well i have decided to start vodka dosing tonight to help bring out more color in my coral. I have been tagging along with my LFS buddy dosing on his tank for the last 4 weeks. I am really amazed with the results he got on his tank so i decided to try it out on mine.

i am going to be dosing by the guide below and i will update weeky on tank progress

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

Purple Bonsi

Greman Blue Poly Digita

Pink Panther Acropora Cerealis

Mystery Hard Coral ( i dont even know what species it is)

I've had my cadlights 22 running for about a week now with the new t5ho with individual reflectors. The tank usually gets pretty warm by the end of the day. I see you have a fan running to cut down on heat on your MH. May I ask what temp your tank currently runs at? I'm cringing at the thought of buying a chiller...

I have the tunze 9002 also and was a bit disappointed to find it didn't fit front to back in the rear of the tank, but it seems to be skimming alright. Do you like your chiller BTW?

Thanks.

not big on the vodka dosing, neo zeo would be a better method to me because it has been researched.

well my tank runs at 77-79 with the fan going and my houses AC on i do have a chiller but its set for 82 so it will only come if there is a problem. You should be fine also long as the surrounding room is cooler that the tank you should be fine with a fan but make sure you have a lot of top off water to combat the evaporation. yeah the 9002 doesnt fit the way i wanted but it works great so i am still happy with it.

Sweet new pics scotty! New acans are awesome! And man that red cap in the middle will look so great in a few months!

Beautiful pics Scotty. Your tank looks fantastic. Are you dosing or running a reactor?

I am dosing this tank with a dual head masterflex dosing pump but in the past i have used calium reactors but i would rather not use it on something so small

I have some or acans that i need to take a picture of that i also got from the zoanuts BOC sale

second day of vodka dosing i have noticed that after i dose the vodka my skimmer goes nuts i wonder if thats common. other than that i have seen no results

Vodka dosing day three i have noticed a quite a bit less algae on the glass than i had previous. so it seems that the vodka my be helping in the reduction of algae. I never had much to begin with but there is a noticeable change nevertheless.

Vodka dosing day fout i have doubled the dose to .2ml. My tank is looking great and noticeable problems as of yet

WOW interesting. i have never heard of dosing vodka into a reef tank before. i am very intrerested in how the effects are and hope its not just a placebo effect.

yeah me too. one of the definite changes in notice is the algae production has really lessoned and my skimmer efficiency has gone up quite a bit. but we will see so wish me luck

i wonder if this can help my large tank. i have a 300G and for some reason i have been having excessiver algae growth (green slime) and i have been dosing with "Red slime remover" from Ultra-life for 2 weeks now. it helped initially but then it creeps back.

I might help your skimmer out but it sounds like you have a execess nutrient problem. I would stop use the red slimer remover its only a bandaide. in my large tank when green and red slime have been giving me problems i do large water changes, cutt down on my feeding, cut down on my light cycle, and make sure my power head are getting all the spots in my tank so there arent any dead spots. i also hear chevron tangs will help with green slime as well

the thing thats frustrating me is that. 2 weeks ago when the slime algae was the worst, i did a 180G water change and that put some stress on all the livestock. i even took all the rocks out with my friend and scrubbed them down with the new saltwater. i siphoned all my gravel also. i put all the rock back in place and the tank looked awesome.

but then the skimmer went nuts and i had to slow it down. then i saw some slime buld up and i panicked a bit. i added the Red Slime remover and had to shut off the skimmer completely. now the water is cloudy and i am just waiting it out and praying haha. cant wait to turn my 500G PM skimmer back on full force to suck all that cloudiness out....its driving me nuts.

i heard about the chevrons but dang they are expensive and pretty rare too seems like. could it be my UV lights? i think i need to change them cause for the whole time i never had Cyano like this. i have a AquaUltraviolet 120W.

Just a question for ya. You may have noticed in my 22g cadlights pics that I still have the ugly ballsocket return. It looks like you shortened it and put on a flare nozzle. Is that still what you have? Have you upgraded the return pump at all?

Thanks.

Justin

I puyt a eductor and i upgraded the return to a ViaAqua VA2600 the stock one was ok but it crap'd out on me about a month into running my tank

vodka dosing day 5&6 my corals seem to be liking the vodka dosing the colors and polyp extension is getting a lot bigger i am glad with the vodka results as of yet

I didn't know skimmers worked better drunk,
this is definately a new one for me I've never heard of putting vodka in a tank

There's no denying the color comparisons in the link he left though.....I hope for some pic comparisons Scotty

no problem i am going to let a couple weeks go by to show good before and after results

i am soo psyced i found some Tyree Purple Monster from a reef buddy of mine and get this it's not going to cost me a arm and a leg like most tyree stuff way under its list price of $135.

