Latest on dosing Vitamin C....

[vega15]

I am having issues with my Zoas closing and melting away. I have done a lot of research and have found people out there dosing Vitamin C both in tablet form and in powder form....

I am considering doing this but wanted to see what you guys have done or seen in the past and see if you agree to doing it or not.

Thanks for the HELP! LOL

[tankdude]

I've never heard of such a thing, I tagging along for this one.

[rosebud161616]

This was a craze awhile back. There was a never ending thread on it over on RC. I tried it myself and didn't see any changes other than having to battle my PH due to the pills dropping it.

[vega15]

This was a craze awhile back. There was a never ending thread on it over on RC. I tried it myself and didn't see any changes other than having to battle my PH due to the pills dropping it.

Yeah I read that thread. It seams now that there is the powder that is buffered to a PH of 7. I have to try something as I am loosing Zoas as we speak :(

How much and what type of Vit C were you dosing? Size of tank?

Has anyone else given this a try?

[rosebud161616]

Yeah I read that thread. It seams now that there is the powder that is buffered to a PH of 7. I have to try something as I am loosing Zoas as we speak :(

How much and what type of Vit C were you dosing? Size of tank?

Has anyone else given this a try?

We were using the powder suggested in the RC thread from iherb that is buffered to 7.0. It was still dropping our PH so it was a constant battle. This was on a 120 gallon, about 150 gallons total. We were following the recipe in the RC thread. Sorry, I don't remember what is off hand.

[Manoj's Reef]

My 0.02
Buffered vitamin C is nothing but a carbon source. Its a pure carbon source and you have to start on very low doses. It acts in the same way as vodka would do.

If your zoas are melting and dying there might be other issues that you need to fix. Vit C is not a fix.

I would not recommend going that route.

If you have more questions let me know and I can help you out.

[vega15]

This was a craze awhile back. There was a never ending thread on it over on RC. I tried it myself and didn't see any changes other than having to battle my PH due to the pills dropping it.


We were using the powder suggested in the RC thread from iherb that is buffered to 7.0. It was still dropping our PH so it was a constant battle. This was on a 120 gallon, about 150 gallons total. We were following the recipe in the RC thread. Sorry, I don't remember what is off hand.

Thanks for the info rosebud.


My 0.02
Buffered vitamin C is nothing but a carbon source. Its a pure carbon source and you have to start on very low doses. It acts in the same way as vodka would do.

If your zoas are melting and dying there might be other issues that you need to fix. Vit C is not a fix.

I would not recommend going that route.

If you have more questions let me know and I can help you out.

Yeah I am not sure what to do here Manoj's. All I know is that for no apparent reason my Zoas are going away. It is weird as not all of my colonies are doing this. The two that are (at this point) are of the same colony but are at the opposite side of the 180 tank.

All of my parameters are in check with the exception of my Phos which is at 0.31PPM I am working on this by use of a Bio Pellet system that has been up for 1 week.

SG 1.024 PH 8.25-8.45 Temp 78 Deg Calc 425 Buff 8-9 Mag 1300 Light cycle is on for a average of 5 hours a day. I dose with Kalkwasser and ocasionally dose buffer when needed. I use BRS buffer that is mixed with RO to do this.

Suggestions?

[CalmSeasQuest]

All of my parameters are in check with the exception of my Phos which is at 0.31PPM I am working on this by use of a Bio Pellet system that has been up for 1 week.

Did your Zoa melting issue coincide with the start of bio-pellets? Do you have elevated Nitrites, or just Phosphates?

Did you start initially with a small amount of pellets?

[vega15]

Did your Zoa melting issue coincide with the start of bio-pellets? Do you have elevated Nitrites, or just Phosphates?

Did you start initially with a small amount of pellets?

Calm- My Nitrites are in the 6 ppB (Billion) range and my Phos is at .31 ppm My Nitrates are at around .25-.30 ppm High for sure.

