Marine C and Selcon

Hi Guys,

I am not really sure what category this one falls under, so I am going with food. I was reading the article linked the other day about old tank syndrome and one of the things to watch for is feeding your fish a balanced diet. I try my best to do that for my fish. I alternate mysis, marine cuisine, prime reef (frozen), formula 1 (frozen), formula 2 (frozen), and dried nori sheets. I also have a bottle of marine c and selcon in the cabinet that I don't use. I used the selcon once and had algae problems. I don't know if the selcon caused it or if I was gun shy. Why tempt fate? I have used the marine c but again, I see algae growth. I followed the directions on both bottles carefully. My question is whether anyone uses these on a regular basis. I also wanted to know if these things would cause an algal outbreak. I see it as extra nutrients in the tank but wanted to make sure. Thanks!!!!

Regards,
Ivy

 

I use selcon on a regular basis and it should probably be stored in your fridge if you want it to stay good. I havent seen any algae outbreaks that I could relate to the selcon. I can say though thats it saved my fish a few times. Sometimes..... when I use aquavitro fuel I get a film on the glass. Do you rinse your frozen foods before soaking in selcon. The frozen foods gel binder can increase nutrients and lead to algae issues.

 

Both of those should be kept in a fridge or they will go bad pretty fast.

I use both of them, they never caused an algae outbreak

 

use selcon every day and have no algae problems in any of my tanks

 

I started using selcon about 2 weeks ago, everday right now although I plan on going to 3 days a week...... No nutrient problems so far

 

Thanks guys for the replies. Maybe it is just pure coincidence. I do rinse all of my foods in RO and drain them before feeding. One question, I have had the two bottles for a couple of months (not refrigerated). I didn't know that refrigeration was needed. Are they still viable and is it okay to now put them in the refrigerator? Thanks again!!!

Ivy

 

Both of these products should be stored in a cool, dry location. Selcon will get black spots in it and/or stink if it has gone bad. (Not my opinion....from American Marine themselves). A refridgerator is fine according to them as long as it isn't set on any of the colder settings. Selcon contains stabilized vitamin C so you don't need the Marine C if you're using Selcon. Probably the worst place to store either of these items is under your tank stand.

 

Thanks for the information. Looks like I might be order a new bottle of each the next time I order. The marine c was under the stand. Thanks again!!!

 

While we're on the subject of storage, all fish foods should be stored in the freezer to maintain their nutrition. That includes flake foods, pellet foods, nori, etc. They should never be stored under your tank stand, left out in the sun, left without the lid on, etc. Additionally, you should never put wet fingers into containers containing dry food, pellets, etc. (This advice was given to me on two separate occassions by two pretty smart people. Lee Birch who is the first person to study marine ich and Bruce Carlson who now runs the Georgia Aquarium).