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I just ordered some buffered vitamin C in a powder form to do a bit of experimentation with it as a carbon source. Others have claimed that they've seen many other benefits to coral and fish health even when only dosing it in small amounts into the water column intending it to be meant as a carbon source for bacterial proliferation.
Eric, I use sugar because it's cheaper and it does the same thing as Vodka as far as I know. Both are a carbon source. I never understood why people added Vodka instead.
I've read elsewhere that it's probably better to add multiple carbon sources, for example, a mixture of vodka, sugar, and vinegar (of course, get the right dosages - they should be pretty low). If you only use one carbon source, you might only get one kind of bacteria instead of a bunch of different kinds. The amount you use should be so low that the cost should be irrelevant.
I currently dose 2ml 2X per day of vodka and also vit c (sodium ascorbate) 1/4 tsp 2X per day. I mainly dosed vodka for the past 9 mos to a year. I can tell you that my nitrates are always zero no matter how much I feed. I currently feed 2X per day Rods food and also rotifers 2X per day. I have a 105 gal total system (75 DT and 30 sump). As Kass said I started out with very small amounts (.04 ml of vodka) and bumped up .02 every other week. I really have not noticed any difference since I added the vit c but will finish out the bottle and decide then. If I am not getting any benfit that I can see then I will just use vodka. I also add an amp of Biodigest once every other month also just for bacteria diversity. A fifth of vodka is only like 9$ and last me about 6 mos. I tried the sugar mix from glassboxdesign vodka/sugar/vinegar and had the slime issues. I cut out the vinegar then the sugar and the slime went away. That is the reason I use vodka instead of regular sugar.
If you saw no differences with dosing 1/4 tsp twice daily wouldn't you try adjusting the dose up or down before you gave up on Vit C dosing?? Monkeying around with dosing and seeing it's effects is half the fun. Everyones tanks are extremely different in bio diversity, biological load, etc..., just becuase you see no effects at 1/4 tsp doesn't mean Vit C dosing won't work for you. I guess it also depends on what your trying to accomplish with the vit C dosing. You said you already have 0 detectable nitrates. Some people have seen improved coloration and improved polyp ext from various corals with the addition of vit C dosing (and they also previously had undetectable nitrates and po4). What intrigues me with the vit C is that there are many other effects on coral metabolism and coral health which makes it more beneficial to a reef tank besides being just a carbon source for bacterial growth.
A dose of 1/4 tsp is around 3.25 PPM in 100 gallons (net). Some people are dosing upwards of 30-40 PPM before they achieve the results they are looking for. Those doses are primarily used by people trying to cure illnesses in zoa's, however there are people also experimenting and showing good results with vit C dosing to prevent and/or cure bacterial infections in stony corals which is usually evident as a STN that almost always ends up as death of the entire colony (fragging and dipping usually isn't even effective with what are suspected bacterial infections).
I just got my vit C today. I'm starting out with 1/8 tsp twice daily in a 160 gal (net) system. I'll let you know what happens.
Jeremy