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Albert, thanks again for your advice and time. I have two unrelated questions:
(1) I have been using your vitamin C after an ich battle which wiped out my fish. Induced specific gravity changes and some time have brought us under control once again. I started using vitamin C in maintenance doses about 1 week before I added fish back into my reef.
By the way...I'm convinced as to the benefits of this stuff...my hard and soft corals have perked up and a few little patches of red slime have disappeared. I have been maintenance dosing Vit C for about a month now as I have slowly built up the fish population in my 55 reef.
My question is, how long can you/should you use vit. C in maintenance doses? Is there any danger in continuing this (any benefit also?) given that all water parameters are, and remain stable?
ANSWER: Usually after a prolonged treatment as you describe you can stop but continuing at prophylactic levels continues to give the benefits that you are observing.
Vitamin C having a short useful life, renewal of the source has its advantages indeed. What changes is the amount you add. I assume you have slowly reduced it by now to around 3 ppm. If not you can certainly do so.
(2) I also had a fight diatoms a few of months ago...successfully treated with enhancing my TWP resin bed and use of a phosphate/silicate sponge. I have left this material in my sump, changing it at the prescribed intervals, for a few months now. Phosphate is around 0.01 and there is no trace of silicate loving organisms anywhere in the tank...in fact, I have NO green, brown, red, or any other color algae growing except my corraline which is covering almost everything. Although, I love it this way...I'm sure my tangs, and snails would certainly prefer I let up a little (yes, I provide supplementary nutrition for them).
My question here is...is there such thing as a phosphate level too low? I should add that all inhabitants (inverts and vertebrates) are in excellent shape.
ANSWER: yes the PO4 can be too low especially when you have soft corals in the tank (e.g. Leather ones). I would not lower it below 0.02 ppm. Add romaine lettuce to the tank for the Tangs and other herbivores to ensure they receive enough vegetable matter. Mind you the vitamin C does wonders for Tangs IME.
It is a good idea to have rock in the tank as they will pick small algae that grow but that you may not see. This provides additional food for them, which they need. They will not survive on romaine alone.
Thanks for your advice. P.S., I am also one that keeps activated carbon in the sump at all times and maintain my traces with kalk dripped in overnight and daily administration of your liquid gold and every other day administration of your iodine.
ANSWER: that is indeed the correct way to do it.
Albert.
Should anyone have any further questions you can Email Albert