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Talk me out of vodka dosing


bevo5

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Little tank info:

-Biocube 29

-Media rack

-Tunze 9001 skimmer (not terribly impressed by this thing though. Lots of bubbles but not a lot of grime)

-Radion x30 fixture

-MP10wEs

 

Right now I'm about 90% LPS but I've been slowly adding some SPS over the past couple weeks. I've got some basic Acros and they seem to be doing well. I'm seeing some growth and good polyps etc.

 

I just put a clam in there yesterday....excited about that.

 

Anyway - I recently bought a Red Sea nitrate test kit and I"m become mildly obsessed with lowering nitrates in the tank. Right now they hover around 5-10 depending on how close I am to the next weekly water change.

 

I've got 5 small fish and feed NLS and Reef Frenzy once a day on alternating days. Every other Reef Frenzy day I feed the corals a bit. Nothing crazy.

 

I want to start dosing Vodka. My plan is to add .1ml a day for a week and see what happens. Then increase to .2.

 

Is there any real reason NOT to try this?

 

Also, if I start dosing and decide to stop are there any watch outs?

 

Thanks.

 

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Markburns43

Not a expert take it with a pinch of salt mix. Once you start normally you dont stop. Reasons i hope some one of many who do this method can explain.

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1. Vodka dosing can be tedious and has to be extremely precise

2. You can drink the vodka and not worry about the nitrates

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Ive done it for years its a fantastic method for nutrient control however some you need to have some things in place to be succesful. Firstly read this article thoroughly. If you still want to try it let me know and ill give you some additional helpful pointers

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I started vinegar dosing about 3 or 4 wks ago. I went with vinegar for a couple reasons. One because it is less likely to cause cyano to grow, two because if you dose a bit too much you won't be in trouble. With vodka you can easily overdose from what I understand. So far, I have seen my NO3 drop from 10 ppm to 5 ppm. I did have to restart because I overdosed on vinegar and caused a bloom. The bloom then fed off the GFO and didn't disappear till I turned off the GFO reactor. I dose Microbacter7 to create bacterial diversity. Just realize that the bacteria will have to grow somewhere and if you don't have places in your sump, it will grow in the display.

 

Edit: My PO4 levels have never been detectable, but I only have API kit. Just make sure PO4 is far lower than NO3. Bacteria consume NO3 and PO4 at a ratio of ~16:1(NO3:PO4). I got all of this information from a reefkeeping article by Randy Holmes-Farley.

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Good read rehype!

 

That article is what got me started :) its missing some additional info that Ive found to be particularly helpful. But im always willing to share and help anyone starting out.

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You can also use Nopox. It's essentially carbon dosing. I was having no3 issues awhile back and started dosing nopox and saw great results.

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CronicReefer

I would check to see how well a clam would thrive in the low nutrient system that will be created by vodka dosing before you start.

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Awesome thanks for the responses so far.

 

I read that article and it is what has me thinking about giving it a shot. My plan was to establish a very precise dose level and then hook it up through a BRS doser and my APEX. But since it's only 29g that would mean running the doser for like 20seconds a couple times a day. Might be TOO precise.

 

When y'all say the bacteria needs somewhere to grow - what exactly are you meaning? I don't have a sump, but could put some stuff in the first chamber of my BC. Otherwise, would I have a bloom that wouldn't go away in the tank itself?

 

I recently added Purigen while running Chemi-Pure Blue (didn't really know I shouldn't do that). I don't know if this caused it, but I got a crazy amount of brown stringy gunk all over the rocks etc. I've been blowing it off and trapping in new filter floss daily. It's not hair algae, it's just strings of stuff that breaks right apart.

 

Anyway - is that the kind of thing that can happen with the vodka?

 

I might just take the drink the vodka approach!

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Awesome thanks for the responses so far.

 

I read that article and it is what has me thinking about giving it a shot. My plan was to establish a very precise dose level and then hook it up through a BRS doser and my APEX. But since it's only 29g that would mean running the doser for like 20seconds a couple times a day. Might be TOO precise.

 

When y'all say the bacteria needs somewhere to grow - what exactly are you meaning? I don't have a sump, but could put some stuff in the first chamber of my BC. Otherwise, would I have a bloom that wouldn't go away in the tank itself?