I have had this issue b-4 the use of the bio-pellets. The last time was about 6-10 months ago when I lost a whole colony of X-Men paly's. In total this has happened to me about 4 times now :( Bio-Pellets: I have taken the total amount needed (4 cups)-devided that by 4 and have been adding each dose (1 cup each) at one week intervals. My PH has been in the range of 8.19 to 8.45 and I have not ever noticed a sharp spike either way.

One interesting thing is that it has happened to me in both my Display tank and 30 gal Frag tank (not at all connected to the Display tank), so whatever it is that is that I am doing wrong, I am doing it to both tanks???

Anyother thoughts? Thanks!

[Wy Renegade]

Any Salinity fluctuations? Salt changes? Alkalinity fluctuations? Alk level issues within the listed time frame? How about lights? Type and age of bulb? Flow rate and flow type in tanks? Also if you are doing MB7, many people have noticed a issue with keeping many types of zoas when carbon dosing. Could be you started with one issue, and the MB7 is simply building on that.

[Sir Patrick]

My 0.02
Buffered vitamin C is nothing but a carbon source. Its a pure carbon source and you have to start on very low doses. It acts in the same way as vodka would do.

If your zoas are melting and dying there might be other issues that you need to fix. Vit C is not a fix.

I would not recommend going that route.

If you have more questions let me know and I can help you out.

I agree that VC is just another carbon source, but-

Possibly a less efficiant carbon source- Compared to carbon, sugar, vinager, ect. May perhaps be the reason polyps respond a bit better. I am thinking that it might not have as harsh an impact on the water parameters as many other carbon sources, and possibly works a bit better for the higher (but not too high) nutrient loving corals.

Just my hypothesis on the whole idea.

I also add VC, sparadically, to my tank-

Brightwell Aquatics - Vitamarin-C (http://www.brightwellaquatics.com/products/vitamarinct.php)

Normally I use bio fuel, but change things up at times with the brightwells VC, along with MB7. I think if you are going to VC dose, you may as well combine it with MB7, seeing its a carbon source.

I braught it up in the never ending RC thread (as others have) but the idea seems to get avoided every time....

[vega15]

Any Salinity fluctuations? Salt changes? Alkalinity fluctuations? Alk level issues within the listed time frame? How about lights? Type and age of bulb? Flow rate and flow type in tanks? Also if you are doing MB7, many people have noticed a issue with keeping many types of zoas when carbon dosing. Could be you started with one issue, and the MB7 is simply building on that.

Renegade-

Sorry for the late reply's here guys. Work has been CRAZY so I do not have much as time as I would like to have.

All check out fine. My lights are a good point as I do have HQI bulbs that are around 14 months old. However I usually run them for 18 months as I average only 5 hours a day in my photo cycle. I run Ushio bulbs so they are of good quallity.....Hummm now you have me thinking about it :-)

Flow is via 1 Tunze (6065?) and Iwaki return with an output of 1500 GPH.

I do not dose MB7 but do dose a Special Blend Bacteria. I am thinking that the combo of S. Blend and the addition of the new Bio-Pellet system might be bacteria overload? I am going to stop the dosing of S. Blend.

Your thoughts?

Thanks for all of the input!:jester:

[SaltCreeps]

if it was my tank i would be pointing at the light bulb as halides go through a heavy light shift as they age.

[vega15]

if it was my tank i would be pointing at the light bulb as halides go through a heavy light shift as they age.

Good point Salt....it is just that I have run this brand of bulb for 8+ years now and never had a problem with going 18 months. I guess I am leaning towards replacing them now to.

Do you run HQI's? If so what length of time are they on for and for how long (months) do you typically run yours for?

Thanks for the input.

[2pairs]

I am no expert but I ran the same bulbs and never got past the year point with out problems.
I would change your bulbs and stop using the Special Blend Bacteria. The Bio Pellets done the way they are supposed to should be enough.
Any time you need to make big changes do it as large water changes and don't double up on things.