Who Here Vodka Doses

[NYreefNoob]

Looking For People Who Vodka Or Sugar Dose Their Tank Or Have And For How Long You Did It, Results ? And Did You Stop Using Phosban Or Carbon. Ty Rick

 

[Deanos]

From what I remember, dosing vodka primarily reduces nitrates. There would be no need to stop using a phosphate removing media or carbon.

 

[Wes]

It is supposed to reduce both Nitrates and Phosphates, but i don't know how effective it is at both.

Alot of the people who use vodka claim to get the best results when following the guidelines set by other probiotic systems, ultralith, zeovit, prodibio, etc. Alk being the important parameter to watch because of STN issues when going over 8 dkh.

Here is the RC thread...Plenty of reading material, it's been going on and on for the last 5 years. :eek

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=288714&perpage=25&pagenumber=1

 

[fernandokng]

I started dosing Vodka/Vinegar (Did not use sugar as I heard that cyano was more likely with sugar. Not sure how true that is though, but whatever, I'll take people's word for it )

I had dosed vinegar before, but by mistake. I was dosing kalk via top off, and I had put too much vinegar to try to saturate my kalk. One day, I had a bacteria bloom (I thought it was calcium precipitating because I was doing kalk via top off too quickly). The next day my water was CRYSTAL clear, and my skimmer was pulling out the nasties. I didn't know why all of this was happening, but I eventually stop dosing kalk/vinegar because my ph was going through the roof.

So anyway, after enough reading, I realize I was actually carbon dosing. Figure I'll try now, since apparently I have done it before (lol) and I don't have much livestock and I can take some risks

I have been dosing for 2 weeks.

Before Dosing:
Tank is 70gallons Net Water Volume (58 Display + 20 gallon sump)
- Small fuge with some mangroves.
- Skimmer - ER RS 135
- Removed Carbon and GFO
- Purposedly ran a tank a full month without a water change
- no filter sock

Nitrates - 10ppm via Salifert
Phosphates - did not test - I did have hair algae on my overflow, little bit on the rocks, and some on my brown bird's nest.
Calk - 450
Alk - 9.5
Mag - 1250
Temp 80-84
Sal 1.025

Dosing Schedule - I started at .5ml/day, and now I am up to 3.5ml/day.

Observations -
Nitrates are steady - perhaps a lil bit under 10, but it's hard to distinguish the pink reading in the Salifert Test kit

Phosphates - Not testing, no test kit

Skimmer & Skimmate - not as much nasties as I thought I'd see (especially after what I saw it when I first dosed Vinegar by mistake). But then again, I'm dosing this slowly this time around, so I do not overdose. But I must admit, I'm starting to get a trigger happy finger and just want to dump a whole lot of vodka in. But I patient I will be or atleast try.

Water Clarity - More particles suspended in the air. Perhaps this is the bacteria floating around?

Hair algae - SLOWLY, very slowly diminishing from the overflow.

Feeding - consistent from day to day. Not feeding extra until my nitrates read 0.

Livestock Reaction -
- Bird's nest still has some hair algae, but it has colored up a little bit.
- Lost a xenia frag. Seems as there was some bacteria building at the base of the stalk.
- Don't see any changes with the fish.

Not very scientific, I know, but I'm only two weeks in. I think the hardest part about this carbon dosing is being patient, and dosing carefully. People tend to rush through this because they want to see the changes immediately (including me) - and end up creating a bacterial bloom that can suffocate your livestock. Most people see results in about 6-8 weeks.(But then again, that depends how closely you follow the dosing schedule & how much nitrates/phosphates are in your tank, rocks, sand, etc).

 

[Wes]

fernandoking, you will want to get that alkalinity down and keep it between 6-8 dkH.

here you can read some accounts where people were getting burnt tips, etc. until they lowered the alkalinity. Take note of SDGuy's observations.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showt...25&highlight=alkalinity prodibio&pagenumber=7

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

I used to dose vodka but I found that Captain Morgans worked better or Guinness or a nice wine is a good thing as well and it is an antioxidant. Oh you mean the tank! I thought you were talking about ourselves!!! :lol2:

 

[jackson6745]

It would probably be very beneficial to dose vodka in a FO tank. You would be able to lower nutrients and not have to worry too much about other water parameters.

