Treating with Vitamin C

so is it the carbon that is helping the zoas open and prosper or does the vitamin c do something else? cause if its just the carbon why doesnt other carbon sources work(vinegar, vodka etc)
i was gonna dose VC but i wanted to put it in my food i make but i thought that it was just "good for them" not a carbon source if that makes sense
corey
 
great thread! I'm struggling with loosing Zoas which are getting smaller and being overtaken by a film identical to what started this thread! The system is about 200 gallons and is heavy on SPS. all levels are spot on with NO3 around 1, PO4 < .03PPM, KH 8.5, CA 430, MG 1380, salinity 35 PPT

I ordered the recommended NutriBiotic, Sodium Ascorbate.

couple questions -

* when starting what PPM do you start at and how quickly do you ramp up?
* when dealing with an issue like I am what PPM for what period do you recommend?
* once the issue is resolved, what PPM do you dose at? 5PPM seems to come up a lot.
* lastly - are there any liquid alternatives (or mix of the Sodium Ascorbate) that I can prepare on a weekly basis and have my dosing pump add? I like to go away on the weekends with the family and powder supplements are a bit of an issue!

thank you !!!!!!
 
biecacka said:
so is it the carbon that is helping the zoas open and prosper or does the vitamin c do something else? cause if its just the carbon why doesnt other carbon sources work(vinegar, vodka etc)
i was gonna dose VC but i wanted to put it in my food i make but i thought that it was just "good for them" not a carbon source if that makes sense
corey
Click to expand...

I am a little rusty on this subject, but the reason vitamin c may differ from other sources is that vitamin c is easily oxidized and may be participating in some additional water chemistry the other additives are not. Vitamin C is important for cellular functions and may aid in those processes as well. In addition, it participates as a fuel for organisms, such as bacteria leading to the similar observation as with vinegar and vodka.

In a study on fish, vitamin c additives to the food caused a significant difference in fish growth. This is why I use it as a supplement in my food preparations for my fish. The remaining vitamin c not absorbed may be used elsewhere in the aquarium.
 
I found this VC at my local Rite Aid and would like to know if the following ingredients it contains will be OK for dosing.

Ascorbic Acid (duh)
Vegtable Cellulose

Then states Contain <2% of:
Silica, Vegetable Magnesium Stearate, Vegtable Stearic Acid

Thank you.
 
What about pure powdered ascorbic acid? I have a huge bottle of this in my pantry.
Click to expand...
You'd have to check whether it is buffered or not; if not, then there is the pH issue to consider (this is, after all, ascorbic ACID, which will potentially lower your pH). If it's buffered to neutral (pH 7.0) I would think it would work, but you may want to wait for one of the real experts to chime in.
 
Another day I remembered about this great thread...

I want to try go back and slowly read it.

I had a bad experience with vitamin C X algae in the past and I think it was because of the high dosage at the beginning. Today I'm still dosing, but very very small amounts of Brightwell's Vitamin C three times a week and the zoas are doing great with no major algae problems, like before!!
I also target feed them (Reef Roids, Coral Frenzy and Fauna Marin zoa food) once a week and I attribute the improvement and success to the feeding as well.

I believe in vitamins and amino acids for the zoas...

I'll study more and give Sodium Ascorbate a try!!
Thanks!!!

Grandis.
 
I picked up the iherb product, but had a couple questions.

This will be used in my 14g biocube, how do I measure out the proper amount for such a small system?

Second, I am not running a skimmer on this system will this be an issue?

Thanks
 
A. Grandis said:
Another day I remembered about this great thread...

I want to try go back and slowly read it.

I had a bad experience with vitamin C X algae in the past and I think it was because of the high dosage at the beginning. Today I'm still dosing, but very very small amounts of Brightwell's Vitamin C three times a week and the zoas are doing great with no major algae problems, like before!!
I also target feed them (Reef Roids, Coral Frenzy and Fauna Marin zoa food) once a week and I attribute the improvement and success to the feeding as well.

I believe in vitamins and amino acids for the zoas...

I'll study more and give Sodium Ascorbate a try!!
Thanks!!!

Grandis.
Click to expand...

How much of brightwells do you dose? Do you just follow whats written on the label?
 
ryanuuy said:
How much of brightwells do you dose? Do you just follow whats written on the label?
Click to expand...

I dose about 0.5ml max. 3 times a week. My system is a 75gal + about 10-15gal sump.
I target feed my zoas once a week, so the vitamins are just a boost to maintain them well. I found that way the best to avoid algae problems in my system.
They are doing great and reproducing well!!!

I should add that the use of vitamins, amino acids and such additives aren't what really makes the zoas to thrive, but the stability of the system and all the other params, light and general maintenance play a great deal. The whole picture.

Grandis.
 
Pufferpunk said:
I'm not doing it but I guess some folks are. It soulds fairly redundant to me, since not only is VC also a carbon source like vodka but it does many more things for my system like saving my zoanthids from melting, which vodka doesn't. I'll stick with just dosing VC.
Click to expand...

Yes indeed it does and serves both the carbon dosing need of the tank to reduce nutrients but as you stated and as was stated in may of the posts I read on this thread and "there are many" ... :) it assists in creating a healthier environment and in fortifying the life forms in your tanks as has been reported by a large number of members.

One thing to watch out for is that you should start with a low dose and then gradually increase it to where it should be and not go from never having used C to suddenly adding a large quantity as the change it brings about will impact the animals negatively possibly. As will all things FOWLR and Reefs, the slower you make changes the better

Albert
 
So is vitamin c still being used to lower nitrates? It seems as if the major advocated have not posted in quite a while on this. Just wondering if people are still having success doing this. Could people post a little about their tanks, whats in them, how long they have been dosing vitamin c, their dosage of vitamin c, and what was the purpose for dosing vitamin c. That would be great. It would be nice to hear from people that have been using this method for years.
 
It is used as a carbon source just as other ones are like Vinegar, or Sugar, or Vodka and the method is used to reduce nutrients in general ... I am currently not using a carbon dosing method as nutrients in my system are not detectable, although I do use a small amount of vinegar when I prepare KW that I drip in my system but that is a real small amount of 45 ml per gallon of KW prepared and then dripped into my 20 gallon Nano Reef
 
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