vitamin c

[Kwater]

now this is a true new approach at one of my problems. :D everything has been discussed and done except this and i wanted to get ur appinions too :)
sps corals do live in my tank but they dont really grow and they die down in color when they get into my tank. this man said that possable if i added some vitiamin c wich my tank may be lacking it could bring my sps coral colors back to life. also the polyps never seem to fully extend over the whole coral colony :o :p
so my queston is do u thing that vitamin c would possably spark back up the colors of my sps corals???
thank :)

 

[reeffreak]

If it does or doesn't is purely anecdotal.I do use Selcon(which has Vitamin C) to soak fish food.It suppose to boost immune system for fish but I don't know of any benefits for corals.

 

[Kwater]

Anecdotal???
Yes i also use silcon on my fish food too, but i think the guy was reffuring to pure vitamin c

 

[Melosu58]

The only thing that I am aware of vitamin C doing is preventing and curing HLLE in tangs.

 

[Bifferwine]

Anecdotal???

Coincidences taken from word-of-mouth stories. Not necessarily factual, proven or tested.

 

[reeffreak]

^
What Biff said.

I just don't think pure vitamin C will with certainty will bring back the color of SPS corals.How about a more obvious reason,lights and nutrients.What corals do you have that is losing color?Improper lighting and excessive nutrients are more factual then lack of vitamin C when it comes to corals losing color.

 

[d.french]

this is the right product to use, i use it and many others i know use it.
NutriBiotic, Sodium Ascorbate Crystalline Powder, 16 oz (454 g) - iHerb.com

thread about vitamin c is here:
Treating with Vitamin C - Reef Central Online Community
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. 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. 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 or increased skim 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 for a minute then pour into my overflow. If adding to sump, try and add the vitamin c after filtration such as skimmers and reactors.
* If you have a question, ask here. Puffy checks this thread 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.

 

[tankedchemist]

Like freak said, I'd look at your lighting situation first. How big is your tank and what kind of lights do you have?

I can't attest to the effectiveness of vitamin c treatment, but I did want to let you know that vitamin c is notoriously unstable. Light, heat, and oxygen will all degrade it, even in solid (powder) form. Store ina dark container in the fridge with as little headspace as possible...and I only buy small amounts at a time, so as to ensure I use it before it degrades too much.

 

[Kwater]

well many people have looked at my water chemestry and lights, thats y am taking a new approach :)
my lighting is a 175 watt metal halide and two t5 lights both 54 watts with individual reflectors. my nutrient levels are low i run a 24 hour refugium with chato and mangroves and i have phospate remover in my sump 24/7. as far as calcium and alk goes it is not too often purfect but it is stable and never reatches levels where it would become a major problem to corals, its ushaly just a little low. :p
and most of my corals, like for example my dark blue staghorn with light blue growth tips lost most of the blue growth tips. now some of them are there and the polyps are extended for the most part its just the color dumed down :( :o
is there any more info that i could give that would be usefull???

and thenk u verry moch for that whole thing and product recomendation on vitamin c d. french :D

 

[tankedchemist]

Do you have many leathers and/or zoanthids? Along that vein, do you run carbon?

 

[Kwater]

hate carbon, i rarley use it and when i do use it i only put it in for a day or too, im not a fan of it though so na i dont use it. i have mushrooms amd bubble corals and other lps and soft corals, i dont have leathers and i dont really have zooanthids, zooanthids absoutley hate my tank and shrivil up into mini zooanthids but i might try them again since i havent tried them in a long time :p