Adding Vodka to speed up cycle?

reefgeek84

In Memoriam
Would it be beneficial if I add some vodka to speed up the cycle of a new tank? Is it true that sugar does the same thing?

Any help would be great.
 
There is some information about vodka being used to reduce nitrates. It is not easy and if overdone will deplete oxygen, killing all kinds of stuff.

I dont believe it will speed the cycle at all, that requires bacteria that doesn't consume alcohol. Some one else might have more info than I have... Randy?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7524803#post7524803 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poppin_fresh
There is some information about vodka being used to reduce nitrates. It is not easy and if overdone will deplete oxygen, killing all kinds of stuff.

I dont believe it will speed the cycle at all, that requires bacteria that doesn't consume alcohol. Some one else might have more info than I have... Randy?

well there is nothing in my tank to kill. All I have in there is sand LR.
 
It may seem like there is nothing to kill, but there a lot of organisms living in your LR that need O2. I am a personal believer in that you should let the cycle take its time and run its course. In the words of Alton Brown... "trust me, your patience will be rewarded".
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7525108#post7525108 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by poppin_fresh
It may seem like there is nothing to kill, but there a lot of organisms living in your LR that need O2. I am a personal believer in that you should let the cycle take its time and run its course. In the words of Alton Brown... "trust me, your patience will be rewarded".

I understand that, but it tends to be tougher then everything else in the tank...I would just like to see what others say. Thank you for your input.
 
I do not see any reason to think that adding a carbon source will speed up the nitrogen cycle. The bacteria driven by a carbon source are not necessarily those that convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7527614#post7527614 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Randy Holmes-Farley
I do not see any reason to think that adding a carbon source will speed up the nitrogen cycle. The bacteria driven by a carbon source are not necessarily those that convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate.
Well the one article that was pretty big about the whole vodka thing that this might be something that could happen. If its not then oh well, nothing happens and it did not cost me anything. If it for some reason does, then thats great.
 
Maybe. But vodka is not without its problems. Reduced O2, for example. Or worse, you may speed up the consumption of nitrogen species (ammonia/nitrite/nitrate) by bacteria suspended in the water (not on solid surfaces where bacteria performing the nitrogen cycle typically reside), and those blooming bacteria that may not be appropriate for continuing such consumption unless you keep always adding a carbon source for them. If you cut off the carbon, you might even have an ammonia spike.

In my opinion, this proposal is well into the range of experimentation, and the results are, IMO, at least as likely to be undesirable as desirable.
 
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