Treating with Vitamin C

[raynist]

Ever since starting to use Vitamin C I have been having this strange stuff growing on my glass, rocks and some frags have been taken over. On the rocks and frags it is spongy. On the glass it looks like whitish hair algae. I will try to take pictures tomorrow. How long should this last and what causes it? I have been dosing my 40g breeder 1/4 tsp 2x's a day for a few months.

Thanks
Ray

 

[Jeff]

"Whitish hair algae" sounds like a bacterial bloom which usually indicates an algae bloom caused by overdosing. Cut back your dose by half or more for a day or two until it goes away and then SLOWLY increase dose.

 

[raynist]

Thanks, I will give this a try.

 

[happyface888]

Read through practically the whole thread on vitamin c
Dosed for over a month on a ~50gallon tank, but started low.
The first week I dosed 1/8 tsp twice a day, than 3 weeks down the line 1/4 tsp twice a day. I didn't notice much of a difference. Just last week decided to bump the dosage up to 1tsp twice a day, which around 11~12ppm on the chart.

That's when I noticed clearer water
More skimmate
My maroons brook went away don't know if this cured it.
Some zoas still melted even after using vitamin c.
I haven't noticed much color difference
ALK went up, before I started vitamin c , my alk was around ~7 and now its ~10.


Puffer
What do you do to keep your alk steady?? I am afraid if I keep going at my pace that my alk would shoot through 10. I've already ready some scary stuff regarding alk going beyond ~11.

I only feed once a day, flakes, since I'm not home during the day.
Fish bioload
1 flame angel
1 six line
1 tailspot blenny
1 yellow tail damsel
2 maroon clownfish

Tanks mostly zoas, so is there anything I should do regarding the alk issue??
Would feeding more or doing more water changes steady things out???

 

[Pufferpunk]

I'm not sure why some folks' alk go up with VC but I still have to add 25mg alk daily, to maintain it at 9.

 

[happyface888]

Do you feed heavy???
I don't have any other things hooked up to my tank besides 2 phosban reactors one with carbon and one with phos remover. Skimmer is a octo ex160,
trying to narrow things down.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Yes, when I do feed the corals (1-2x/week), I feed very heavily. The rest of the week I feed blackworms & pellets for the fish.

 

[happyface888]

Hmm I really have no clue why my alks rising, what corals use up alk???

 

[Genetics]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14799721#post14799721 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Genetics
Yes total alkalinity will be affected when using large amounts of VC. The buffered VC has a pKa value of 4.17 and 11.57. Using the test kits available for titration they will have an end-point around pH of 4. If you are dosing 30ppm daily, you can effectively raise your total alkalinity by 1.7 for each addition. However, if the VC is consumed and produces CO2 your carbonate alkalinity will only slightly increase as bacteria decompose the VC. So your total dKh will rise but your overall carbonate hardness will not change significantly.

Therefore, I would assume that you are adding quite a bit and the reaction you are seeing from the sps is due to the lack of nutrients in the water. I would cut back the VC to something less than 5ppm (for reference a healthy reef in nature ~1ppm total DOC so you are adding 5x that of nature and of just one molecule) and feed more.

A quick way to figure out if it is bacteria respiration or just the nature of the test kit test right before addition and right after addition. If there is a large swing with 30ppm then it would indicate an issue with the test kit. If it isn't showing up for a hour or more than I would go with carbon molecule breakdown.

 

[happyface888]

Genetics
Thanks for the clarification regarding the alk. I've been dosing pretty slow. But I was just shocked when I saw my alk go from 6 to 10 but this was over a months and a few weeks period.

I was wondering vitamin c functions the same as zeo-vit right?? if so that means in order to keep the alk stable like you said we have to feed more?

 

[Jeff]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14976113#post14976113 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by happyface888
Genetics
Thanks for the clarification regarding the alk. I've been dosing pretty slow. But I was just shocked when I saw my alk go from 6 to 10 but this was over a months and a few weeks period.

I was wondering vitamin c functions the same as zeo-vit right?? if so that means in order to keep the alk stable like you said we have to feed more?

 

[lindenfish88]

I've recently started vitamin c and also have noticed alk rise. Does anyone know how you can lower alk??? And newbie question whats the purpose of alk???

 

[Jeff]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14981425#post14981425 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lindenfish88
I've recently started vitamin c and also have noticed alk rise. Does anyone know how you can lower alk??? And newbie question whats the purpose of alk???

