As this hobby evolves over time, we are subjected to many different test projects to enhance the color and life of our inhabitants. Sometimes through sheer random thought we can stumble upon coral saving products (see Interceptor, for Red Bugs). Or, through some real science via Randy Holmes-Farley (see 2 Part Solution). Or, some home-brewed science (see Algae Turf Scrubber). The Magic Eraser, ditto.

We should expect almost anything at this point, including this topic of choice: improving coral and fish immunity to disease through dosing Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid.

My first thought on this was, ”great, whats next.. copper to fight bubble algae?”, but as I let my mind wonder a bit, so was my understanding of this topic. First I had to look at what vitamin C did in our bodies:

Vitamin C is required for the synthesis of collagen, an important structural component of blood vessels, tendons, ligaments, and bone.

Vitamin C is also a highly effective antioxidant. Even in small amounts vitamin C can protect indispensable molecules in the body, such as proteins, lipids (fats), carbohydrates, and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) from damage by free radicals and reactive oxygen species that can be generated during normal metabolism as well as through exposure to toxins and pollutants (e.g. smoking). Vitamin C may also be able to regenerate other antioxidants such as vitamin E.

(source Oregon University’s Linus Pauling Institute)

So it anti-oxidizes, and gives you the ability to produce energy. A win, win. But how does this relate to corals and fish?

Early reef experimentation with Vitamin C has been quite positive. There have been reports that fish and corals are able to recover from injuries (stinging) faster than normal. Zoanthid corals, in particular, were able to shed themselves of algal film that plagued a lot of reefers. According to these zoa-nutty reefers, the coral closes up and develops a film that cannot shed. In time, they shrink and die. Consequently, many claim during the dosing treatment, these zoas will slowly open up.

Here are some snippets of people’s success with respect to dosing VC:

My SPS & LPS have tripled in size since dosing. So have my zoas–the colonies are much larger & the polyps are bigger & brighter. Keep in mind, this isn’t an instant thing. It took 3 weeks of dosing 2x/day to heal my sick ones & see any difference in my healthy ones. As far as the colony sizes , that took about 3 months but they were growing very slowly, previously to that.  (pufferpunk on Reef2Reef)

I don’t dose it directly to the tank, but I do soak Nori in it for my herbivores. I assume a lot of it goes into solution. I haven’t noticed any phenomenal growth in corals, but my fish are as healthy as can be! BTW, noting growth spurts and tying it to the addition of anything is anecdotal without the science to back it up. (dentoid on ReefSanctuary)

I’m convinced it has nothing to do with the vitamin C itself, but with the oxidation it does to the water and it breaks something down in the water allowing your skimmer to remove it. I think my system is efficient enough that I can make these claims whereas the majority of the zoanthid people run dirtier tanks, all they noticed was some slight improvement in their polyps, I noticed some change to my water chemistry itself and am dosing a sps dominated system, with polyps on all the fringes. Keep in mind that the vitamin C and associated oxidation is dead within 8 hours of dosing (maybe less)so the benefits are very short term. I first started using it a few weeks ago, incidentally on the tail end of a massive reaquascape in which I pulled lots of rocks out and abused them by leaving them out for extended periods of time and drilling the crap out of them. The first day I started dosing it changed the smell of my skimmate….made it reek. Didn’t change the color or amount of what I was pulling out…..just the smell. this only lasted a couple days, as the die off only lasted a couple of days. (Fly Guy at TheReefTank)

More on the actual dosing of ascorbic acid in the next post.. yes I will leave you hanging.

I know its May 1st, but how can you review the month without having it end first? Tricky eh?

So lets look at the Coral Trends for April 2009. It seems as though nothing has changed in the US of A. Chalice corals are still the hot tickets. They are almost like collector cards for reefers: small, never grow, and very colorful. While in Canada, there isn’t any specific coral that is coming through as the ‘must get coral’. Western Canada is experiencing a surge in deep water acropora, while Eastern Canada is still suffocated with ‘deep water zoanthids’. My sources tell me the next big thing in Canada will be, Yumas… again. Its cyclical people!

CANADA:

Deep Water Zoanthids

Still going strong. But, I don’t get it. There are like 5 morphs and I think most people have them all. (photos by OceansDirect.ca)

United States:

Echinophyllia (Chalice Coral)

How do you explain the rage for corals that grow in milimeters per year. I do get it that they are beautiful, but having frags that are 1/2″ big that need to grow into 8″x6″ colonies, is just not worth the price tag! 100$-200$ per 1/2″ frag? In a recessionary times? I’ll just stick to my diet pepsi..err SPS corals (photos by surfin (2x), patedship (2x), on Reef2Reef.com)

So what is in a name? A definition? A description? A trademark? A benchmark? A way to differentiate between two opposites? Or alikes?

