So I'm trying to figure out whether I can add my vodka to my ATO water. Currently the ATO has KH buffer, liquid magnesium, and lugols (1 drop per 5 gallons) added too it. Will it be ok if I put my vodka into the 5 gallon ATO resevoir with my other supplements? Will it stay in solution? It would mean that I wouldn't have to worry about vodka anymore... I guess I'm saying; will the vodka react with the other stuff, or come out of solution in any way?

I hope someone has some insight here...

I would be more worried about it settling.

Vodka evaporates at a lower temp than water so that might be another concern worth looking into.

It would only settle if it reacted to form a precipitate, these are times when you need an organic chemist...

I would be trying to figure out how to auto-top off the vodka bottle first.

This would probably be your best bet.
http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/produc...per-minute.html

<begin baseless speculation of things that could go wrong> this seems problematic to me. would you end up with a bacterial bloom in the top-off reservoir? if not, would it evaporate before getting to the display? if not, is there a potential for the top-off pump to pick up too much vodka at once in a single top off? <end baseless speculation of things that could go wrong>

i could definitely be off-base on any of this. i'm more just throwing things out there/thinking out loud/wanting to hear other opinions.

dude dont waist vodka on your tank... drink that ####!!!

This is a very very bad idea. There is a reason why the dosing levels that go into the tanks are in the microliter range and not the milliliter one.

I think you're confused. I'm diluting about 30 drops of Vodka in 5 gallons of water and its being dosed over a 5 day period.

Decent input so far...

I'm going to do some precipitation experiments with my additives vs. vodka, then...frig it... I'm gonna give it a try. The evaporation problem might be solved very simply; airtight resevoir with a small valve to equalize the pressure. The idea that more vodka would be at the top or bottom is not valid; alcohol is polar, like water molecules, so it spreads out evenly in the water by forming hydrogen bonds.

I actually think this is going to work perfectly. It will also add the vodka more slowly and gradually, resulting in mini-bacterial blooms all day long instead of one big one each night! Perfect!

Definately one valid argument is that there could be a bacerial bloom in the bucket; HOWEVER, the bucket contains lugols, an anti-bacterial. If I increased the concentration of lugols to maybe 3 drops in the 5 gallon pail that might further retard bacterial growth in that confined volume. That and there is very little organic matter (besides the alcohol) in RO water.

Also, in looking at some of the alcohol chemistry (I have a decent chemical history, 3-4 university level courses), it looks like most of the alcohol reactions require either high heat or a catalyst to happen in any great abundance... im actually a bit excited about this now! I love automating even further lol.

The only thing I learned to do with vodka in college was to drink it (4-5 university level courses)!

One possible problem I see is that your tank doesn't evaporate the same amount every day, therefor adding more or less top off per day, causing possible over/under dose

I say yes.

Ethanol needs enzyme catalysts to really do anything chemically at normal temps+pressures. I suppose a yeast or bacteria could possibly find its way in and start eating the alcohol but at such low concentrations I don't see that happening.

Ah yes see I was just thinking of when alcohol with ice in the drink.

My tank does basically evaporate at a very similar rate everyday though... and even if its off by a bit, its not going to be a drastic amount. Valid point though; monitoring the rate at which the evaporation happens is important, especially as we move into summer where it will evaporate more quickly as the cooling fan (I use a temperature controller) will be on more often.



Yeah thats what I figured; there is very little for the bacteria to feed on in the RO water...other than the alcohol. I doubt diluted vodka would grow much bacteria though?

so far so good... No precipitation reactions noted

Skimmer is performing admirably considering its a POS 10 yr old modded out BakPak... god I wan't my stinkin' MCE300 to get here already...

I'm going to rig up an airtight ATO resevoir ('salt bucket') using a bulkhead for water exit and a check valve as a pressure release but not until next week...

don't think the lugols will work with calcium/buffers.
Think that is why there are no true all-in-ones with iodine but it has to be added separately.
Might look into that.

been doing lugols with KH buffers for years...no problem whatsoever. Calcium is added separately obviously, not b/c of the lugols, but b/c of the buffer solution.

I'm curious to see how this works out for you. Once I moved past kalk in my topoff and got a calcium reactor I don't like adding stuff to my top off. My next big tank build in a year or so my involve biopellets.