Vitamin c dosing

[THE_BEAST]

Any one here dosing vitamin c (sodium ascorbate) into their reefs? I would love to hear some of the results you guys have been having. As for me I started dosing 1/8 teaspoon twice daily on July 22. Exactly one week ago. My nitrates have started to drop and my skimmer is starting to pull some nasty stuff out of the water!!! [
IMG]http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/30/nyma4apy.jpg[/IMG]day one
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/30/y3eveja5.jpgone week of dosing


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[THE_BEAST]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/30/e9e5ese8.jpg
Sorry this was day one.


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[rrasco]

I did for awhile, because I had heard great success stories with it. When it boils down to it though, Vitamin C is ascorbic acid. If your goal for introducing VC into a reef is a means of nutrient reduction, you're essentially using the VC as a carbon source, in which case there are many other (and cheaper and more documented) carbon sources readily available. Vinegar, vodka and sugar are some carbon sources that are common in the hobby.

I personally dose vinegar now as a carbon source. It's less likely to encourage cyano as some other carbon sources are observed as doing.

At any rate, it's perfectly fine to use in your reef and there are many experiences similar to yours.

[THE_BEAST]

So will the acid part build up over time. Cause I heard it degrades fast. That's why we have to dose twice a day with it

[rrasco]

Correct. In alkaline environments, such as seawater, the VC will decompose quickly leaving behind the organic carbon source. This is why I believe dosing VC is most likely beneficial to reefs simply as another form of carbon dosing.

The purpose of carbon dosing is to promote bacteria that metabolize the carbon along with excess nutrients, nitrates and phosphates, which are ultimately removed primarily via protein skimming. This process will prevent the carbon source from building up over time.

If you overdose carbon, you will likely see the result in the form of a bacterial bloom in the water column.

[THE_BEAST]

Sweet that's exactly how I understood the process. So I'm going to continue to dose and see where it leads.

[rrasco]

Which VC are you using?

[THE_BEAST]

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/07/30/3u9atube.jpg
This one


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[rrasco]

And what's your total system volume?

[THE_BEAST]

I would say total water volume would be around 75 gallons

[rrasco]

Cool. Just asking so people had a reference if they decide to try it too.

[THE_BEAST]

Well just like anything in this hobby. Start slow and be patient. The bacteria bloom you were talking about eats up a lot of the oxygen In The water column suffocating the animals. That's why they say a good skimmer is an essential part of vitamin c dosing


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[rrasco]

This is true. It's also essential to remove the bacteria from the water column.

[THE_BEAST]

Yup that is also true.

[new2dis]

I found out by trial and error that vc was causing cyano breakout.

[350gt]

No dose, no issues is my view.......

I dont dose a thing....

[THE_BEAST]

Well apparently it will start a cyano break out. But then the cyano will get out competed by the other bacteria you are feeding. So then it will die off quickly. The only cyano I have is in the sump. But my display is real clean!!

[Dean]

No dose, no issues is my view.......

I dont dose a thing....
You are able to keep your calcium and alkalinity numbers up through only water changes?

[Flyride95]

I do.

[THE_BEAST]

I do not have to dose cal or alk yet. But I am not packed with stony corals either. And all frags.

[350gt]

Yes, with water changes every 2 weeks

[rrasco]

I have to dose 70ml of cal/alk a day or levels crash.

[Dean]

I go through 7 gallons a week of fully saturated kalk thru ato to keep mine at a constant level.

[350gt]

****, all sps or what? What salt?

[Dean]

Mine is a mixed reef. Sps, lps, and softie. Reef crystals

[Big_Pun]

I had to dose through kalk reactor to keep my levels up but I had a 150 with mostly Sps, lots of decent size colonies though

[Dean]

I recently removed my capricornis colonies which may lower it some but I do have 6 or 7 5" minicolonies.

[THE_BEAST]

I'm am not at colony level yet. But in time I will be. This patience thing is killing me. Jk

[350gt]

I also have a mixed reef with the frag tank added... And i dont need to dose....


Weird... I use reef crystals also.

How often are you changing water?

[Dean]

10 gallons every 2 to 3 weeks.

[THE_BEAST]

10 gallons out of what size system clownfitch?

[Dean]

Its about 70 gallons total water volume.

I'm definitely not saying my practices are the most sound either. I'm not in a postion to do water changes as frequently as I should and am using these tanks to learn and experiment with. Kalk works good if you stay consistent with it.

[THE_BEAST]

Oh ok

[350gt]

10 gallons every week, and 20 every 2 weeks led to nothing but problems for me....

30-35 is my tanks happy spot...

[THE_BEAST]

What's your water volume 350gt?

[350gt]

I would say around 150 total

Display 107 ish
Frag tank 14
Fuge 7-8
Sump about 25

Skimmer only, no gfo, no carbon..... No head aches! Im all about keeping it simple...

I use to run carbon... Somedays i want to again to polish the water....

Gfo! Forget that stuff.... Waste of time and money IMO....

Bio pellets.... All the tanks i seen them on still had nuisance algae, so I passed...

[THE_BEAST]

Hmmm sounds like you have it figured out. I have only been in the hobby for a little over a year. So I haven't experimented with all the different medias. I am a fan of keeping it simple also. And I have had great success so far!!!

[350gt]

Just stick with your water changes..... Its all ive been doing for four years now...

Just stay consistent, and if you dont have a ato, get one! Thats would be more beneficial than any dosing atm..... Stability is key.

[350gt]

A little example

Feb
http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww125/gsrt5/IMG_7448_zps9b4f3c32.jpg (http://s712.photobucket.com/user/gsrt5/media/IMG_7448_zps9b4f3c32.jpg.html)

5 months later

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww125/gsrt5/3C5370A2-85D3-4075-A091-23CFA98587EC_zpsunnx9ct1.jpg (http://s712.photobucket.com/user/gsrt5/media/3C5370A2-85D3-4075-A091-23CFA98587EC_zpsunnx9ct1.jpg.html)

[THE_BEAST]

Holy smokes that's some good growth. At the moment I don't have a ato. But I do have a manual top off set up that I just flip a switch every morning and it pumps RO into the system back to the optimum level.

[THE_BEAST]

Also. What kind of lights do you run?

[350gt]

Ai vega

[THE_BEAST]

Ok cool

[350gt]

What are you using?

[THE_BEAST]

I have 120w dimmable black box LEDs. Don't know the brand or anything. But I am looking at getting a pair of the reef radiance dm-155e

[THE_BEAST]

Anybody else with experience vitamin c dosing?