Vodka...please

[505nano]

Hello everyone! I'm looking to start dosing vodka to help in lowering nitrates. I have looked up the measurements, and it says to start dosing .1 ML per 25 net gallons. I'm going to start with my 55 gal. I just don't understand how to get .1mL lol. Seems like it's impossible. Such a small amount . I'm scared to do 1ML because if it's supposed to only be .1mL, that's way to much. Any help from others who have dosed with vodka? What have you used to measure? Thanks! 

[Tired]

Tiny syringes or pipettes are made for that sort of thing. 

[505nano]

3 minutes ago, Tired said:

Tiny syringes or pipettes are made for that sort of thing. 

Welp.. now I feel dumb for not knowing they made a "tiny" syringe lol thanks 

[Tired]

Oh, they make all sorts of tiny things, for chemistry. You know those beakers that every scientist in every stock image is holding? They make these cute little shotglass-sized versions. I always wanted to pocket a few during chem lab. 

[505nano]

1 hour ago, Tired said:

Oh, they make all sorts of tiny things, for chemistry. You know those beakers that every scientist in every stock image is holding? They make these cute little shotglass-sized versions. I always wanted to pocket a few during chem lab. 

Hahaha that's awesome

[mcarroll]

Vinegar seems to be safer than the commonly available alternatives – if you really want to dose carbon, that's where I'd suggest beginning.

 

I would be really sure you want to do it at all though...it's not for most tanks.

 

The two most common reasons to do it are to supplement kalkwasser (takes the pH edge off so you can dose it unlimited) or to reduce nitrates.

 

Most folks aren't messing with kalk anymore, so that reason is gone.

 

Most folks are (finally) over the number-chasing zero-nutrient game too – so the nitrate reduction part has kinda lost popularity too.

 

Consider that in a reef tank, nitrates and phosphates are just nurtients that you corals will utilize to grow.  👍

 

 

Edited August 23, 2020 by mcarroll
Fixed an incomplete edit.

[debbeach13]

What are the nitrates measuring? I prefer water changes to lower the nitrates. I also keep some weed like softies like kenya tress and xenia they love nitrates and when they get large I just frag them 

[505nano]

50 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

What are the nitrates measuring? I prefer water changes to lower the nitrates. I also keep some weed like softies like kenya tress and xenia they love nitrates and when they get large I just frag them 

Nitrates are like between 40 and 80. Closer to 40 I think. They were super high back when I had a canister. I got rid of the canister and started using an aquaclear hob filter with just sponge filter and some carbon. My skimmer also had given out and I just got another one last week. 

[Tired]

Oh yeah, that is pretty high. Does anything actually seem to mind, though? 

 

What are you feeding? Might work better to cut back on feeding a bit, maybe put some chaeto somewhere. 

[505nano]

Just now, Tired said:

Oh yeah, that is pretty high. Does anything actually seem to mind, though? 

 

What are you feeding? Might work better to cut back on feeding a bit, maybe put some chaeto somewhere. 

I have cut down feeding. I also am having a green hair algae issue starting to arise and some aptasia that won't die lol 

[505nano]

I am feeding just a mixture of frozen mysis and brine 

[505nano]

I do have a reef cleaners order coming in this week to help with the gha. My cuc had just thinned out and I think that's why my algae starting coming back 

[debbeach13]

What is your normal water change schedule? Is that the 53 gallon tank? I still think if possible a couple large water changes would be better than vodka. Livestock looks like they are doing good.

[505nano]

2 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

What is your normal water change schedule? Is that the 53 gallon tank? I still think if possible a couple large water changes would be better than vodka. Livestock looks like they are doing good.

Oh yeah, livestock is very happy. Tank is a year old. My fish seem very healthy. I had been slacking on water changes, but I did a 20 gal change 4 weeks back, then 10 gallon water changes every week after that. Nitrates have not really budged. It is the 54 gallon corner. 

[debbeach13]

How low are you trying to get the nitrates? Do you just want them lower in general or are you planning some new additions? The biggest problem with high nitrates is algae growth. I think the new clean up crew will help with the algae you have. Manually remove any algae you can. The skimmer will help bring the nitrates down, along with less feedings. Even large water changes actually take forever to bring down nitrates. 

[jservedio]

What are your phosphates at right now? Carbon dosing will help with your nitrates by increasing bacterial activity, but it also uses up phosphates. If your phosphates are pretty high too, carbon dosing is an option, but if they are low it may make things even worse.

 

When was the last time you really cleaned out that filter?

[505nano]

2 hours ago, jservedio said:

What are your phosphates at right now? Carbon dosing will help with your nitrates by increasing bacterial activity, but it also uses up phosphates. If your phosphates are pretty high too, carbon dosing is an option, but if they are low it may make things even worse.

 

When was the last time you really cleaned out that filter?

I'd say they are between .5 and 1. I cleaned the filter last week. I rinse out the sponge and change carbon. I do not have biomedia aside from the rocks. 

[jservedio]

14 minutes ago, 505nano said:

I'd say they are between .5 and 1. I cleaned the filter last week. I rinse out the sponge and change carbon. I do not have biomedia aside from the rocks. 

Oh yeah, you've got plenty to go around!

[Clown79]

5 hours ago, 505nano said:

Nitrates are like between 40 and 80. Closer to 40 I think. They were super high back when I had a canister. I got rid of the canister and started using an aquaclear hob filter with just sponge filter and some carbon. My skimmer also had given out and I just got another one last week. 

