Vitamin C dosing for zoanthids (I am clueless)

dwhanc00 · Jan 9, 2009

Has anyone had any negative effects on their mushrooms from dosing VC? Our mushrooms have closed up on us. I am also trying to increase our magnesium at the same time. Two days ago it was at 1150. Raising it around 18/day. Should be around 1200 by now. Calcium was 400, alk is 3.5 mg/l. We also add b-ionic two part balance to maintain levels.

Could I be dosing the tank too much?

Pufferpunk · Jan 9, 2009

None here--my shrooms are HUGE & I'm dosing at ~23ppm.

pete43 · Jan 12, 2009

No negative effect on mushrooms here,but my xenia is'nt pulsing as much as it used to.I am only using a vitamin additive from Kent,while I am waiting for the powder form of vitamin C to get here.
So long,Pete

Pufferpunk · Jan 12, 2009

How many mg of VC are you dosing with the Kent?

pete43 · Jan 13, 2009

Right now I am only dosing 1 capful of seachem reef plus(vitamins and amino acid)once everyday.
I am glad you responded PufferPunk,I had a question for ya.
Should I order from iherb the powder form of Sodium Ascorbate or Ascorbic Acid or are they the same thing?Also I wanted to order a calcium additive to replace my 2part solution since I don't/won't have to add the Alk(part 1)additive.
Let me know,thanks a lot.
So long,Pete

Pufferpunk · Jan 14, 2009

I don't think I understand what you're saying about not adding alk. You'll need to continue dosing ca & alk along with the VC. You need to use buffered sodium ascorbate, not unbuffered ascorbic acid. I use Pedlow's Driveway Heat for ca & make the alk from baked baking soda, as in this link: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#4

pete43 · Jan 15, 2009

Thanks for your help,PufferPunk.I am going to start dosing (the buffered sodium ascorbate) as soon as I get it in the mail.As far as my xenia not pulsing as much,once I did a water change they started pulsing insanely again.Thanks again,and stay tuned for my progress with v/c dosing in future posts.
So long,Pete

Coral Keeper · Feb 10, 2009

Pufferpunk said:
When using the pills, we don't really know what's in them. My skimmer is still skimming great (I was going to mod it). I just dropped the over flow tube lower. I'm using about 9,000mg (2tsp) in my 100g tank now, 2x/day. Never had any cloudiness.

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

Be sure your pH is around 8.2 & your alk is around 9-10, before you start. Keep an eye on both (I test weekly, now that I notice no changes).

Be sure to take some "before" pics!

Did I get this right?

For every 30 gallons:

5 ppm ----- 573 mg VC
10 ppm ---- 1146 mg VC
15 ppm ---- 1720 mg VC
20 ppm ---- 2293 mg VC
25 ppm ---- 2867 mg VC
30 ppm ---- 3440 mg VC

Coral Keeper · Feb 10, 2009

Bump.

alw041 · Feb 10, 2009

What is the name of the Vitamin C powder you use on iherb.com?
Does that referal code still work?

kitten0304 · Feb 12, 2009

ok need some help

kitten0304 · Feb 12, 2009

ok I've been dosing vc for about 4 weeks im up to 3/4 tsp two time a day (sometimes i forget) a dose in a 100gal system, I have 2 questions # 1 has anyone had any problem with there acans mine seem to be receeding some dying. #2 some of my zoa's had a bad case of something im not saying it was zoa pox or slime whatever or both but some of them that have recovered or are recovering and have changed colors like now a few of my greatful deads have orange eyes, and my green goblins too, and some are so fadded there grey will there color go back to normal? Thanks in advance. I will try to get picks of them in the am.

water prams
ph 8.3
nitrite, nitrate, amonia, ph = 0
alk 9-10
cal 380-400
i dose vc, reef builder and reef complete cal+mag as needed, iron, potassium iodine, amino acids.

fsu1dolfan · Feb 13, 2009

kitten0304 said:
ok I've been dosing vc for about 4 weeks im up to 3/4 tsp two time a day (sometimes i forget) a dose in a 100gal system, I have 2 questions # 1 has anyone had any problem with there acans mine seem to be receeding some dying. #2 some of my zoa's had a bad case of something im not saying it was zoa pox or slime whatever or both but some of them that have recovered or are recovering and have changed colors like now a few of my greatful deads have orange eyes, and my green goblins too, and some are so fadded there grey will there color go back to normal? Thanks in advance. I will try to get picks of them in the am.

water prams
ph 8.3
nitrite, nitrate, amonia, ph = 0
alk 9-10
cal 380-400
i dose vc, reef builder and reef complete cal+mag as needed, iron, potassium iodine, amino acids.

All the params you listed seem normal but you are dosing iodine and from what i have read if not careful on the dose you can destroy a tank....Find a LFS that tests iodine and get it tested...thats what i did and found mine to be high so i backed off dosing to every other week instead of every week.

Pufferpunk · Feb 14, 2009

Sorry guys, I've just come back from a dive trip. Nothing in my tanks are negatively affected by dosing VC, even at doses as high as 100ppm. Please do be very careful with iodine dosing.

Please post pics of what you think might be zoapox. I have found very high doses of VC has gotten rid of zoapox.

pete43 · Feb 19, 2009

Hey PufferPunk,I was using the Vit-C tablets 1000mg,I would drop one tablet in the sump per day.Everything is great,even a favia that I thought was dead,CAME BACK TO LIFE!
Here's the thing.Someone told me that the ingredient/agent that holds the pill together "can't be good for the corals"
He's a freshwater/planted tank guy with a background in pharmacology.
I just thought I would run it past you and see what you thought.Thanks a lot.
So long,Pete

Pufferpunk · Feb 19, 2009

He is quite correct. They use "fillers" to keep the ascorboc acid crystals in tablet form. Not only that is that bad but it's not buffered either, so it has a pH of 4 which will eventually really mess up your pH & alk levels.
Use this: http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.aspx?c=1&pid=-7152293197697039798
$5 off coupon code: LUL789

pete43 · Feb 19, 2009

Thanks a lot.I'm glad I asked.I would have been using it until the bottle ran out.I've been using it about a month now.
I dose with ESV B-ionic 2part solution.PH is 8.4 and the ALK is 10DKH.
Thanks again.
So long,Pete

bellareef · Feb 20, 2009

All the params you listed seem normal but you are dosing iodine and from what i have read if not careful on the dose you can destroy a tank....Find a LFS that tests iodine and get it tested...thats what i did and found mine to be high so i backed off dosing to every other week instead of every week.

Yes, it's a good idea to test for iodine if you're supplementing, as you could easily overdose. Same goes for potassium.

Paul_N · Apr 9, 2009

Jenny,
I just started dosing Vit C about 4 days ago. I was also dosing vodka (5ml/day) for the past 6 months. I wanted to continue dosing both for the time being and possibly switch to all Vit C. I have a 100gal total system volume. I started by cutting the vodka back to 2 ml/day and starting with 1/4 tsp of Vit C /day. I was following the thread over at the "other" site until I got booted. Do you have any experience with dosing both or know anyone that has?

Thanks,
Paul

Pufferpunk · Apr 9, 2009

You might want to check the Reef Chemistry forum on RC (you should still be able to read posts there). There are a few on there thah have dosed both. Personaly, it seems redundant to me, since VC can do much more than act like a carbon source.