Do Fish Need Their Vitamins?

Dosing the Marine Aquarium with Vitamin C

© Ret Talbot

May 15, 2008
Kent Marine's Marince-C, Blue Zoo Aquatics
Many marine aquarists dose their tank daily with a vitamin C supplement to boost their livestock's immune systems.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant (ascorbic acid) that positively affects the immune system of fishes and possibly some marine invertebrates. Vitamin C is naturally occurring in the marine environment (in seaweed, for example), and there is strong data from scientists and mariculture professionals, that dosing vitamin C has many positive effects on marine life. Some marine aquarists absolutely will not dose anything for which they cannot test, and while it is possible to test for vitamin C in the water, such tests are not very realistic for the average hobbyist.

How to Use Vitamin C

There are several vitamin C products on the market, such as Kent Marine’s Marine-C vitamin supplement. Because vitamin C is water soluble (vitamins are either water soluble or fat soluble) it is effective when dosed directly to the aquarium water. Fishes and coral then take in the vitamin during normal respiration. Vitamin C can also be used to soak food before feeding. Soaking food in vitamin C may be a more effective vehicle for the vitamin as long as the target animal(s) ingests the food.

Don’t Fix What Ain’t Broke

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.

Dosage Amount

The recommended dosage for Kent Marine’s Marine-C is 1 ml daily for every 50 gallons of aquarium water daily. Even though most vitamin C products intended for aquarium use are buffered, it is wise to monitor your system’s pH, as even the buffered supplement is somewhat acidic.

Vitamin C can also be used less regularly to address specific issues such as head and lateral line erosion, bacterial and parasitic infestations, and wounds. It can be dosed to the entire tank or used in a hospital tank. Vitamin C is also great for corals that have been recently fragmented for propagation purposes.

Not a Wonder Drug

Vitamin C is not a wonder vitamin, a silver bullet or a great new discovery. Is dosing vitamin C right for everyone? No more so than choosing to keep zoanthids or Banngai Cardinalfish. It's all about informing yourself through research, listening to others' opinions and applying what you learn to the unique characteristics of your system. For some marine aquarists, that has led them to dose things like vitamin C and vodka. For others, it will lead them to dose nothing. The only mandate is that you document what you do, observe the results and share your experience with other hobbyists.


The copyright of the article Do Fish Need Their Vitamins? in Saltwater Fish is owned by Ret Talbot. Permission to republish Do Fish Need Their Vitamins? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


Kent Marine's Marince-C, Blue Zoo Aquatics
       


Post this Article to facebook Add this Article to del.icio.us! Digg this Article furl this Article Add this Article to Reddit Add this Article to Technorati Add this Article to Newsvine Add this Article to Windows Live Add this Article to Yahoo Add this Article to StumbleUpon Add this Article to BlinkLists Add this Article to Spurl Add this Article to Google Add this Article to Ask Add this Article to Squidoo

Comments
Sep 19, 2008 11:31 PM
Guest :
My oscar has a bad case of HIHD.After Lots of time & money spent,I was at wits end,I crushed 250 ml of Vitamin C up & droped it in his 55 gl tank.I kept up 30% water changes every other day.3 days he looked better.2 weeks later HIHD is looking better.Now when I clean his tank he has lots of energy,that he uses to try an bite me.All in good fun Im sure. B.B.
Mar 26, 2009 10:28 AM
Guest :
I just noticed pin size wholes in my fishes forehead area,He looks healthy as a horse, vibrant, good color and eats to the point where i've never put enough in that he couldnt shovel in his mouth at once, hes about 4.5 - 5 inches now (tiger oscar). I feed him dried shrimp , algae wafers and earthworms equal amounts of each food. I take water samples regularly nitrites are 0 ppm and nitrates under 5 ppm ph is always low and gh is bout 60 ..It makes me sick to see him with it cause i try so hard to keep him natural and healthy. Anyways i was really wondering how did the crushed vitamin C work and do you recommend it for me.?? .my tank is 55g as well and i dont have any other fish in there but him. I just removed two old UG filters that were in there and not hooked up that was the worst mistake i ever made leaving old ug filters in cause the striaght grotess stuff under was destroying my take ... I also removed some carbon from my canister and added more ceramic rings. Any recomendations will be greatly appreciated i just noticed the holes..so its been less than 24 hours
Mar 26, 2009 10:47 AM
Ret Talbot :
You can actually just use orange slices in your freshwater tank work, and they will keep your pH low. Get a new nitrate test, as I suspect your nitrates are not under under 5ppm. Keep us posted!

3 Comments