Get rid of the sponge, use filter floss and change it 2 times a week. 

Sponges trap detritus no matter how well they are washed.

 

That could be leading to your nutrient issues.

 

Carbon should be used in small quantities as changed every 2 weeks or else it can become an issue.

 

Are you using RODI or Distilled water?

[mcarroll]

Unless I missed something, I didn't see anything going on with the tank called for any action on this whatsoever.  Some algae growth is completely normal for a tank this age.  

 

Nutrient levels don't really have a lot to do with algae growth though....it's mostly the lack of CUC.  

 

In the case of this tank, it looks like there may have ALSO been an initial nutrient spike from the fish being added...spacing the fish out more and adding them later in the tank's development would have been more ideal.  

 

Nutrient spikes like that (ie. from feeding large, new animals like fish) can easily overwhelm a new tank's biological capacity.  

 

When that happens, algae will generally bloom to take up the rush of available nutrients.  Which is only a problem because in such a tank the cleanup crew is usually inadequate at this stage of development.

 

A spike in nutrients like this is not the same as just having high nutrient levels....the tank's capacity is only being overwhelmed by a change in the first case – a nutrient spike.  A tank's daily nutrient levels, whether high low or medium, represents a more or less steady state, or "normal".

 

Focus on adding some herbivorous snails, such as Turbo, Astrea, Trochus, Margarita, Ceriths, Nerites, etc.  You will have to be the CUC for any algae that has already grown long...snails won't be able to eat it.  But they will keep the areas clean which you clear.  (If not, it just means you need to repeat the cleaning and add a few more snails.)

 

Urchins are usually coralline algae eaters, so looks from the pics like it's too soon to have one of those in the tank.

 

Just FYI, there should be almost no need for scavengers...so limit the number of hermits, nassarius snails, etc to just one or a few.  (Or none if your flow is good enough to keep food adrift vs sinking.)

 

 

13 hours ago, 505nano said:

IMO, don't panic and step off the number-chasing treadmill.  Don't fix something that isn't broken.  😉

 

Once your dead rock starts being more alive with everything from algae to corals, the tank will be using up those dissolved nutrients.  In the meantime they aren't hurting anything.  

 

If that is an anemone and toadstool leather, I guarantee you THEY are happy with things the way they are now.

 

So fix anything that actually DOES need fixing. (eg. overfeeding, maybe improving flow, empty the media out of that hang-on filter you're using JUST for flow, etc)  

 

But just be patient with the biology...don't try to rush it with carbon dosing or any other tricks.  Mostly just need a (bigger|better) CUC...perhaps a little time hand-pulling algae...and more time.  👍

[505nano]

5 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Unless I missed something, I didn't see anything going on with the tank called for any action on this whatsoever.  Some algae growth is completely normal for a tank this age.  

 

Nutrient levels don't really have a lot to do with algae growth though....it's mostly the lack of CUC.  

 

In the case of this tank, it looks like there may have ALSO been an initial nutrient spike from the fish being added...spacing the fish out more and adding them later in the tank's development would have been more ideal.  

 

Nutrient spikes like that (ie. from feeding large, new animals like fish) can easily overwhelm a new tank's biological capacity.  

 

When that happens, algae will generally bloom to take up the rush of available nutrients.  Which is only a problem because in such a tank the cleanup crew is usually inadequate at this stage of development.

 

A spike in nutrients like this is not the same as just having high nutrient levels....the tank's capacity is only being overwhelmed by a change in the first case – a nutrient spike.  A tank's daily nutrient levels, whether high low or medium, represents a more or less steady state, or "normal".

 

Focus on adding some herbivorous snails, such as Turbo, Astrea, Trochus, Margarita, Ceriths, Nerites, etc.  You will have to be the CUC for any algae that has already grown long...snails won't be able to eat it.  But they will keep the areas clean which you clear.  (If not, it just means you need to repeat the cleaning and add a few more snails.)

 

Urchins are usually coralline algae eaters, so looks from the pics like it's too soon to have one of those in the tank.

 

Just FYI, there should be almost no need for scavengers...so limit the number of hermits, nassarius snails, etc to just one or a few.  (Or none if your flow is good enough to keep food adrift vs sinking.)

 

 

IMO, don't panic and step off the number-chasing treadmill.  Don't fix something that isn't broken.  😉

 

Once your dead rock starts being more alive with everything from algae to corals, the tank will be using up those dissolved nutrients.  In the meantime they aren't hurting anything.  

 

If that is an anemone and toadstool leather, I guarantee you THEY are happy with things the way they are now.

 

So fix anything that actually DOES need fixing. (eg. overfeeding, maybe improving flow, empty the media out of that hang-on filter you're using JUST for flow, etc)  

 

But just be patient with the biology...don't try to rush it with carbon dosing or any other tricks.  Mostly just need a (bigger|better) CUC...perhaps a little time hand-pulling algae...and more time.  👍

Wow thanks for all that info!! Fish have been added slowly throughout the first year. But I agree I have a few fish in there. Ahhh makes sense with the urchin, I had coraline growing at one point but the urchin did go through it lol I still have some purple spots on my rocks but the urchin does seem to make its way around. He is keeping it pretty clean usually though. Very close on the corals. Yeah that's a leather, and a torch I fragged off from my nano. 🤘 They seem pretty happy. Thank you all for the friendly advice. Still new to this hobby, but loving every moment of it and love the community!