Vitamin C dosing for zoanthids (I am clueless)

Eklikewhoa

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Thanks for clearing that up....didn't think my post was misleading but yes, vodka is not used in this sense for the same reasons but I wanted to add the VC to the mix.

I got some cool AquaVitro products from my LFS today as well so the mixing bowl reef is about to get crazy!
 

fsu1dolfan

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Just an update to this Vitamin C Theory....i am now dosing every day with feeding as directed on the bottle http://www.shop.poshreef.com/produc...qscstrfrnt04?productId=683&sourceCode=froogle

The results are amazing....everyday new zoas, my rics are getting bigger, the xenias are getting bigger, and i have yet to have any disease or outbreak of any kind for months....for example i recently bought a fire fish in hopes he would be able to coexist and unfortunately he was picked on and developed ick and eventually died (i was sad) but my purple lobster took care of the body and i didnt do anything to the tank....no jump in ammonia, nitrates, etc. Granted i have a small protein skimmer and macro algae for the excess in nutrients but the Vitamin C i would bet my life is keeping my tank thriving....my biggest problem is calcium with the halimeda....other than that Vitamin C for life...Seriously!!!
 

Pufferpunk

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I bet if you tested your nitrate, you'd be surprised! I'm glad you're having such great results. I'm still dosing more than a year now. Do you know actually how much VC you ar dosing & are you using it 2x/day?
 

fsu1dolfan

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I bet if you tested your nitrate, you'd be surprised! I'm glad you're having such great results. I'm still dosing more than a year now. Do you know actually how much VC you ar dosing & are you using it 2x/day?


Funny you mention Nitrate...it barely moved...im thinking my macros eat up alot of bad nutrients!!

I only feed once a day - Cup of tank water, mysis 1/2 cube, and 8-10 drops of VC....let soak and mix.....then pour it in....thats the only VC dosing i do
 

fsu1dolfan

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Dosing everyday still with food!!! No issues and everything is healthy....biggest recent mistake is giving my friend my orange diamond back goby. He got a little big for the tank and was making to many holes...unfortunately he kept my sand immaculate and know I'm starting to have some diatom algae growth on the sand :(
Otherwise my coral growth has been great!!
 

Gary Greguire

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I ordered mine today will start dosing as soon as I get it. My tank is a 180 with a 33L sump. It is almost completely stocked with new frags of lps, zoos and palys I have about 12 sps. I will be sure to take a bunch of before pics.

Also does anyone have any more before and after pics.

Thanks for all the info
 

ecotoxlady

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Follow up on ascorbate and collagen production:

Here is a paper with the finding that ascorbic acid significantly increases the production of collagen in both a soft and hard coral. The two species in this article are Xenia elongate (pulsing xenia) and Montipora digitata, both common corals kept by reefers.

So ascorbate could be acting on two fronts. 1) An antioxidant that neutralizes toxic oxygen radicals produced in photosynthesis and 2) In growth, acting as a stimulant in collagen production, the major structural component of soft corals.

Here is the citation, again if you would like the pdf please let me know.

Helman, Yael, Natale, Frank, Sherrell, Robert M., et al. Extracellular matrix production and calcium carbonate precipitation by coral cells in vitro 2008

http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/105/1/54

It sounds like a lot of people are getting positive results and as long as the results are good I personally do not mind what the reasons are but I just wanted to note a couple things I took away from this paper. The first is that in my opinion the findings of the paper should not be taken to apply directly to the coral in your tank since the researchers who wrote this paper were working with coral cell culture (in vitro rather than in vivo). The second is that my impression from the paper was that the authors did not find a significant improvement in collagen production in the xenia with the added ascorbate but did with the montipora. It is interesting (and promising for hobbyists) that some people are getting improvements in their soft coral growth given what the authors observed.

Oh, and as to the role that vit c plays, the authors seemed to believe that based on what is known in higher metazoans that the ascorbic acid is required for the reduction of iron which is necessary to convert proline (one of our common 20 amino acids) to hydroxyproline, a component of collagen.
:)
 
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ChrisP

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This thread has convinced me to give VC dosing a try. I just ordered a bottle from iherb.com. I have a 34 gallon, 24 gallon, and a 3.5 gallon. I have some zoa polyps that have never really opened up and a few others that have melted. My few SPS tend to brown under my lighting (MH in the 34 and 24). My ricordia and zoos in my 24 gallon, even under 150 watt MH (20K bulb), seem to be "stretching" for light. My Purple Deaths are brown and Tubs Blue are dull. I'm hoping VC dosing will perk everything up. From what I've read, I should be dosing about 1/4 tsp. twice a day in the 34 and 24 gallon tanks. Would it be wise to dose my 3.5 gallon? If so, any suggestions on dosage? Pufferpink - thanks so much for all the help and advice you've supplied.
Chris
 

Pufferpunk

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You could dose a pinch in the 3g (don't ask me what a pinch is). I add ~1/8 (just a lil <1/4 tsp) in my 15g & 1/2 tsp in my 40g.

Try taking some before pics now & after pics when things look better, please.
 

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