Treating with Vitamin C

[Pufferpunk]

Wonderful news! I never understand why this doesn't eradicate hair algae, since it starved off my cheato to nothing.

[Scma]

Regardless, I still believe it's worth a shot for hair algae problems. I've tried practically everything to get rid of it. At least with the vit c it's growth rate has been a thousandth of what it was prior.

[jdm18honda]

Has anyone noticed your orp drop after dosing I am dosing a 1/4 teaspoon to 100 gallons orp before dosing is around 250 then drop down to 45 is this anything to worry about. I am sure it was said somewhere on the very long topic just me two cents

[redfishsc]

Anyone else notice this:

When dosing VC, skimmer pulls a lot of wet skim, looks like sweet tea. Hard to get dry skim.


No VC dosing: skimmer very easy to do a "dry skim" and immediately does this when VC is stopped.



No matter how hard I try I generally always get wet skim with VC, and it's never very dark. It's either wet skim, or no skim.

My nutrients do definitely drop, though, the VC is doing very, very good at what it's supposed to do.

[studmaster]

Originally Posted by jdm18honda

Has anyone noticed your orp drop after dosing I am dosing a 1/4 teaspoon to 100 gallons orp before dosing is around 250 then drop down to 45 is this anything to worry about. I am sure it was said somewhere on the very long topic just me two cents

I'm not sure if it's related but my PH drops by about .10 within an hour after dosing. The best explanation was that the bacteria rapidly uses up oxygen and output CO2. With a lot of surface flow, my PH comes back up over a couple hours.

[studmaster]

Originally Posted by redfishsc

Anyone else notice this:

When dosing VC, skimmer pulls a lot of wet skim, looks like sweet tea. Hard to get dry skim.


No VC dosing: skimmer very easy to do a "dry skim" and immediately does this when VC is stopped.



No matter how hard I try I generally always get wet skim with VC, and it's never very dark. It's either wet skim, or no skim.

My nutrients do definitely drop, though, the VC is doing very, very good at what it's supposed to do.

It happens to me exactly the same, I have an AquaC Remora and within a hour I'm getting wet skimmate. It's nothing too bad, and it makes me think it's working somewhat, so I'm okay with it.

[redfishsc]

I'm still wondering about using the calcium ascorbate. I wonder if it would add too much calcium, or just a pittance.


I need to double check the price of it too....

[tang0v]

is a skimmer required to dose vit c?

[Pufferpunk]

Absolutely! You need it to remove the extra waste the bacteria boost eats. (Sorry I can't explain it better.)

[tang0v]

thanks..guess i'm not trying it yet then

[Pufferpunk]

Get a skimmer, you'll wonder how your tank existed without one, when you see the stinky scum it takes out.

[Scma]

I wanted to post this before, but i could find a "before" picture. My before and after vitamin C pictures. Albeit I have added and changed a lot of things in the tank, ignore that and look at the hair algae.

Before, disgusting hair algae everywhere!

[IMG]http://i50.*******.com/20b0brp.jpg[/IMG]




After, 6 months of vitamin C usage. I only have one hair algae problem area left and it is barely noticable (right behind the large zoo rock)!

[IMG]http://i35.*******.com/1960s5.jpg[/IMG]

[Genetics]

Definitely looks healthier

[Pufferpunk]

Looks like you added a couple of things.
Do the colors really pop like that from the VC or is it just the camera?

[Genetics]

Originally Posted by Pufferpunk

Looks like you added a couple of things.
Do the colors really pop like that from the VC or is it just the camera?

Its from photo editing. This is why before and after pictures are difficult to find. But you can definitely see a difference by looking at the rocks and the sand.

[Scma]

I used a different camera for both pictures, but as Genetics said, you can see a definite difference on the rock. I have also saved more than one zoo colony which refused to open prior to vit. c. I like my tank much much better now

The yellow polyps and GSP in particular were getting swamped by the algae, now they actually have space to grow.

