Carbon dosing - Vinegar or Vodka?

[ThRoewer]

Vinegar or Vodka, which is the better choice for carbon dosing to reduce NO3 and PO4?

 

[bertoni]

Some tanks do better with vinegar; others do better with vodka. I would pick one at random and give it a shot, personally.

 

[laga77]

I was able to bring down a spike in nitrates by dosing vodka. The tank is a 50G well stocked with SPS and NPS and fish. It took 8 weeks to bring it down close to 0ppm from 25ppm and it has stayed there with a 4ml daily dose.

 

[motohead400]

Vinegar here. Cheaper, and easier to setup in an auto-doser since more is required. I have 0 nitrates now.

 

[jason2459]

You could always combine them.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2408985&page=11


I just use vinegar. I also dose it via a controller several times a day over the daytime hours. But if using vodka I'd most likely bolus dose it.

 

[TangingOut]

You could always combine them.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2408985&page=11
.

This is what I did going straight from using NoPoX. Used the same dosage and test readings didn't miss a beat.

 

[tmz]

I've used both, for years before NOPX came out, in a combination similar to NOPX levels. . Vodka and vinegar are very close ,The ethanol in the vodka oxidizes to acetic acid

5% acetic acid vinegar is 95% water, 80 proof vodka is only 40% water. So,: it takes about 1/8 th the dose with vodka to equal a given vinegar dose.

Vodka is easy to dose all at once ( bolus dosing); it does not cause precipitous downward pH spikes .Since it is less dilute than vinegar it may be more difficult to dose via a timed doser since the amounts needed are very small but there really is no need to spread it out.

Vinegar needs to be dosed in small amounts at a time so timed dosing is a must with the amount usually needed. Unlike the ethanol in vodka , the acetic acid in vinegar dumps a bunch of CO2 when it hits the water .

In the end the acetic acid adds back to the pH and the overall effects on pH for the vodka and the vinegar are the same in terms of a lowering it but at the beginning the vinegar can drop it precipitously and the vodka doesn't.

 

[kromar]

Do I need a dosing pump to dose vodka or vinegar in my 90 gal softie tank might be a dumb question but ive been out of the loop for a while. Thanks

 

[bertoni]

Dosing by hand is fine. A lot of people prefer to automate, but it's not required.

 

[kromar]

Thank you ! I will definitely give it a shot.

 

[bertoni]

You're welcome.

 

[ThRoewer]

OK, I think I will try vodka for now - the fish need to have some fun too
I got a large 1.75 l bottle of vodka from Costco and have also an unused BRS dosing pump. All I need to find out now is how much to dose each day.

 

[bertoni]

This article describes a very conservative dosing regime:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

 

[Johnb123]

what's bolus dosing?

 

[jason2459]

I've used both, for years before NOPX came out, in a combination similar to NOPX levels. . Vodka and vinegar are very close ,The ethanol in the vodka oxidizes to acetic acid

5% acetic acid vinegar is 95% water, 80 proof vodka is only 40% water. So,: it takes about 1/8 th the dose with vodka to equal a given vinegar dose.

Vodka is easy to dose all at once ( bolus dosing); it does not cause precipitous downward pH spikes .Since it is less dilute than vinegar it may be more difficult to dose via a timed doser since the amounts needed are very small but there really is no need to spread it out.

Vinegar needs to be dosed in small amounts at a time so timed dosing is a must with the amount usually needed. Unlike the ethanol in vodka , the acetic acid in vinegar dumps a bunch of CO2 when it hits the water .

In the end the acetic acid adds back to the pH and the overall effects on pH for the vodka and the vinegar are the same in terms of a lowering it but at the beginning the vinegar can drop it precipitously and the vodka doesn't.

what's bolus dosing?

Bolded above. Usually done by hand manually. Though could be done through a doser all at one time.

 

[tmz]

Bolus dosing is dosing at the same time without spreading it out. For example I dose 30 ml of vodka to a high flow area of the sump in the am ,roughly two and a half capfuls and an additional 6ml in the evening to the 650 gallon system. It's easy and offers a burst in carbon to the bacteria which may be helpful particulary in increasing anaerobic activity . Using equivalent amounts of vinegar via bolus dosing would drop pH precipitously in the short term.

 

[Johnb123]

thanks guys! are you guys not afraid of cyano bacteria?

 

[jason2459]

Not at all.

 

[ThRoewer]

So I'm at 5 ml Vodka now (@ ~150 gallon net water in the system) and the skimmer starts going wild. From maybe a cup or two a day it has gone to half a gallon or more a day. Is this what you see when the carbon dosing starts to get effective?

I also noticed that the polyp extension of several corals got better.

 

[Sapelo]

Dosing absolutely impacts skimmer function.

Just as reference, I've been as high as 20ml per day (300 gallon system) but run it at 5ml now. I found bacteria got "too happy" at the higher dosing.