Vitamin C dosing for zoanthids (I am clueless)

Bokevince · Aug 16, 2017

Hi all, is there a problem using pills of vitamine C ?
Thanks

Pufferpunk · Aug 16, 2017

Yes, there is! They are not buffered & there are fillers in them, you don't want in your tank.

Bokevince · Aug 16, 2017

Pufferpunk said:
Yes, there is! They are not buffered & there are fillers in them, you don't want in your tank.

thanks for answering, do you know if iherb mail in Europe?

Pufferpunk · Aug 17, 2017

I do not but you may be able to find pure sodium ascorbate powder in a health food store or check Amazon/Ebay.

Bokevince · Aug 17, 2017

Pufferpunk said:
I do not but you may be able to find pure sodium ascorbate powder in a health food store or check Amazon/Ebay.

Thanks my friend!

AMILLER400 · Dec 27, 2017

I have suffered from melting zoas for over a year while all my other corals have done well. Just bought the buffered VC. Will update with before/after pics after using for 2/3 months.

AMILLER400 · Dec 29, 2017

Pufferpunk said:
VITAMIN C DOSING CHART

Here are the directions:
Use this product:
http://www.iherb.com/NutriBiotic-Bu...-Vitamin-C-Crystaline-Powder-8-oz-227-g/70643
FREE SHIPPING!!!
$10 off 1st order of $40 & up or $5 off on smaller orders, when using this code: LUL789

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 (down to 2-3 ppm works also). 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 I-herb 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 or lower if only dosing for improved coral growth, coloration, and spread, also for better health/coloration of your fish. 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. Higher doses of as much as 100ppm (for about 2 weeks) for fish illness. 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.
* If you notice an algae bloom (white stringy stuff) or increased scum 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 then pour into overflow. If adding to sump, try and add the vitamin c after filtration such as skimmers and reactors. *Keep your Vitamin C bottle in the refrigerator. * If you have a question, ask here. I do my best to check these 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!

Thanks PufferPunk!
I have suffered from melting zoas for over a year now, while all my other corals have done well. Just got the buffered VC you specified on iHerb.com $20 for 2 jars with free shipping! Was delivered in two days! I mixed my dose with RODI and slowly poured the clear mixture into the westside of my MP10. I will dose twice a day as specified and slowly up my dose if things look better until I get get my Zoas growing larger. Thanks for the detailed notes. I am optimistic. Included are some before pics from today. I will update with after pics after dosing for 2/3 months.

Reefer40b · Jan 28, 2018

AMILLER400 said:
Thanks PufferPunk!
I have suffered from melting zoas for over a year now, while all my other corals have done well. Just got the buffered VC you specified on iHerb.com $20 for 2 jars with free shipping! Was delivered in two days! I mixed my dose with RODI and slowly poured the clear mixture into the westside of my MP10. I will dose twice a day as specified and slowly up my dose if things look better until I get get my Zoas growing larger. Thanks for the detailed notes. I am optimistic. Included are some before pics from today. I will update with after pics after dosing for 2/3 months.

I know you said you would update in 2/3 months time but any chance you could chime in to tell us how the first month went?

AMILLER400 · Jan 28, 2018

Reefer40b said:
I know you said you would update in 2/3 months time but any chance you could chime in to tell us how the first month went?

I dosed VC accounting to the chart for about 2 weeks twice daily and saw little to no improvement. I am also dosing a small amount of nopox once and a while when needed and I don't know if it was the combination, but I had a small bacteria bloom. Basically my filter sock got clogged with clear slime and there was some slime floating around in my sump. I immediately stopped dosing the VC and did a couple preventative WC's to make sure my water was ok. I haven't dosed VC since and am still watching my zoas dissolve away. I have some other zoas and palys that are doing great, mostly palys, and I feel that some types just are more suited for my tank than others. I just can't come up with a cure for my melting zoas... I have a friend in the hobby who says he's having a similar problem. Zoas seem to be the hardest coral for me to keep in my mixed reef tank... I really thought the VC was going to be a game changer, but I saw little improvement in my zoas and I guess I started to feel the risks were outweighing the potential benefits. The largest potential improvement I saw was actually in my fish. Their color and energy seem to be the best I've seen. I think the VC may be a useful thing to have on hand when a fish is suffering from some type of illness to boost their immune system, but I will not be using it on a daily basis for now, nor at the levels I was dosing..which was 1.25TSP twice a day for my 100 gallon setup. If you are going to try dosing VC I highly recommend mixing it with RODI water first. I bought small plastic jars and pre-mixed doses and kept them in my fridge so dosing was easy and the powder was fully dissolved before entering my DT.

A. grandis · Jan 28, 2018

I had a great experience with vitamin C dosing in my 75gal. zoa tank! My system is already old, turning 10 years, and there is no need of any boost for growth and color. The vitamin C acted as a enrichment for the tank, regardless. I use only less than 1 ml., 3 times a week. When I stopped using it there was a noticeable change, and again when went back using it. To me Vitamin C is a proven benefit to the reef system. I might have to stop dosing cause my zoanthids are already growing out of the water!;Wideyed I've been fragging a lot and giving away to fellow hobbyists. Vitamin C is also great to help healing colonies and to start a new system. Adding less is better IMO!
Grandis.

rockstarta78 · Jan 30, 2018

Read through the entire article. Interesting thread.

AnakinReefWalker · Jan 30, 2018

Read through this a bit, seems worth a try, I figure it doesn't guarantee improved coral colours but I'm going to give this a shot. I have a few questions though, when dosing VC can I run carbon?
Can I dose this directly into DT? My sump is set up this way Filter Floss --> Carbon --> Biological (Crushed Live Rock) --> Skimmer --> Return Pump, if I were to dose into my sump, at what stage would I put this stuff in?
Thanks

A. grandis · Jan 30, 2018

AnakinReefWalker said:
Read through this a bit, seems worth a try, I figure it doesn't guarantee improved coral colours but I'm going to give this a shot. I have a few questions though, when dosing VC can I run carbon?
Can I dose this directly into DT? My sump is set up this way Filter Floss --> Carbon --> Biological (Crushed Live Rock) --> Skimmer --> Return Pump, if I were to dose into my sump, at what stage would I put this stuff in?
Thanks

Dose in the tank.
No big deal.
Grandis.

Bokevince · Feb 13, 2018

Pufferpunk, when you says diluate in RO water, do we have to shake 20 seconds and then put in the sump or do we have to wait until the mix become orange????
thanks!!!

AMILLER400 · Feb 13, 2018

Bokevince said:
Pufferpunk, when you says diluate in RO water, do we have to shake 20 seconds and then put in the sump or do we have to wait until the mix become orange????
thanks!!!

I just tried to wait until the crystals were fully dissolved when adding to the display tank. Pour the liquid into a high flow area. If you are adding to the sump, you probably don’t have to worry. The crystals will eventually dissolve after they sink to the bottom. If you don’t want to pre-mix the powder you could probably just dump it into the filter sock. GL!