Vitamin "c" dosing Calling the experts...

I started VC after using both vodka and sugar. I did not notice a dramatic improvement in coloration, most-likely due to the reduced N/P already. Biofuel is sugar?? and I don't know what backster is.

With fragging and growth, according to someone else's data you should add 0.90ppm daily for the best results. Meaning you should be adding 15mL of Brightwell's VC daily. Jeff provided a link to the buffered VC, it will be much cheaper than any reef supplement and should get the levels you need in your tank with as little as 1/4tsp. That should last around a year for you.
 
Got ya....
Thank you guys,

Biofule is carbon source and Backser is backteria.

what could be if I OD on VC?...
 
Maybe Jeff can add a bit to this. From what I've read is a bacterial bloom. However, if you are dosing a carbon source already, then I wouldn't worry about it too much. Too much, high levels 10+ppm, could impact alk and pH.
 
Correct. The bacteria bloom is the first sign that you have overdosed. Your carbon source is basically food. The more food you have the more bacterai you grow. An explosion of bacterial growth severely decreases available oxygen which in turn stresses your fish and corals to the point of death in some cases.
Luckily, the few times that I have read about it, it is a small bloom that can be brought under control by cutting back or stopping sodium ascorbate dosing for a short bit. If you see a thick slime-like coating on your glass that keeps appearing even after wiping, you may be getting close to a bad bacterial bloom.
 
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14379682#post14379682 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Genetics
I started VC after using both vodka and sugar. I did not notice a dramatic improvement in coloration, most-likely due to the reduced N/P already. Biofuel is sugar?? and I don't know what backster is.
Click to expand...

This statement leads to another question:

How do we know that the reason many hobbyists see improvement in their corals while dosing VC is not a result of the acutal carbon source driving additional bacteria? In other words, VC may be no better than dosing VSV alone? Maybe VC simply reduces the phosphate levels and that is all? :)
 
Well it does reduce phosphates and nitrates. I found that out when I stopped dosing it for a month and my nitrates went sky high. It does do more then that though. There are other qualities that people are finding (mostly in the big thread in the zoanthid forum). I am no scientist, I work with my hands. I do know that, at a hobbiest level, I have seen it do more then just simply dosing a carbon source. Corals with diseases have been cured. Corals that have been closed for weeks have opened up after a couple days of dosing.
 
Jeff,

I am not trying to diminish all your hard work. Hats off to you for what you have been able to add to the hobby knowledge base. :)

I am very curious about the aspects of VC dosing and what effects it may have on the life in our reef systems.
 
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It's not me really. Pufferpunk has done most of the work. She is out of town this week and asked me to help out since I have dosed for over a year. I also get the honor of taking care of her 9 aquariums this weeK ;). The big thread has a lot of info, not much of it is scientific, but useful anyway.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14380274#post14380274 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HighlandReefer
This statement leads to another question:

How do we know that the reason many hobbyists see improvement in their corals while dosing VC is not a result of the acutal carbon source driving additional bacteria? In other words, VC may be no better than dosing VSV alone? Maybe VC simply reduces the phosphate levels and that is all? :)
Click to expand...

Good question. Vitamin C has been shown to improve health of saltwater fish when fed regularly. Also, there was a paper that showed improvement in coral growth somewhere in the other VC thread. I'm curious whether some of the coral benefits are related to vitamin c oxidation.

If it means anything, I noticed an improvement in a leather of mine and some zoo colonies that both started downward upon starting sugar.
 
Also, there was a paper that showed improvement in coral growth somewhere in the other VC thread.

Did it? Or was this the one that simply showed increased collagen formation?
 
There was the PNAS paper that showed collagen increase. For some reason, I remember reading increase caclium carbonate precipitation observed but maybe that wasn't compared between the sps with and without VC.
 
FWIW,

Despite, or due to, Vodka dosing for the last 14 months, I have had a daily 'film' on my glass. I started dosing a very small amount of VC (1/4 tsp/210g) once daily to measure the effects.

A complete elimination of the biofilm (I haven't scraped glass in 4 days), a dramatic increase in skimmate and an anecdotal growth increase in zoanthids was the result.

Could the bump in the amont of carbon have caused the effect or sometihng else?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14387342#post14387342 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by HighlandReefer
Whats cheaper to dose, Vodka or VC? :)

What would the short version of dosing vodka, sugar, vinega & VC be, VSVVc? :D
Click to expand...

Sounds like a song.... V. S. Vc. V. tell you what it means to me...

Maybe VGVc? Vodka, glucose, Vitamin C. Cut out the vinegar completely?
 
In a nutshell: Vodka, sugar and/or vinegar for nitrate/phosphate reduction. Vitamin C for nitrate/phosphate reduction, improved coral/fish health and disease treatment.
 
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