jhawkor
New member
I have an SPS dominated 75 gallon tank. I want to be able to feed heavy and dose amino acids and plankton for my corals without nutrients skyrocketing. I'm hoping that the MB7 and vodka can help me achieve this. Opinions?
I want to start dosing MB7...
- Thread starter jhawkor
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I have an SPS dominated 75 gallon tank. I want to be able to feed heavy and dose amino acids and plankton for my corals without nutrients skyrocketing. I'm hoping that the MB7 and vodka can help me achieve this. Opinions?
sedor
New member
Yes an ULNS is what you need...most people with SPS gravitate towards this eventually. Vodka and MB7 do a great job. Basically the way it was explained to me was the vodka adds bacteria to your tank that will eat the "bad stuff" and then in turn dies off and your skimmer will remove them along with that "bad stuff" in the form of thick sludgy skimmate. The MB7 comes in because it replenishes the bad bacteria with good.
I have a 72G and to give you an example...I dose 1 ml of vodka daily and 5 drops of MB7. For my tank it seems to do the trick, for others it takes a lot more.
I have a 72G and to give you an example...I dose 1 ml of vodka daily and 5 drops of MB7. For my tank it seems to do the trick, for others it takes a lot more.
jhawkor
New member
Thanks for the info. How will I know how much to dose?
Recently I've been trying to keep my opinions to myself. From what I understand the vodka adds a carbon source for already existing bacteria which helps them metabolize these nutrients. The MB7 is a boost to this process. I too feed heavy and was able to reduce my nitrates by half in two weeks. I have some non-photosynthetic corals which need a flow of food often. They now remain stable and I dose 5ml of MB7 every 7 days. I'm not trying to hit zero and they have been about 5/10ppm. Keeping up with partials has also helped. Good luck.
P.S. I started with the High Nutrient dosage as indicated by Brightwell. After two weeks I cut it in half and went to a weekly dosage. I reduced it by half again and have seen no increase in NO3 after a month. It remains at 5-10ppm. Fine in my book.
P.S. I started with the High Nutrient dosage as indicated by Brightwell. After two weeks I cut it in half and went to a weekly dosage. I reduced it by half again and have seen no increase in NO3 after a month. It remains at 5-10ppm. Fine in my book.
Robert Patterso
New member
That is only if you are going to use a carbon source such as vodka or the biofuel. They will get you to ulns. Thus the reactor is not needed. Read through this thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1685800&goto=newpost. It will give alot of answers you to questions you might have
jhawkor
New member
Thanks, this helps. Did you dose bio-fuel or vodak along with the MB7?
Glad I could be of some help. I did not use vodka or bio-fuel with the MB7. Brightwell says to dose every day for two weeks and then reduce gradually. It worked to my surprise. Even with partials I've never seen nitrates drop so quickly. Great stuff. Its not just a cool bottle.
Tswifty
New member
Be careful listening to "opinions." Do your reading and educate yourself before progressing. However, to answer the initial question... No, a reactor is not needed to dose Microbacter 7, or any bacteria source for that matter.
Here is a good article:
Reefkeeping Article
A few good threads:
SunnyX's Rimless Build Thread
My Bacteria Driven Journey
Good Luck.
Here is a good article:
Reefkeeping Article
A few good threads:
SunnyX's Rimless Build Thread
My Bacteria Driven Journey
Good Luck.
Great articles Tswifty. If I had high phosphates I might try vodka. With my tanks high bio-load even the 5/10ppm NO3 is of no concern overall. I've found that the combination of MB7, partials, and some chemical media (Purigen & Polyfilter) I'm able to maintain. My current set-up is reaching the two year mark and my growth rate on LPS & SPS has been remarkable. My opinions come from results.
the special thing about it is a few prominant members endorse it and have had success. I find this really funny somehow because sunnyX has great results and uses this product somehow it must be magic for all. I do vodka/MB7 just like sunny and lugols just like sunnyx and somehow I'm not expecting the same results or that I'm using magic potion. If SunnyX was using Cycle as his bacteria source everybody would be using that because he has a great tank.
I have used MB7 for probably 8 months and dont think its superior to any of the other bacteria products as I'm almost certain alot of other companies are more dedicated to bacteria blends and have been doing it alot longer with the exact claims as MB7. there's nothing revolutionary about sludge eating bacteria in a bottle which is what MB7 is. I think its just another of many but its cheap and available and I use it (before all the hype or biofuel was offered).
After going thru a full bottle of biofuel I know for a FACT vodka is cheaper AND more effective. the only advantage biofuel has over vodka is cyno doesn't seem to thrive with it like it does with vodka.
danrobberg
New member
i think tomorrow im going to my lfs and picking up some mb7 and bio fuel. i know they carry it cuz ive seen it there before. im still going to run the reactor though. my nitrates are between 50 and 80 and two weeks ago my phosphates were at .6 ive gotten them to drop to about half that since then
I was very cautious back in August about MB7. It was recommended to me by an individual I'm aquainted with and who is a Crew Member on the WWM site. I live in the Midwest and at that time no LFS had ever heard of it. There's a posting on the web by Borneman and he doesn't even like Brightwell's products. My research however limited seemed to end with it was worth a try. I don't even know who Sunnyx is and have not based any usage on Sunny's results. I've had good results and will continue using it. I agree, bacteria usage is nothing new. My Tanganyika tank has its problems and I use a Seachem product called Stability which has been around for about 10 years.
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