|
04/11/2010, 09:51 AM | #676 |
Moved On
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Franklin Park, IL
Posts: 21,027
|
There's definitely something to this stuff! I looked into my BW Figure 8 puffer tank yesterday to see a 1/2 dead puffer. She had been keeping a darker belly all week & her tail was starting to look shorter & a bit frayed but yesterday, she was floating tail up near the overflow, being tossed around by the current. She had a film on her & refused even live blackworms. The other puffer was getting fat on them & all the other fish were fine. I added Melafix & 1/4 tsp VC to her tank. Kept checking on her until bedtime but no changes. Added another 1/2 tsp VC before bed. This morning the film is gone, her belly is white & she ate!!!
|
04/11/2010, 10:21 AM | #677 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 19
|
The actual concentration is 1690mg ascorbic acid and 210mg sodium per 1/2 tspn. For other ingredients its say none and says contains no sugar, starch, yeast, wheat, gluten, soy, milk, egg, shellfish or preservatives. I intend to switch to the brand your using because its a better value.
To make a long story short i am starting at such a low amount just because i'm leary of adding things to my tank. I battled a hair algae problem for a while and in a moment of insanity decided to add Algaefix Marine against my better judgement. It did kill a majority of the algae and it did not kill a single organism in my tank, however after 10 doses all my corals look po'd for a lack of a better term. My hope with the C is to reduce my N/P lower to remove the remaining algae and with the apparent added benefits in the C boost my corals. |
04/11/2010, 10:23 AM | #678 |
Moved On
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Franklin Park, IL
Posts: 21,027
|
Starting slow is great!
|
04/12/2010, 07:28 PM | #679 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 114
|
PH Drop
I posted a message regarding this topic before, I was just wondering if anyone that has a PH monitor has noticed any sort of drop after adding VC? I have a 50Gal saltwater tank and I add 1/2 tsp around 830pm. It went from 8.12 to 8.02 within an hour of adding the VC. That seems way too much. I am currently having PH problems, but it still shouldn't swing it that much, should it?
I have always thought that the VC feeds the bacteria that therefore produce CO2, which lowers the PH. My skimmer always goes nuts too after adding VC. |
04/12/2010, 08:55 PM | #680 |
Registered Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: California
Posts: 3,031
|
What time does your light turn off? You should expect a pH drop at night from the change in photosynthesis.
__________________
-Eric Sutter Current Tank Info: 14g Biocube |
04/13/2010, 04:38 AM | #681 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 114
|
|
04/13/2010, 08:20 AM | #682 |
Moved On
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Franklin Park, IL
Posts: 21,027
|
Are you using the buffered I-herb VC?
|
04/13/2010, 03:29 PM | #683 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 114
|
|
04/13/2010, 06:10 PM | #684 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 114
|
okay, so I tested it with half the dosage of VC, so 1/4 tsp and the PH dropped about half the amount. This time it went down from 8.11 to 8.06. VC definitely has an effect on my PH.
|
04/13/2010, 06:13 PM | #685 |
Registered Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: California
Posts: 3,031
|
That is very interesting. I would think that a small quantity of anything with that small of a pH difference could affect the overall pH of the solution that much. I wonder what is going on chemically there.
__________________
-Eric Sutter Current Tank Info: 14g Biocube |
04/14/2010, 05:05 AM | #686 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 114
|
Quote:
Because my PH isn't that stable, the VC feeds the bacteria which produce CO2 and that causes my PH to drop. Just throwing out some ideas here. |
|
04/14/2010, 08:51 AM | #687 |
Moved On
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Franklin Park, IL
Posts: 21,027
|
I have always said (& posted in my instructions), to be sure your pH & alk are stable, before starting to dose VC.
|
04/15/2010, 04:21 AM | #688 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 114
|
|
04/15/2010, 08:24 AM | #689 |
Moved On
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Franklin Park, IL
Posts: 21,027
|
At least at acceptable ranges of ~8.2 for pH & 8-9 for alk.
|
04/15/2010, 10:19 PM | #690 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 114
|
|
04/15/2010, 11:01 PM | #691 |
Moved On
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Franklin Park, IL
Posts: 21,027
|
Good idea. Try some water changes. Check your Ca & Mg too.
|
05/02/2010, 09:11 PM | #692 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 114
|
Ca = 400ppm and Mg=1250 Been reading a bit more about carbon source dosing. In order for VC to remove nitrates, do I need a sand bed? Would this work if I just have a bare bottomed tank, or gravel on the bottom? From what I read dosing a carbon source would feed bacteria in the sand bed and they would eat nitrates. |
05/02/2010, 10:24 PM | #693 |
Moved On
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Franklin Park, IL
Posts: 21,027
|
I keep my Mg at around 1350.
|
05/03/2010, 04:47 AM | #694 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 114
|
Quote:
|
|
05/03/2010, 08:12 AM | #695 |
Moved On
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Franklin Park, IL
Posts: 21,027
|
I have no sandbed in my 15g frag tank & I add 1/8 tsp VC to keep nitrate levels down.
|
05/03/2010, 09:06 AM | #696 | |
Registered Member
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Ontario, Ohio
Posts: 4,937
|
Quote:
__________________
Nate Current Tank Info: 15g Waterbox cube |
|
05/03/2010, 09:13 AM | #697 |
Moved On
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Franklin Park, IL
Posts: 21,027
|
Interfere with the test or just with alk in general? It does change your alk slightly. I know I did adjust my dosing of alk after I started dosing VC but everything is very stable & within normal range after dosing VC for almost 3 years now.
Last edited by Pufferpunk; 05/03/2010 at 09:21 AM. |
05/03/2010, 04:38 PM | #698 |
Registered Member
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Wake Forest, NC
Posts: 3,696
|
I've noticed that ramping up Vitamin C dosages eventually can lead to high alk. But it's a slow process, mine crept up like 1 dkH per week when I was dosing 1 tsp 2X a day (80g total volume).
That being said, has anyone considered dosing either calcium ascorbate or potassium ascorbate? I'm thinking that the calcium ascorbate could actually produce something like a "Two-Part" dosing effect. Or the potassium ascorbate, mixed 50/50 with the sodium ascorbate, could be beneficial (and somewhat more balanced) for SPS, since Randy has hinted that heavy carbon source dosing could possibly reduce potassium levels. I'd have to buy a potassium kit before I'd try it, but it sounds cool in theory.
__________________
"The measure of a life is not its duration but its donation." Corrie Ten Boom “The tyrant dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins” -- Søren Kierkegaard Current Tank Info: ghetto grad school reef.....11g rimless tank, 36X9X9, lit by Cree and Rebels scobbled together. Stocked mostly with free stuff I got from panhandling my fellow reefers. |
05/11/2010, 10:23 PM | #699 |
Moved On
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Franklin Park, IL
Posts: 21,027
|
This hasn't been bumped in a while...
|
05/17/2010, 07:16 PM | #700 |
Registered Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Aiken, SC
Posts: 47
|
Just thought I would add in my experience. I started Vit. C dosing nearly two month ago, the first week i ended up with a large diatom breakout but after lowering the dosage, it went away immediately and then I slowly raised the dosage again to about 10ppm.
Definite increase in coral health, very noticeable with their color and openness. My main reason for starting this was to try and get rid of my hopeless hair algae. It didn't get rid of the algae I already had, but it has had a very large impact on new growth, which has been slim to none. The other changes that have occurred: My dKH. It was originally stable at around 5, and now has risen and appears to be stable at 10. Constant reading of 0 Phosphates and 0 Nitrates Thank you for sharing this, I will definitely be continuing to dose |
|
|