Vodka dosing day 7 the tank is still chugging along no problems everything still very healthy

Dang i cant wait to see the new piece!! I think i may just have to try some of this dosing if it works out for you. I know you are not getting many replies when you update about it but trust me, i am paying very close attention.

ahh I dont needs any relpys thanks for watching though Red. I basiclly bullied him into selling it to me when i seen the purple monster and it really from Stevie tyree. Terry the guy i am getting it from got it from stevie almost two years back and his tank is going downhill fast ( divorce hahaha) so i bought the purple moster and two show pieces that will go into my fathers show tank for his birthday a Red Monti big as a paint can and a Purple Edged Monti thats about 8" across

I am interested and watching as well.

Results I feed my tank exactly 1ml of actic pods and .5 ml og reef chili a week no other food i put into the tank during the week. and i week past i got very little skimate for my Tunze DOC 9002 maybe about 5-10ml per week of weak tea skimate

Now Since i have been doing vodka dosing with no other changes in feeding or dosing i get from this first full week 80ml of dark brown skimmate

Results




GROSS

Now it really makes me want to try it!

well if you do fallow this article and use precise dosages and take it very slow and test Nitrates and Phosphates often

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

My newest edition Oregon Blue Tort this think is the bluest coral i have ever had

Very impressive tank... keeping SPS in a nano is challenging enough but you made it seems so effortless Any improvement in parameters after dosing Vodka? I have a bottle lying somewhere

my parameter were always good but since i seen my friend do it on his tank with good results i decided to try her out my NO3 and PO4 are pretty much nonexistent my water clarity has stayed about the same my colors are getting a lot better quite a few of my coral are become more purple and the greens are getting a lot brighter aswell.

true true it hard to keep sps in any tank but it is more challenging in a smaller but if you keep to the basics. Have a good skimmer,light, and dose mag, alk, and ca you will be in good shape but you best friend is a ATO and a fan keeping you temp cool and your water SG correct is very important to keeping sps

thanks for all your nice comments and if you are going to dose vodka go slow and dont expect results immidietly

Hey i have a oportunity to get a Deltec MC500 Skimmer for $325 and i am wondering if i should do it or not the skimmer is 6 months old and work perfectly. My question is it it worth me upgrading from the Tunze 9002 DOC to the Deltec.

What kind of vodka do you use and what % is it?

I use Kettle One and its 80 proof so 40% alcohol by volume

Alright thanks, was just wondering because im interested in dosing vodka in my monitpora aquarium. And my mom said she could go to the liquor store and pick me up whatever kind of vodka i needed. Thanks!

yeah mom tell her to pick up some cranberry juice and some ice while she's there......for the tank

make sure you have some thing to measure out the vodka very presisely i use diabetic syringes that are 1ml total with .1 ml increments

Haha yeah. Um do you know where I could pick up a diabetic syringe? By the way you have a very beautiful reef!

I have a mc500 (and a 9002 and a remora, just like you lolz), definitely outperforms the tunze by a lot. luckily for you, the 9002 has a high resale value so I bet you can easily recoup 100 bucks or more.

It also is less fickle about water level. I'd try to bargain the mc500 down a bit but It's a worthwhile investment if you can a. make it fit and b. have the spare funds

thanks if you go to a vet or medical supply store or pharmacy you can as for the diabetic syringe there and if the are worried about you doing drug tell them they can take the needle off and dispose of it for you. i get mine from my wife who's a nurse or you can find them online at lab supply stores

i have about 12 skimmers as of right now 2 aqua c's, one tunze 9002, one tunze 9010, one 150 proclear aquatics, ATI bubble master 160, then the rest are coralife's and red sea and other crappy skimmers i have aquired over the years I should really have a garage sale. I am also saving up for a bubble king 200 mini

As for the deltec i might get if from him but it still up in the air the guys getting a divorce and he has to liquidate some of his reef stuff

theres also a guy selling his deltec mce600 for 300 here on the boards

Really i will look into that thanks super

Vodka dosing day 8 still much of the same algae production is down my skimmer is still has a good foam to it. I decided not to empty the skimmer cup until the full month has gone by and i the skimmer cup fills to the top i will note and empty it. I want to see how much skimate i can pull out during the 4 week trials

Sounds good so far. Are those aqua c's the nano version??

no they are full size they were on my old 40 gallon breeder before it crashed on to the floor in my garage

Do you know how tall they are?

6" long X 2" wide X 17 1/2" tall you need about 13-14" of tank clearance

Super duper Macro shoots

Mini Update i am going to get a Giesemann 230 Eco/Plus System 1 x 150W MH + 2 x 24W T5 from a Coral Prop friend for $380 I guess i am gon going to get the Deltec because its not as new as he said it was ( the skimmer looked like crap)