Vodka dosing

[I Ate A Cake]

I am fighting a cyano bloom in my 40G breeder right now. I have been doing extra water changes, been cutting down on food, and plan to introduce another powerhead soon. But I am still having a tough time fighting this. Tank is 13 months old.

 

I was recommended by another hobbyist saying that I should dose Vodka. I have read on this, but to me, it seems like this is questionable. Of course, he said only dose a very small amount every day, and it has worked for him in the past.

 

Obviously I'm not sure. Can I have some opinions on this?

[amnestia]

Probably should do a search on this, it's come up a lot.

 

Positive effects are it can lower nitrates ridiculously fast and help create a ULN environment.

 

Negative effects are it lowers nitrates by helping bacteria proliferate, a large bacterial bloom can drain the tank of its oxygen content and kill everything.

 

There's a lot more to it and you gotta be careful with that stuff and go slow. Honestly if you have a cyano problem I like to just siphon it out and think of it as a good way to export nutrients.

[organism]

I suggest vodka to anyone who wants to try it since it'll clean your water and brighten up your corals more than just about any additives, and it's way cheap. That said, vodka grows bacteria, which if you have high nutrients includes cyano. It will also get rid of excess nutrients however, which will in turn get rid of the cyano

[DashingAquatics]

I dose vodka, I use to dose 1ml in my 25G with a 10G sump, I have also dosed up to 6 ml's a day in my 90 with a 50G sump. I have cut back my dosing to 2 1/2 mls per day to increase coralline algae growth.

 

I would suggest starting with 1/4 of a ml of vodka per day for 1 week and each subsequent week increase your dose by 1/4 per week until you achieve 1ml per day so as not to shock your tank. Also pay close attention to the water clarity in your tank, if the water gets murky cut back your dose by 1/4 ml.

 

Rich.

[sammy113]

I dose vodka, I use to dose 1ml in my 25G with a 10G sump, I have also dosed up to 6 ml's a day in my 90 with a 50G sump. I have cut back my dosing to 2 1/2 mls per day to increase coralline algae growth.

 

I would suggest starting with 1/4 of a ml of vodka per day for 1 week and each subsequent week increase your dose by 1/4 per week until you achieve 1ml per day so as not to shock your tank. Also pay close attention to the water clarity in your tank, if the water gets murky cut back your dose by 1/4 ml.

 

Rich.

 

What!? Don't know how that turned out for you... looks like hell of a dose to me.

 

Heres some dosing instructions from reefkeeping magazine:

 

1. Test your system's NO3 and PO4 levels. Do not dose if you do not know this! We recommend good test kits that have some low level of sensitivity. This will be important later on to determining a maintenance dose regimen. During the initial dosing test often and adjust dosing parameters as needed as each tank's requirement will be different. Dosing accuracy is of the utmost importance. A graduated measurement tool such as a syringe will come in handy. A journal of additions and test kit measurements is recommended.

 

2. Estimate your Net Water Volume (NWV) of your system. (Aquarium volume + sump + refugium + reactor volumes), (live rock displacement). It can be difficult to accurately measure the amount of water being displaced by the live rock. If unsure of the volume of live rock we suggest taking 30% off your display tank's Gross Water Volume. For vodka dosing there is absolutely no harm in underestimating the Net Water Volume and is recommended.

 

As an example, let us assume that your setup contains 100 Net Gallons.

 

3. The starting dosage is 0.1ml of vodka per 25 gallons (~100 liters) NWV daily continued for three days. For 100 Net Gallons, your dosage would be 0.4ml daily during this period. It has been suggested to cut the daily dosage in half and dose twice daily for more consistency.

 

4. Days 4-7, double the daily dosage to 0.2ml of vodka per 25 gallons NWV. Your example dosage would be 0.8ml daily during this period.

 

5. Each subsequent week add an additional 0.5ml of vodka regardless of aquaria volume. At this point your example dosage during week two would be 1.3ml daily. If you do not see nutrient levels decrease during this week, the following week add an additional 0.5ml for a daily dosage of 1.8ml daily.

 

6. When your NO3 and PO4 levels start to drop maintain the current dose. For example, if you were on week two when NO3 start to fall on 100 Net Water Volume you would add 1.3mL daily at this time for the continuing weeks until the NO3 becomes undetectable.

 

7. When your NO3 and PO4 levels drop near undetectable with your test kits cut your current dose in half. This will be your starting maintenance dose (if the levels drop during week 2 then the dose after reaching undetectable levels would be 0.65ml daily [1.3ml divide by 2]).

 

8. Continue to test for NO3 and PO4. If levels become detectable in the future increase your daily dose by 0.1ml increments per week until the levels start to decrease. If you maintain that dose the levels will eventually drop back to undetectable. This would become your new maintenance dose.

 

I have used this instructions with good results. It's better to dose less than too much so if you're not sure exactly how much water you got go lower always to prevent extra dosing or future problems like algae outbreak due to bacteria bloom

[DashingAquatics]

I use a modifyed version of the instructions found here I have just spead up the process ofcourse every tank is differient however I think that if you have an out break you want to control starting at .25 instead of .1 is not that big of a jump. IME that is.

[coolwaters]

Probably should do a search on this, it's come up a lot.

 

Positive effects are it can lower nitrates ridiculously fast and help create a ULN environment.