You all know that I do a lot of web surfing,  sometimes too much.. friends add. But it allows me to get an understanding what is happening in many regions of the North American reefing industry. I can get a good feel on the pulse of the hobby in an area. So why is this entry labeled ‘Name Game Gone Berserk” and how does it relate to all of this?

Well, let me tell you. I am witnessing a vast majority of reefers AND e-tailers over-marketing every possible coral known to man to make a dollar. I am seeing SPS, LPS and soft corals getting the same treatment that a marketing firm would supply to big dogs such as Pepsi or McDonalds. I am seeing greed, and I am seeing detriment to our hobby. And I can’t stand it any longer!

Initially it was great. We would have very unique slower growing corals that were insanely colorful which couldn’t be found by many reefers. Usually, we tagged them with the farmer’s name and that would have been it. A lot of people would  use it to track lineage for originality as most likely they would command a hefty tag.  Steve Tyree, Greg Carroll, ORA are some that originally had their names on certain corals, corals that were worthy of unique names.  Now, for example, we have local e-tailers (online vendors) who cannot stop naming every coral in their possession with their acronyms. Is it necessary to label an aquacultured pink birdsnest a TNR Highlighter Pink Odyssey S. hysterix? Or a bluish grey chalice a TNR Enter The Matrix Echinophyllia? Trying to make a 20$ frag turn into a 120$ frag? Sad, really.

Not too long ago, I wrote on the whole name game and why it was ok to do so.  I think now I feel ashamed to even had thought so. Greed stewed this all up. People trying to profit from everyday corals that are seen in the hobby. Why not name something that is rarely seen? Something that takes three times as long to grow? Something that it is an immense challenge to keep?

But the problem lies with the vendors. They think all of their coral are unique and rare. Unsuspecting buyers would acquire this coral, and then see it at another location dubbed something completely different. Is that healthy for our hobby? Does anyone have any respect towards the consumers?  What about towards the hobby? Because partaking in this name game is completely and utterly disrespectful towards any member of our global community who takes a lot of pride and strives toward caring and culturing for hard to find and keep corals.

So lets keep the names on corals that need it, and discard your shameful acronyms. Unless of course you have the rarest collection known to man!

I thought it would be a good time to introduce a new feature here at Fragd.it blog named Coral Trends. We will try to give you all a monthly focus on whats hot in coral for the US and Canadian markets.

We are fortunate to be in one of the hot spots of coral importation in North America. We have seen a lot of corals pass our eyes, and those we didn’t see often enough end up in our collection! But this feature is not about us, rather about what other reefers are calling amazing, and eyecandyful!

So without any delay, here are the current hot items in the market:

CANADA:

Deep Water Zoanthids

There are about 5 morphs that have come in from an Indonesian supplier. I could only find 3 pictures of these morphs. There are other pictures out there, but are clearly photoshopped. Above photos are as real color representations as you can get.  Pictures courtesy of North American Fish Breeders.

United States:

Echinophyllia (Chalice Coral)

These corals are so hot right now, that frags are going for well over 100$. You know when a coral group is hot when they are receiving looney names. Photos are courtesy of Reef 2 Reef.

Why Vitamin C you ask? Well the proprieties of vitamin C, at least in human consumption, are essential for metabolic reactions. To be specific, it acts as an antioxidant and a cofactor in many enzymatic reactions. Many, if not all vegetables contain this essential vitamin as without it we would have high mortality rates and shorter lifespans.

Transplanting this information into our reefing use, we can see some correlation. Marine plants are high in Vitamin C, such as Kelp, Spirulina, and Seaweed and are being consumed by many types of fish. But what about coral? Does it have any effect on coral heath and its ability to withstand disease?

Some aquarists believe that adding vitamin C to your tank just because someone said it was good for your livestock is foolish and that you should only ever do something that has a direct and specific purpose. Generally speaking, this is good advice, although there is little to no anecdotal evidence of dosing vitamin C being harmful to livestock. It is known that insufficient levels of vitamin C are linked to spinal abnormalities and hemorrhaging, so if you see these signs, you may want to consider dosing vitamin C.

The retailers never think, they just do. They pump out products without any thought of usefulness. Case in point.. Kent Marine Marine-C. This excellent article touches on its probability of actually having any effect in your tank. So what do you do?

Here is what people are talking about on the net:

Treating with Vitamin C at ReefCentral.com

Vitamin C dosing (I am clueless) at Reef2Reef.com

Does anyone dose Vit C at TheReefTank.com

Vitamin C? at 3Reef.com

This will be very interesting to see if it does have positive effects in overall coral metabolism and health. I know that I will venture down that road and will try to put these theories to the test.