Vitamin C dosing for zoanthids (I am clueless)

[ficklefins]

So I read somewhere that Vit C can have some positive affects on your zoas so I wanted to get some feedback from those who have tried it.


I also wanted to know how this dosing affects other corals in the tank.

 

[Pufferpunk]

My SPS & LPS have tripled in size since dosing. So have my zoas--the colonies are much larger & the polyps are bigger & brighter. Keep in mind, this isn't an instant thing. It took 3 weeks of dosing 2x/day to heal my sick ones & see any difference in my healthy ones. As far as the colony sizes , that took about 3 months but they were growing very slowly, previously to that.

There's a lot of feedback on that RC thread. Just wish there were more before & after pics. Be sure to take some!

 

[Kigs!]

Jenny, does it only benefit corals or can it be beneficial to fish too?

 

[ficklefins]

Jenny,

Can you tell us more about what you used, how much you used, and how often you used? I want every detail of this process.

 

[Pufferpunk]

When I had crypt on one of my fish, I believe it kept the others from getting it. Cleared it up completely for another's fish & also cleared lateral line disease.

Great article, except the dosing is off: http://www.livingreefs.com/forums/saltwater-aquarium-articles/590-use-vitamin-c.html

The formula is towards the end of the article in the link but it's off:

[desired ppm] x [system gallonage] x 3.785 = mg Vitamin C

So 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

 

[Pufferpunk]

I started this about 3 months before I found that link, BTW. I started by just dropping in a 1000mg VC Sam's Club tablet into my sump, 2x/day (funny, that's exactly how often the article says to dose). By 3 months I had upped it to 2000mg, 2x/day. Then I found that article & read that I should not use carbon/Purigen, so I removed it for a week but I have a really mixed reef & wanted to continue using that, so I now dose at the end of the sump, right before the ruturn. After about 3 months, my pH started to drop, so I ordered the pure, buffered form of VC, sodium Ascorbate (Calcium or magnesium ascorbate is fine ot use too), from www.i-herb.com. No more pH problems, I haven't had to add any alk since then (was dosing 50mg/day), the nitrate has gone from ~5 to 0 & my red turf algae is dying!

 

[revhtree]

Can you link me to the exact VC your using?

 

[Pufferpunk]

http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=-7152293197697039798

 

[Kigs!]

would kent vita-c have the same effect?

 

[Pufferpunk]

How concentrated is it? I don't think there is enough for the dosages you'd need & it's gotta be way more expensive to use that much, than the powder I order.

 

[Paintguru]

When I had crypt on one of my fish, I believe it kept the others from getting it. Cleared it up completely for another's fish & also cleared lateral line disease.

Great article, except the dosing is off: http://www.livingreefs.com/forums/saltwater-aquarium-articles/590-use-vitamin-c.html

The formula is towards the end of the article in the link but it's off:

[desired ppm] x [system gallonage] x 3.785 = mg Vitamin C

So 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

It should be noted that most of us did not start out doing this dosing regiment. The "x 3.785" was left out of the original article, so most of us were dosing much less then this (yet still saw positive results). There have been some isolated reports of a potential issue with dosing too much VC and that impacting corals negatively, even though it was postulated that you could never overdose VC. I have stuck with the dosing regiment without the "x 3.785" and have been quite happy. Dosing can be a pain, as it is recommended to dose these amounts 2x per day. Right now, I think the RC thread is starting to shift toward seeing how little of this we can actually add and still see positive results, or if we can do high doses less frequently, say 1-2x/week.

I must say, while I have definitely NOT been dosing as long as Puffer, in the 2-3 weeks that I have, I've noticed clearer water, increased skimmer function, and a reduction of hair algae (this may have been a result of other things, but who knows but the reduction did speed up when I started). My Z&P's do look more full and colorful. I can't say they are growing faster, but at this point I am sold on the overall use of VC....I just need to figure out what the point of diminishing returns is.

 

[Chris2222000]

Whats a good desired ppm to start off with? Do you work yourself up in tiers or do you just add "x" amount of vitamin c to get up to the ppm that you want to be at?

-Chris

 

[Paintguru]

Whats a good desired ppm to start off with? Do you work yourself up in tiers or do you just add "x" amount of vitamin c to get up to the ppm that you want to be at?

-Chris

Based on the article that we all have been going off of, we worked our way up. I think Puffer put a link to the article in here somewhere.

 

[Pufferpunk]

Link is on the 1st page of this thread. I will begin to start backing off of the very high medicinal doses I have been doing, as I'm going through a lot of the vitamin. I do not find it a pain to dose at all--no different than dosing my Alk in the mornings & Ca in the evenings.

 

[Paintguru]

Link is on the 1st page of this thread. I will begin to start backing off of the very high medicinal doses I have been doing, as I'm going through a lot of the vitamin. I do not find it a pain to dose at all--no different than dosing my Alk in the mornings & Ca in the evenings.

See I don't do that either . The amount of VC use is another concern, that is for sure.

 

[Pufferpunk]

I have an estimated 100g system. I started with 1,000mg tabs 2x/day for a week, went up to 2,000 for about 2 months & upped it to 3,000mg, until I bought the buffered C (all dosing is 2x/day). I've been using the buffered C for about 3 weeks now, dosing about 4,500mg for 2 weeks & last week, I doubled that. I haven't seen any difference fro mthe doubling (other than using a lot more of the product), so I'm backing down to 4,500mg for now (that's 1tbsp). Total dosing is around 4 months now. Sorry I'm not more scientific about this.

 

[fiction]

Do they sell the vitamin c that you use at walmart? More zoa colonies of mine are starting to melt now!

 

[Pufferpunk]

It is suggested that we not use the C in tablet form. Too many fillers to deal with & it is not buffered, meaning it affects your pH & Alk. On the other hand--I used the tabs for about 3 months, before buying the pure, buffered VC. I'm sure the Walmart brand isn't any different than the Sam's Club brand I used. (Personally, I boycot Walmart though, because of their fishkeeping ppractices.)

 

[Chris2222000]

I ordered the buffered form from i-herb and will start dosing when it comes in. I have this small colony (was large) of ppe's that are not doing great even with water changes, btw they are the only ones doing this in the tank. So I will start a photo snapshot of before and after to see if any differences are seen.
-Chris

 

[Pufferpunk]

Thank you for that!