 

Negative effects are it lowers nitrates by helping bacteria proliferate, a large bacterial bloom can drain the tank of its oxygen content and kill everything.

 

There's a lot more to it and you gotta be careful with that stuff and go slow. Honestly if you have a cyano problem I like to just siphon it out and think of it as a good way to export nutrients.

 

thats why u run it with a skimmer.

[DashingAquatics]

thats why u run it with a skimmer.

 

Gotta love Euro Reef.

[beeker]

I Dose vodka but only 2 days a week now, look at my tank thread to see my write up on it and my past experiences with it as well

[spanko]

There are 20 drops in a ml. I have a 29 gallon biocube and after displacement by the rock sand and such I figure the is anywhere from 22-25 gallons of total water volume. I dose 7 drops of vodka per day.

I started with two drops per day and have worked up to seven. I think I like where things are right now and will just use this as my maintenance dose until something changes. I was looking for the ULN for better PE on the SPS and color.

All that said, carbon dosing feeds bacteria. Cyano outbreaks because of carbon dosing is one of the contraindications. So please be careful here and do a lot of reading before you start dosing to cure a cyano outbreak.

Here is my take on Red Slime

 

Red Slime (Cyano Bacteria)

Cyano grows on top of nutrient rich areas of low flow. There are a number of things that need to be correct or possibly corrected to combat this without the use of chemical additives. The biggest thing is to get rid of the extra nutrients.

1. Evaluate your feeding. If you are feeding more than can be eaten in about 1-2 minutes it is too much and the remainder of it is falling to the rock and sand and becoming nutrient.

2. Evaluate your flow. If you have areas in the tank where there is little to no flow this can be corrected by adding power heads or repositioning the ones you already have. You don’t need to create sand storms just have water moving over the area to keep detritus suspended in the water column for removal by your filter – skimmer.

3. Evaluate your water changes. The solution to pollution is dilution! You want to continually remove unneeded nutrients as well as replace those things that are used by the system. 10% weekly is a good change schedule. Some do 20% every other week and some vary the schedule from there, but a good start is 10% per week.

4. Evaluate your lighting schedule. About 10 hours of daylight is all that is needed.

5. If you have a Cyano outbreak do the above 4 items and:

a. At water change time siphon off the Cyano first. It will come up easily almost like a blanket.

b. After siphoning stir the affected areas a little to suspend any detritus for the water change and filtering - skimming removal.

c. Use a turkey baster on the rockwork now and at every water change in the future to again suspend the detritus for removal by the water change and your filtering – skimming.

 

Keeping nutrient levels low to non-existent will help to avoid Cyano outbreaks and any algae outbreaks as well as keep your tank and you happy happy.

 

Hope that helps.

[timdanger]

I suggest vodka to anyone who wants to try it since it'll clean your water and brighten up your corals more than just about any additives, and it's way cheap. That said, vodka grows bacteria, which if you have high nutrients includes cyano. It will also get rid of excess nutrients however, which will in turn get rid of the cyano

 

i have read that people who have trouble with cyano as a result of vodka dosing have had success using white vinegar instead.

[scribbles]

I have been dosing vodka for about 2 month now and am very happy with the outcome. I did not follow the instructions exactly. I first tried to start with as clean a tank as possible. I was starting with very old, and a much neglected tank. I did very consistent water changes, twice a week, and 20% for about a month to try to get everything as clean as I could start with. Started with .25ml, one week, .5ml second week, then .5ml increases each week thereafter. I am up to 2ml daily, and have not upped the dosage (I was uncomfortable going higher) since then. I have glass clear water, great water quality and very happy corals. Also I am running a very large skimmer for my tank, I have a 20g tank, skimmer is rated at 150g, and I am religious about doing a 10% water change weekly now.

 

Also I was curious about the algal bloom, so I mixed 15G of fresh salt water as a precaution, that would allow me to do 75% water change if needed, Then instead of my normal 2ml dose I dosed 4ml to see what would happen, and sat and watched the tank all day, skimmer was working like crazy but never noticed anything else. So I think as long as you have a well established tank, a good skimmer, and am consistent and careful this is a safe thing to do.

[Bill_68]

i have read that people who have trouble with cyano as a result of vodka dosing have had success using white vinegar instead.

 

So... what about the fishies? You would think that the OH would go right into their systems.. sort of like snorting tequilla. Can anyone do math here? I'm sure the calculations would be fairly easy. Assume that fish=humans in blood saturation levels.

[organism]

What!? Don't know how that turned out for you... looks like hell of a dose to me.

 

At its peak I used to dose nearly 4ml's in my 32 gallon solana daily, 2ml in the morning and 2ml at night, gradually getting there is the most important thing

[acropora1981]

So... what about the fishies? You would think that the OH would go right into their systems.. sort of like snorting tequilla. Can anyone do math here? I'm sure the calculations would be fairly easy. Assume that fish=humans in blood saturation levels.

 

dear god I wish you could snort tequilla... Honestly though its way too diluted to have an effect on them.

[nano_keeper30]

dear god I wish you could snort tequilla... Honestly though its way too diluted to have an effect on them.

 

 

So do I have to share my Ketel One with my corals or can i get cheap and pick them up a pint of Fleischmans ?

[organism]

So do I have to share my Ketel One with my corals or can i get cheap and pick them up a pint of Fleischmans ?

 

I used to use smirnoff when the huge one gallon jugs were on sale, any filtered unflavored vodka will do fine.