[pgibson]

Originally Posted by Scma

I wanted to post this before, but i could find a "before" picture. My before and after vitamin C pictures. Albeit I have added and changed a lot of things in the tank, ignore that and look at the hair algae.

Before, disgusting hair algae everywhere!

[IMG]http://i50.*******.com/20b0brp.jpg[/IMG]




After, 6 months of vitamin C usage. I only have one hair algae problem area left and it is barely noticable (right behind the large zoo rock)!

[IMG]http://i35.*******.com/1960s5.jpg[/IMG]

Just VC did this to your tank? I started last night and hope for the same results.

[wickedfish]

So I am reporting after a week sorry waaayyy to lazy to do before and after pictures cause after a week everything is the same.
Except 2 things unknown pink zoas all open more often I could swear I have more heads also, and my filter socks now looks like it went off roading without mud flaps. I have ditched the sock for now as I dont over feed anymore. But anyone else have the mud butt on their socks or am I the lone mudd butt sock guy??

[wickedfish]

Man I have one more thing I have a large mille colony about 10" tall 10" across it was white 2 weeks ago and now is all brownish pink, everywhere except the stem the base of it is still bright green and pink around the rock it stuck to, I don't know how I missed this in the previous reply. I have to state that I am also dosing the amino acid from brightwell started same day as the Vit C it says its free form amino acid for all corals. i dose 4 ml a day skimmer off for an hour while I do it. Anyone see white stringies not long like 1/4 inch or less all over there corals when you dose the Vit C? I noticed it a few hours ago.

[Tank2379]

Vit-C dosing really dose help alot- I was doisng twice a day every other day my SPS even look healthier....

[Jeff]

Originally Posted by wickedfish

Man I have one more thing I have a large mille colony about 10" tall 10" across it was white 2 weeks ago and now is all brownish pink, everywhere except the stem the base of it is still bright green and pink around the rock it stuck to, I don't know how I missed this in the previous reply. I have to state that I am also dosing the amino acid from brightwell started same day as the Vit C it says its free form amino acid for all corals. i dose 4 ml a day skimmer off for an hour while I do it. Anyone see white stringies not long like 1/4 inch or less all over there corals when you dose the Vit C? I noticed it a few hours ago.

The white stringy things are either a bacterial bloom or corals sliming. Probably a bacterial bloom from over dosing vitamin c. Either way, it's not harmful at all. It's an indicator that you need to stop dosing for a couple days until things settle down. Then start back up slowly. Overdosing a carbon source has caused this in the past and it's always due to a massive (beneficial) bacteria bloom caused by the VC. It's covered in the VC dosing guide that Pufferpunk posts up every so often.

[Pufferpunk]

Jeff, Isn't that the nitrate-eating bacteria developing & that's why your nitrate goes away? This is why it's so important to have a skimmer, to remove this stuff!

Probably should post that again, for posterity:
VITAMIN C DOSING CHART
Here are the directions:
Use this product:
http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?pid=10178&at=0
$5 off coupon 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 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 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!

[DevilBoy]

dose anyone dose the kent marine vitamin c ? or even the brightwells brand? Does this vitamin c show the same results?

[Pufferpunk]

If you read the chart I just posted, you will see the amounts I dose. I have been adding 1 tsp = 4,500mg of Asorbic acid to my tank, 2x/day. look at the concentration of VC in the products you are asking about & tell me if you think it's worth the $$$?

[DevilBoy]

Originally Posted by Pufferpunk

If you read the chart I just posted, you will see the amounts I dose. I have been adding 1 tsp = 4,500mg of Asorbic acid to my tank, 2x/day. look at the concentration of VC in the products you are asking about & tell me if you think it's worth the $$$?

I was not asking about vitamin c tablets. I was asking if dosing the vitamin c products for saltwater would give you the same results as the tablets. Products such as the Kent Marine, Brightwells, Warner Marine etc.