vitamin C

How many of you guys/gals would be interested in a vitamin C thread??? i just started today, tomorrow i am going to put all the info i know (along with before pics) about VC dosing. i would now, but i am really tired. So if any of you would like to start it out for me i will give you K+ ;D

Thanks, Salty

 

I would be super intreasted just dont have enough info to start it lol

 

You may ask your self, why i am starting this thread?? Well i have had several zoas. simply melt away, or just never open, and my bubble coral has a bad case of brown slime.

Still asking your self why Vitamin C (VC) has any thing to do with it, read below and then i will add my own learning and readings.

Vitamin C

That web site gave me the idea. i ran with it.

lets start with day one.
i looked for the purest VC not knowing about powder i used tablets.
what holds the tablets together is a binder. the binder will cause you skimmer to go crazy. what i recommend is using a pure buffered Sodium Ascorbate, Crystalline Powder. i have came to the conclusion this is the best after a lot of reading!! you can find that product here.

NutriBiotic, Sodium Ascorbate, Crystalline Powder, 16 oz (454 g) - iHerb.com

I was planing on this thread to be a lot bigger but it was not as popular as i expected if you have any questions pleas ask i would like every one with zoas to try this

thanks,
salty

 

WOW this is really cool and I have never heard of this before. So the vitamin C is used in the aquarium to boast the immune system of the fish and the corals? I can understand how it helps boast the fishes immune system but how does it work for the corals?

 

People who are soaking their fish foods in a quality vitamin supplement are getting some of their Vitamin C needs met in this way. The reason these food soaks are available is because Vitamin C is highly unstable in air, light, heat, etc. That's the reason if you go to the drugstore and buy some for yourself, it will be in a dark bottle to block light, will have a moisture-removing dessicant in it. If you are using pellets or flakes and you put moist fingers in them or you leave the lid off or store the food underneath your stand, you have destroyed all of the bio-available vitamin C almost immediately. (HINT: keep even flake and pellet food in the freezer to prevent moisture).

Same way....it's a very important antioxidant.

 

+1 time to get some oranges ^^

 

I have been dosing VC on my 30 cube for about 5 months now and I will not turn back.

I stopped for just one month when I ran out of the supplement and almost immediately saw a decline in health of corals as wells as a huge explosion of nuisance algae (comparatively huge - for reference I have cleaned the glass on this tank about 6 times since it has been set up nearly a year ago.)

Within days of starting dosing again the corals all looked healthy and the nuisance algae immediately slowed and thanks to the CUC has since subsided.

We have been dosing VC in our 120 Gallon for about 4 months and during the same lapse the 30 gallon saw, we saw even more dramatic explosions of nuisance algae growth as well as a great increase in the number of flatworms (there were barely countable numbers previously) within weeks of stopping treatment. Also our female clown had popeye - successfully treated by Melafix - which delayed VC dosing as the Melafix forces you to run with no skimmer and you absolutely cannot dose VC unless you have a very powerful skimmer to remove all of the extra bacterial waste which is "eaten" out of the water by the bacterial colonies that are supported by the VC. But I digress)
Upon resuming treatment in the 120, we saw similar return to health of corals and cessation of growth of nuisance aglae. Also it seems the fish color is more vibrant when they are literally swimming in vitamin C.

I have been dosing at roughly 5PPM for both tanks FWIW using the same Nutribiotic supplement referenced.

Great start to what is a widely unknown, yet very easy and all encompassing dosing method.

I also plan to start using BioPellets in conjunction with VC dosing as I understand what I have read about carbon dosing, each method will support it's own unique "profile" of bacteria in the tank.

 

Vitamin C is an interesting carbon source. It is fairly readily available and inexpensive. Whether or not different carbon sources supports a different bacterial profile or they just eventually shift to a mono-culture anyways is unknown. It's certainly possible that you could end up with a mono-culture when using various sources, but no one has done any type of experiment. I dose Vodka and vinegar in hopes that it does promote a wider range of bacteria, but I don't know for sure.

Also, remember, Vitamin C is about 2.5x the potency of vodka and 20x the potency of vinegar however, so, it could be overdone easily.

As for reasons to use, you can use it as a carbon source, like vodka, vinegar, biopellets etc... A lot of people are using vit C to help with the health of their animals, often specifically their zooanthids. I'm not personally convinced that zoanthids specifically like Vitamin C over other carbon sources. I've found my zoanthids really took off when I started carbon dosing. So, it may just be the clean environment and/or they are consuming the actual organic carbon. Also, I think most of my livestock looks better with carbon dosing in general, but I don't know, it would be an interesting experiment to compare it to other carbon sources.

 

+1 on specific affinity of Zoas for VC dosing.

I believe I had read some time back that the VC supported rapid collagen growth/regrowth/repair.

When I started VC dosing I had a melting colony of Radioactive Dragon Eye Zoas which were saved in a matter of a week. All zoas continue to explode with the VC dosing.

 

M-Ocean Man, I too have a 30g and am intrigued by the idea of providing added boost to the immune system of my tank. However I do not run a skimmer on my 30g, simply provide it with frequent WC's and every now and then dose with some part a & b nano supplements along with iodide and coral-vite. Was wondering if I can still apply VC to my tank without a skimmer, if so what form of VC should I purchase and where? A few drops of orange juice sucked from a fruit with a syringe should do the same trick right?