Coral Bleaching & Vitamin C

[washingtond]

I found this information on the Southern Colorado Marine Aquarium Society website. http://www.thescmas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1175

 

[toaster77]

very interesting. it all comes down to anti-oxidants.

i guess this study begs the question of whether adding little amounts of Vitamin C would help stimulate coloration at normal temperatures/non-stress conditions.

 

[DaveJ]

@toaster77 wrote:

There is a huge thread on RC about this... I've read it but have avoided being part of the herd. I've considered it though.....

 

[washingtond]

Davej do you have the link to the RC thread?

 

[DaveJ]

@washingtond wrote:

Here ya go.. it's talking about zoanthids to start, then moves onto other corals etc.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1252294&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1330742

 

[washingtond]

Thanks Dave and I found some additional links on vitamin c.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1338359

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1337838

 

[toaster77]

Thanks for the links. I might try dosing in the near future - more interested in its effects on SPS growth and coloration.

I should be able to get sodium ascorbate from my lab. It's very possible the anti-oxidant effects of Vitamin C might help minimize oxidative damage of the chromophores and pigments that give these corals their beautiful colors, thereby stimulating coloration...

--Ben

 

[DaveJ]

@toaster77 wrote:

Ben,

Might consider the Mg or Ca opitons instead. Granted there won't be a ton of it in there, but adding a bit from this source might help reduce some dosing in other areas a bit.

 

[toaster77]

yeah good point Dave, though we'll have to see how much more expensive the calcium and magnesium versions of ascorbate are - have a feeling sodium ascorbate is cheapest though I could be wrong.

 

[DaveJ]

@toaster77 wrote:

Might reduce your salt consumption slightly

I'm going to give this a try myself.....

 

[washingtond]

@toaster77 wrote:

Ben if you try sodium ascorbate please document and post your results as they could help other reefers.

Dave and I may try vitamin c and we will do the same.

 

[toaster77]

Sure, I will try. My system is only 2 months old and still stabilizing, so it might not be the best experimental setup.

I am going to try and get my hands on some lab grade 98+% sodium ascorbate and calcium ascorbate, may take a week. You two are welcome to have some to test if you like. If what you guys decide to try is the acid form just be wary of your pH and make sure it doesn't drop too much.

--Ben

 

[chrisrush]

Ben,
Have you run this by Randy Holmes Farley on RC yet? Might be interesting to see his comments. My apologies if it was mentioned already in the other threads.

 

[washingtond]

@chrisrush wrote:

This is a very good suggestion. It is not always wise to add things to our tanks without knowing the possible side effects.

 

[DaveJ]

@chrisrush wrote:

Look at the first link that David provided, Randy is one of the posters.

 

[toaster77]

Yeah, I saw Randy post a few - I think he is definitely interested in the results (he should be).

Well, with several degrees in chemistry/biochemistry, in theory I *should* know what I'm doing

The only negatives I can think of are:

1. ascorbate in excess could be used as a carbon source that might promote growth of undesirable algae/bacteria/microbes. Also, one should keep Vit. C in the dark, refrigerated, and sterile if possible, because it could decompose or become contaminated by bacteria/mold.

2. it might induce coloration that is "extreme" or "unnatural" - but that might or might not be a bad thing.

3. depending on what form of Vitamin C you dose (i.e. pills or tabules or pellets) those may contain other compounds that could cause negative effects.

4. I am very interested in dosing as little as possible. Several grams twice per day seems like an awful lot and could get expensive, but it might be necessary since some are dealing with very large water volumes. So I am definitely going to be very careful.

 

[DeMarcusR]

I didn't finish reading the whole thread but I did manage to check out the original page with the dosing instructions. Do you really think it's safe to trust a 13 yr old document about dosing Vit. C?
This is around the same time when people were using tap water and various other crazy things for their systems.


:?:

 

[washingtond]

@toaster77 wrote:

Thanks for the update.

 

[DaveJ]

@djr2001 wrote:

That was the starting point... the guy who started that thread Puffer something or other, has revised that dosing quite a bit and others have refined it. So while the idea is older, the current procedures are new.

 

[DeMarcusR]

@DaveJ wrote:

That was the starting point... the guy who started that thread Puffer something or other, has revised that dosing quite a bit and others have refined it. So while the idea is older, the current procedures are new."]

Thanks for clearing that up. I just saw the original instructions out of the 'way back' machine in 95..