Maintaining Optimal Nutrient Levels in Your Reef Aquarium
Replies
0
Views
282
Reef Kinetics
Reef Kinetics
Z
Wrasse compatibility
Replies
0
Views
79
ZanaZoola14
Z
A
FS: Leemar Tank w/ Stand
Replies
0
Views
181
AQUA951
A
Back
Top