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/2/chemistry

 

[gnarlyswine]

Just placed an Iherb order - much less expensive than the local stuff referral code GEH402 if anyone wants to use it for there first purchase.

 

[Pufferpunk]

LUL789 still works fine for the $5 discount.

 

[hansmatt]

I've been dosing for about two weeks, starting low and going slow...not noticable effects yet, though I do have one rainbow polyp that is finally opening up there is no way of telling if it's due to the C or not.

Does anyone have any experience with an abrupt stop in dosing? I've got a few 8-9 day trips planned in the next several months, where it will be impossible to dose even daily, let alone 2x a day. Should I taper down to nothing before I go, then ramp backup again? I may have the tank sitter give a nominal dose every two days or so, but might simply go cold turkey.

 

[Jeff]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15002889#post15002889 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hansmatt
I've been dosing for about two weeks, starting low and going slow...not noticable effects yet, though I do have one rainbow polyp that is finally opening up there is no way of telling if it's due to the C or not.

Does anyone have any experience with an abrupt stop in dosing? I've got a few 8-9 day trips planned in the next several months, where it will be impossible to dose even daily, let alone 2x a day. Should I taper down to nothing before I go, then ramp backup again? I may have the tank sitter give a nominal dose every two days or so, but might simply go cold turkey.

In my opinion it wont matter. I stopped for a month with no ill effects.

 

[rozzzna]

just started a week ago when my Iherb vitC arrived from the states.. must say that within 2 days i noticed tiiiny bit of mouths peeking out from the tightly closed zoas.. then i must have been overdosing as my tank went cloudy 2 days ago so i stopped dosing until this evening started again..

just measured my NO3 and PO4, and wow! what a drop.. a week ago my NO3 was at 25 ppm, and PO4 was 0.5ppm

now theyre at
NO3 - 5 ppm
PO4 - 0.1 ppm

i have not done anything else than dosing the vitC so it must be due to that stuff

and btw - i DID take before pics

 

[manhorsedog]

sorry for not looking through the thread i am sure this info is in here somewhere but i just dont have the time at the moment.

I just ordered some zoas and they seem to be melting due to shipping. What can i do? I have the vit c already i just need a method. I would only give them a few more days before they are gone.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Dosing Vitamin C Chart

Use this product:
http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=-7152293197697039798
$5 0ff coupon code: LUL789 (always good for first purchase).

To figure out how much to use, decide if you want to simply improve coral growth, spread, and color. If so, then you should dose around 5 ppm twice daily. If you are having problems with coral or fish health, dose up to around 30 ppm twice daily.

Calculate the total net number of gallons in your tank (minus rocks, sand, etc). Enter that number here ______.

You will now need to do a little math. The amounts below are for 100 gallons of water so if you have 50 net gallons, cut the amounts shown below in half etc.

Dosing amounts using Iherb product:
1/4 tsp=1112 mg.

For every 100 gallons:

5 ppm ----- 1892 mg VC
10 ppm ---- 3785 mg VC
15 ppm ---- 5677 mg VC
20 ppm ---- 7570 mg VC
25 ppm ---- 9462 mg VC
30 ppm ---- 11355 mg VC

After you have figured out how much you want to dose at each dosing, enter that number here _____. This is your dose to be used twice a day.



Notes:
*Be sure your pH and alk are within normal reef limits before starting. Adjust if needed. Monitor weekly.
*Shoot for a ppm of around 5 if only dosing for improved coral growth, coloration, and spread. Shoot for higher amounts up to 30 ppm if you are having melting zoas or closed zoas and look for the causes of your problems as you dose. Check for high nitrates, pests, zoa pox, predators, and unstable water conditions.
*Dose low amounts and increase the amount slowly over the course of a few days to a couple weeks.
*Do NOT dose at high levels (>10ppm), if you don’t have a skimmer! Especially on a nano tank.
* If you notice an algae bloom or increased skim on your glass then cut back by half until it disappears.
* Watch your skimmer, it will start to skim more.
* Dose the amount twice a day in a fast moving area of your sump or overflow. You may dilute the vitamin c in ro/di water for a minute then pour into my overflow. If adding to sump, try and add the vitamin c after filtration such as skimmers and reactors.
* If you have a question, ask here. I check VC threads daily.
* The instructions in this guide and throughout this thread are based on using pure Sodium Ascorbate, not vitamin c pills and other non-buffered forms of vitamin c.

Be sure to take some "before" pics!