 

I recently added Purigen while running Chemi-Pure Blue (didn't really know I shouldn't do that). I don't know if this caused it, but I got a crazy amount of brown stringy gunk all over the rocks etc. I've been blowing it off and trapping in new filter floss daily. It's not hair algae, it's just strings of stuff that breaks right apart.

 

Anyway - is that the kind of thing that can happen with the vodka?

 

I might just take the drink the vodka approach!

 

 

Youll definitely want to hook it up to your doser once you determine how much to add to your system as that is the most tedious part In the beginning however manual dosing is necessary.I currently dose 3ml once a day and I can feed as much as I want. You dont need to add additional surface area for the bacteria to colonize on as your sand,water,live rock, pumps etc are more than enough. Secondly the bacteria blooms caused by overdoses that ive seen typically make the water very cloudy. This is usually very dangerous for your fish as the oxygen levels plummet however you wont have to worry about this if you dose the proper amounts.

 

Some of the keys to success

 

  • You need a Very Efficient Skimmer
  • Always maintain low alk 7-8dkh (This is particularly important when keeping sps)
  • Add bacterial diversity either microbacter7 or Zeobak (These need to be dosed on a weekly basis if not you will have issues with cyanobacteria)
  • Dont overdose
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Youll definitely want to hook it up to your doser once you determine how much to add to your system as that is the most tedious part In the beginning however manual dosing is necessary.I currently dose 3ml once a day and I can feed as much as I want. You dont need to add additional surface area for the bacteria to colonize on as your sand,water,live rock, pumps etc are more than enough. Secondly the bacteria blooms caused by overdoses that ive seen typically make the water very cloudy. This is usually very dangerous for your fish as the oxygen levels plummet however you wont have to worry about this if you dose the proper amounts.

 

Some of the keys to success

 

  • You need a Very Efficient Skimmer
  • Always maintain low alk 7-8dkh (This is particularly important when keeping sps)
  • Add bacterial diversity either microbacter7 or Zeobak (These need to be dosed on a weekly basis if not you will have issues with cyanobacteria)
  • Dont overdose

 

 

Rehype, do you run GFO or PO4 absorbing media while carbon dosing? I found that when I ran GFO and dosed carbon, I got a never ending bacterial bloom. Stopping GFO caused the bloom to clear in about 2 hours.

 

Bevo, I only say to have a place for the bacteria to grow because some people get excess bacteria growing in the tank on the rock work and they don't like it. I have some build up, but I have been using a DIY zeolite reactor with kent zeolites as sort of a poor man's zeovit system. Its kind of an experiment. I want to see if I can create a similarly successful zeovit system with other cheap products.

 

To add to what Rehype said in the bullet points, the main two to observe are maintaining NSW conditions and don't overdose. At low nutrient levels, corals will begin bleaching and STN if the water is higher than NSW levels of alk. Overdosing can cause your nitrate and phosphate to drop so quick it kills your corals as well. So make sure to take it slow and steady. I learned the hard way and I regret it, but definitely a great way to get nutrients down and you will notice your corals, especially SPS have better PE. Heck, for the first time since setting up my tank I'm finally able to grow SPS and they are growing quickly.

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SomeWonderfulNonsense

I skimmed through so I don't know if anyone said this but you can try vinegar dosing- its like vodka dosing as in it raises the available oxygen for beneficial bacteria but its less harsh.

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Rehype, do you run GFO or PO4 absorbing media while carbon dosing? I found that when I ran GFO and dosed carbon, I got a never ending bacterial bloom. Stopping GFO caused the bloom to clear in about 2 hours.

 

 

I use it off and on as i like to keep some PO4 available for the coral but ive used it without any issues FYI I only use rowaphos.

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I haven't looked into vinegar yet. Is the process basically the same? I'll read up on that as well. I also wasn't aware of needing to lower the KH so that's a good tip for sure. And adding in the additional sources of bacteria etc.

 

I'm going to keep reading - I am obviously not fully aware of how or why this process works and I don't want to mess with something in my show tank. I can up my WC %'s no problem.

 

Thanks so far y'all...more questions to come...

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Talk me out of vodka dosing

 

Don't dose vodka. It's unnecessary in your system.

 

 

 

Is there any real reason NOT to try this?

 

Time, money, risk of disaster

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1. get rid of the vodka, and don't put it in your tank

2. get a good quality bourbon

3. sip on your boubon and enjoy your tank

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