The Puffer Forum

Thank you so much for your reply..

First off, with no3 I actually meant nitrate and not nitrite, but my nitrite and amm are 0, sorry to scare you. As far as my tank goes, I have 110 lbs of LR plus some rubble in the sump. It's been up and running now for 8 years. It was somewhat neglected for the last 5, not so much as totally run over and forgotten, just that i never did WC and I only had 4 fish so I wasn't too concerned. In june, I decided I wanted to bring it back and I did. I do WC weekly 20 gallon. I was dosing vodka for 10 weeks and got the nitrates to 20 and the phosphates to .5, but then I seem to have hit a wall. They would not go any lower. I stopped and have been dosing sugar now for about 2 weeks with minimal results, but I really didn't expect mush yet. The levels have still stayed at 20 and .5. My goal is to get them down to <10 and undetectable on the phosphates. And I will stop sugar if I decide to go the VC route...

As far as the product I use,what would be the ill effects I would have if I used what I currently have? Is there a way to find out if what I have is buffered? The product I have says "crystalline, non-acidic" on the label and the only ingredients is Vitamin C(as Calcium Ascorbate) 5000mg and Calcium(as Calcium Ascorbate) 750mg. thank you again for your time...

Hi haven't heard anything back, but thought I would try again. I have a new question.

Is Vitamin C a way to treat Zoo Pox? I think I have them but have not been able to find a definitive answer..


thanks...

Calcikum ascorbate is buffered to 7.1.

Yes, I have used VC to cure zoapox. My suggestion is to QT the infected zoas, dose VC at 50-100ppm & do SW water dips with Furan for 20-30 minutes, every other day fo 3 dips or until it's gone. Problem with dosing VC at such high levels in a small tank is you MUST use a skimmer with that.

thank you puffer, I was waiting to hear a reply about the calcium ascorbate before I tried it. So it sounds like what I have will work. I'll go very slowly though and watch my ph very closely. I'll start tonight for that matter. So I should start with 5 ppm, you said right? That would be just under 1900 mg and since what I have is 5000 per tsp, I'll start with 1/4 tsp, right?

I'm picking up some Furan tomorrow.As far as the zoa pox, will i be doing any damage if i dip them and it's not actually pox? I have been having trouble getting definitive answers. here's some pics, what do you think? thanks...

I think it's pox but do me a favor & brush them off with a soft toothbrush & post a new pic.

thanks give me a minute and i'll have those for you...

it's really hard to tell if it's detritus or pox with them all closed up now, but i brushed them off but only seem to have gotten the tops, a bit afraid to give too much pressure, i guess...

here' the new pics:

Those are pretty good pics. I definately see less of what looked like pox now but think I might see a few still. Have you seen this?
http://www.zoaid.com/articles004.php

Yes I have, thank you, but what I see on mine doesn't seem to be "attached" to the zoos like in that pic. I'm just nervous to dip them if not necessary. But I just want to catch it if it is before it spreads. Neither of my other zoos are affected and from what I understand, my palys won't be affected.

Do you think I should just dose vitamin C and see if it goes away with that? They just aren't opening like they used to...

Regular maintence dosing (5ppm), won't get rid of zoapox. It should look just like a whitehead under the skin.

thanks went over it with a toothbrush again this morning, i was more forceful. I think i have a nudi so I am going to do an iodine dip tonight...

If you have nudis, sneak up on them with a flashlight at night. Be sure to look closely for eggs.

yeah i think i got the eggs but not the nudi. I have looked at all my zoas and palys and no sign. I have QT'd and am getting ready to do the dip now. Here is what I saw originally:

Yup, definitely a zoa-eating nudi in that 1st pic & eggs in the 2nd. The nudi takes on the color of the zoa they are eating. Did you find that fella?

nope, gave them a FW iodine dip, but nothing fell off. Just on a whim yesterday when I thought it was just zoo pox and after that pic was taken, I did dip them in a ro/di with some VC so it may have fallen off then, but didn't know i was looking for it back then. some stuff did come off in that dip. I'm currently working on my net lid for my tank so I can put a yellow coris wrasse in tomorrow. my LFS says he has one. That's one of the fish on my wish list so I am just getting it sooner than later...