I never dosed vodka. I was never sure how much to add and I didn't think I needed it anyway. Skimming, gfo, carbon, mechanical filtration, along with water changes was always enough for me to keep SPS colorful and growing. IMO if you can't do it with "conventional" menthods, you should'nt be carbon dosing or using nutrient lowering systems like probido, zeo, or ultralith etc. Speaking in general, not saying you guys don't know what your doing

 

[NYreefNoob]

Ive Read And Re-read All The Stuff On Rc As Well As Other Stuff, And Seems To Work As Long As You Dose The Right Amount And Stay With It. I Did The Prodibio, And Liked It, Only Cleaned Glass 3 Times In A Month And Corals Looked Better, And This Is A Less Expensive Method To Do The Same Thing. Will Take Pic's And Keep Track Of Stuff, In A Month Or So Will Buy Amino's For Tank Also, Fern How You Like The Rs 135 ? I Have The Same Skimmer With Gate And Mesh Mod

 

[fernandokng]

My main reason to begin dosing was that I no longer want to starve my inhabitants, and want to start feeding more - and I needed the quickest way to export the nutrients.

At the same time, there are huge risks. Imagine if your power goes out, and you don't have enough energy to run a skimmer. In my case, I don't have a power outage plan, except to run a battery power operated pump - but that won't be sufficient in aerating the water, as the bacteria will consume the oxygen too quickly.

Still looking to do water changes though, to replenish trace elements.

It would probably be very beneficial to dose vodka in a FO tank. You would be able to lower nutrients and not have to worry too much about other water parameters.

I never dosed vodka. I was never sure how much to add and I didn't think I needed it anyway. Skimming, gfo, carbon, mechanical filtration, along with water changes was always enough for me to keep SPS colorful and growing. IMO if you can't do it with "conventional" menthods, you should'nt be carbon dosing or using nutrient lowering systems like probido, zeo, or ultralith etc. Speaking in general, not saying you guys don't know what your doing

 

[fernandokng]

It's been working Ok to well so far. I'm pulling 11lpm with the needle wheel (It used to pull 13lpm when I first bought it). I have the newer version of it with the riser tube (so I don't have a gate valve).

I have not tried the mesh mod with it - I'm very tempted to do it. Do you know how much air you pull with the mod? How do you like it?

Ive Read And Re-read All The Stuff On Rc As Well As Other Stuff, And Seems To Work As Long As You Dose The Right Amount And Stay With It. I Did The Prodibio, And Liked It, Only Cleaned Glass 3 Times In A Month And Corals Looked Better, And This Is A Less Expensive Method To Do The Same Thing. Will Take Pic's And Keep Track Of Stuff, In A Month Or So Will Buy Amino's For Tank Also, Fern How You Like The Rs 135 ? I Have The Same Skimmer With Gate And Mesh Mod

 

[jackson6745]

I hear ya fernandokng. I know is easy to add a couple of drops of vodka. I just don't know enough guys doing it to be a believer yet. I want to see some local guys with long term success dosing vodka. You can be the first

 

[Wes]

Rich i see you use Vinegar with Kalk in your tank. Technically you are carbon dosing as well. :shhh: Maybe you have had long term success without even realizing it?

Some use Vodka, some Sugar, some Vinegar... Which is the "VSV" you are seeing alot these days in the SPS forum. From what i have read, you can use any of those w/ the same results..

 

[jackson6745]

Hehe I was thinking the same thing. I used that for 2 years on an old 65gal tank. Corals grew very fast in that tank.

 

[NYreefNoob]

ive read alot about it, and seems to be alot of success if done proper, i like to feed my fish and corals, i do all the other stuff, weekly wc, run carbon and phosban have a way over size skimmer ect. i do have a denitrator coming so all this might be for nothing, but going to try this for awhile first before i go the other route, and i know there is no short cuts to success but also not looking for over night results. only thing is i just switched out to a coralife 10k bulb and dont like the pee color, had a generic 14k bulb that was just dull in brightness and will be switching eventually to a phoenix bulb but the 10k should help with growth { this method of dosing is also the cheapest }:shhh: i also think part of where guys had tips bleach could have been from water clarity they didnt have before and getting alot better light penitration. fern i actually have a needle wheel with a fishing string mod i made, not sure of air pulled as long as it works and for a total water volume of about 60g its way over kill how deeep is the pump submerged on your skimmer ? found i get better results at around 6-8"

 

[fernandokng]

Yup, my is around 6 inches in the sump as well.

If the pump is too deep in the water, it causes additional pressure on the airline, restricting the air intake, which you do not want.

 

[fernandokng]

So my nitrates are less than 3, hair algae on my overflow is continually receding. I've been patient with my dosing.

I've bumped up the feeding slightly more as well.

My skimmer is skimming dry, and I can definitely see more organics and the foam is denser.

Eventually, I might just want to get an automatic feeder, and continually feed my tank

The only drawback right now is that my xenias are dying, and don't think they have much longer.