Does anyone dose vodka or sugar?
- Thread starter jade2122
- Start date
chemistry forum or sps forum has numerous threads on it. basically the principle seems to be..add vodka which gives you excess bacteria growth, bacteria then consumes nitrates and phosphates, which are then able to be skimmed out of the tank. generally is gives you much better color, and keeps your nitrate and phosphate at 0. this is what i have gathered so far....
haha
chrisstie
Premium Member
It is definitely some good reading but you need to be careful of the methodology and the chemistry of your tank. My take on it versus what I have been doing is "if it ain't broke don't fix it" but it'd be worthy of experimentation in a tank dedicated to it imo.
I do like the cool chem behind it though, just don't think i'd do it with my current livestock
I do like the cool chem behind it though, just don't think i'd do it with my current livestock
Cheekymonkey
Premium Member
I did it for a month at a time doing about 1" of a straw filled with vodka. Unfortunately it was around the same time I started my I'm not sure how much of the work it did getting my Nitrates down to 0.
MIKE ALERS
New member
i dose with vodka and so far it seems to help with nitrates.just start with a small amount.it prevents algae blooms.
George_N_Jo
Premium Member
I dosed toooooooo much Vodka last night and I have a wicked headache! I guess my skimmer is not working well enough. That damn liver of mine!
lol
Seriously. The reading on this is great. If you are interested take the time to read the threads in the SPS and Chem forums before trying it. And NEVER do it without a skimming! And try not to drink to much during the dosing process.
Good Reefing to you all.
lol
Seriously. The reading on this is great. If you are interested take the time to read the threads in the SPS and Chem forums before trying it. And NEVER do it without a skimming! And try not to drink to much during the dosing process.
Good Reefing to you all.
i don't know, those crazy chemists are always thinking of new stuff. i do believe it all started in germany. yes the threads are a very good read, it is amazing how this hobby has so many different ways of doing it. i am going to research it for awhile longer and probably try it. the system of running a very low nutrient tank kinda goes along with a barebottom tank anyway. i do believe this method is best advised for barebottom tanks and not as good for sandbeds..i still have lots of reading to do..
Cheekymonkey
Premium Member
It probably didn't start with vodka, the goal is adding a carbon source that is soluble in water. Obviously while oil is a great carbon source it would float, so the alcohol make the carbon source easily soluble. Basicailly the same verall effect of adding sugar though. What you are looking for is a soluble carbon source, the higher the purity the less other crab you are adding to the tank. But at the same time the higher the purity the more easy to overdose.
plyle02
Active member
I use prodibio right now, however, prior to going this route, I dosed a mixture of RO/DI, vodka, vinegar, and sugar. It takes time to figure out how much, and how often. I would suggest very, very, very small doses when starting out. If you overdose, the water gets a bit milky. I did not have any adverse effects when I did over dose, usually the water cleared after a day or so. Your water will become so crystal clear that you may be tempted to over do it. Since using this method and prodibio, I have gone to brushing the glass every 2 weeks or so, vs. every other day. This system will drive your nutrients to almost non-existent, so you may have to increase your fish and coral feedings. I currently dose prodibio, aminos, coral vibrance, and rotifeast for coral feeding specifically. I also feed my fish 2 times per day. This system only works with a skimmer to my knowledge, as the c-source helps the skimmer to pull the nutrients from your tank more effeciently. My advise is to go to the sps forum, and you will find numerous educational threads of how people are dosing out there. These methods are just the poor boys zeovit method, which in my experience does work. I switched to the prodibio system just to experiment, and to help color up some sps that went brown on me. My tank is also very young, which has alot to do with my coral not being as happy as they could be. Just my experience, good luck!
thank you very much. i'm going to continue doing some reading and maybe take on this new task in a few weeks. what brand of kits did you use to keep track of your nitrate and phosphate levels so you could judge how much to add and when to cut back/or up your dosing? how long did you use this regimine and did you see a big improvement in coral health and color? thanks
plyle02
Active member
It is really hard to tell about the corals, I have new tank syndrome with my sps, some have rtn'd on me, which I attribute to the new tank. Otherwise, the results with zoos, my brain, and other sps have been really great. The main thing is that you take your po4 and no3 down to zero, at least on the Salifert test kits I use. I still run GFO in a reactor(oceans blend), and also run carbon in a DYI reactor. My water is pristine, which also allows better light penetration. As stated above, I brush the glass every 2 weeks or so, so that is my indicator on nuissance algae and elevated nutriets levels. I also have a skimmer that is extremely overrated for my tank. This allows huge inport of foods/ nutrients, with heavy export. I would start very slow... I added to my 28 gallon with 8 more gallons of water in the sump at a rate of .25ml of vodka, a salifert measuring spoon of sugar each day, once per day, usually after feeding. I also read on vinegar, so I created a solution of RO/DI, sugar, and vinegar. I added .5-1 ml of this solution once per day. From my experience, this does nothing for corals, more for pristine water, which helps the corals thrive. Also, it allowed me to dose aminos and other coral feeding food, typically too nutrient rich to dose daily on systems that are already on the threshold of nutrient levels(NO3/ PO4). I feel the BAC systems are designed for those wanting to run low-nutrient systems. I also noticed you are bb, which I feel works nicely as bb tanks are hard to get zero on PO4 and NO3, especially if your skimmer is not rated at 3-4 times total water volume. Seems like you have all the equipment you need to have a great sps tank, would love to see some pics! I have used this regiment for 4 months, btw...
chrisstie
Premium Member
After reading plyle02s experience, and I'd have to research more to be sure, but I have a hunch as to why the water becomes more clear.
As evidenced by wiping down the side of the tank every 2 weeks instead of every 2 days and an increase in the clarity of water - if it correlates to low nutrients, I wonder if you're starving out the natural phytoplankton that grows in your tank.
You wouldn't really think it since its not something you can "see" perse but I know when you do a treatment such as interceptor adding phytoplankton right after helps the system recover quickly and prevents bleaching of corals - almost as if those amazingly tiny organisms provide a small buffer that absorb some of the light. without them corals may bleach.
New tank syndrome could be part of it indeed but i wonder if any of the rtn could be related to this?
Just a thought
As evidenced by wiping down the side of the tank every 2 weeks instead of every 2 days and an increase in the clarity of water - if it correlates to low nutrients, I wonder if you're starving out the natural phytoplankton that grows in your tank.
You wouldn't really think it since its not something you can "see" perse but I know when you do a treatment such as interceptor adding phytoplankton right after helps the system recover quickly and prevents bleaching of corals - almost as if those amazingly tiny organisms provide a small buffer that absorb some of the light. without them corals may bleach.
New tank syndrome could be part of it indeed but i wonder if any of the rtn could be related to this?
Just a thought
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