A question on vitamin c

[bertie 83]

None of my local stores stock a vit c supplement, my local holland and Barrett sell pure vitc powder, would this likely be suitable? Will get more details and post them

[bertie 83]

Each 1/2 tsp contains 2500 mg vitamin c , ingredients vitamin c powder as ascorbic acid. Does this seem useable? I have looked into vitamin c dosing as recommended by pp and it seems to to have great benefits to the aquarium

[Pufferpunk]

That's all the ingredients? How much is the bottle & how much is in it? I found the cheapest source was I-Herb, online. Especially, with the 1st order discount.

[RTR]

Vitamin preps here (USA) are pretty well regulated as to labeling, no clue re GB requirements.

PP is definitely the local guru on vitamin C.

Ascorbic acid is pretty weak as an acid, but has anyone checked for any pH hit when dosing? Pure curiosity...

[Pufferpunk]

Ascorbic acid has a pH of 4. Sodium ascorbate (or magnesium/calcium ascorbate) is 7.

[bertie 83]

It's guaranteed to be free of preservatives, colours, starch , flavourings etc. the info says just vit c as ascorbic acid. It's less than £7 for 350g . Do you reckon it might be ok? Will go in the store and check it out. If you google holland and Barrett then put vitamin c powder in the search it's right there.

[Pufferpunk]

No, you need the buffered form: Sodium/Magnesium/Calcium ascorbate.

[RTR]

PP has the experience there, pH 4 is quite an acid load. That could adversely affect the entire tank biology. If I were even 20 years younger, I'd set paired tanks and try to see the long-term effects with and without vitamin C. That is pretty potent stuff, it affects a lot of systems. Your generation will be the one to prove or dis-prove it's worth.

[bertie 83]

When I find an appropriate product I would happily test side by side on 2 tanks. I have just dug 2 of my smaller tanks out and like a good project

[RTR]

When you are working with huge pH changes - as with adding pH ~4 to pH ~8 - we are talking about a huge change, that only specialized critters (from microbes to vertebrates) can handle. There are not an awful lot of cases even in estuaries where there are tidal changes that great. That could play havoc with tank stability. along with the water profile. Remember that the pH is an exponent - small numeric changes are in fact massive differences. I'm not sure FOWLR could deal with that great a change regularly.

[Pufferpunk]

What is your purpose for adding VC? FW or SW?

[bertie 83]

Salt water, improved health for corals and fish so I believe

[Pufferpunk]

Just look into the I-herb product.
There's a $10 coupon code, good for your 1st order.

[bertie 83]

Which item do you use pp?

[Pufferpunk]

Dosing Vitamin C Chart

Use this product:
http://www.iherb.com/ProductDetails.asp ... 7697039798
$5-10 0ff coupon code: LUL789 (always good for first purchase).
Keep refrigerated.

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. 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. No need to be exact--I usually round to the nearest 1/4 tsp.

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. Try for at least one dose being done during lights out, as VC absorbs better in the dark.


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 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.
*Do NOT dose at high levels (>10ppm), if you don’t have a skimmer! Especially on a nano tank.
* 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. I check VC threads 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.

Be sure to take some "before" pics!