Lets talk about Vodka/sugar dosing
- Thread starter stony_corals
- Start date
- Status
Reefflections
New member
Genetics,
You mentioned dosing vodka,and vingear threw your top off water.I can keep them seperate,if need be.But as for new start up guide lines for these what would be a starting point.Say around total water volume about 200 gallons.And I'm assuming keep my sugar ratio the same also.When adding these 2 new additives.
Thanks for all your help.Like everyone else just trying to get the system turned around.
You mentioned dosing vodka,and vingear threw your top off water.I can keep them seperate,if need be.But as for new start up guide lines for these what would be a starting point.Say around total water volume about 200 gallons.And I'm assuming keep my sugar ratio the same also.When adding these 2 new additives.
Thanks for all your help.Like everyone else just trying to get the system turned around.
glassbox-design
New member
Note: Melev mentioned interest in K test kit, hence link to the FM review
Test or not I'm sure he will take the necessary precautions.
melev
Well-known member
The bottle of Warner Marine Potassium seems to indicate a much higher number, around 400ppm I believe. However, it also says on the bottle not to dose if you can't test for it. I need to get a kit from someone at some point. I think I'll call up Warner Marine and ask 'em what they've got by now. 
Canarygirl
New member
Mark, if you want to see what effect higher K+ levels would have on your montis, but are wary of dosing a supplement, you could try switching to Seachem Reef Salt, which has NSW levels (380). While I used Seachem, I tested K+ frequently and it was always rock solid at 380 (using the KZ test). When I started to experiment with another salt (hWMarine Mix), my levels dropped a bit.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12322957#post12322957 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefflections
Genetics,
You mentioned dosing vodka,and vingear threw your top off water.I can keep them seperate,if need be.But as for new start up guide lines for these what would be a starting point.Say around total water volume about 200 gallons.And I'm assuming keep my sugar ratio the same also.When adding these 2 new additives.
Thanks for all your help.Like everyone else just trying to get the system turned around.
Sorry I dose Vodka and Sugar through my kalk reactor. Vinegar would effect the pH by lowering it and I want to keep the top-off around pH 13/14. The only thing I've noticed since addition of sugar is my sand gets diatom blooms occasionally. So I cut back on the sugar to vodka ratio. I use 8ml 20% EtOH by volume and 8mL of the granulated sugar (dilution of 15g into 1L RO H2O) per 5 gallons of top-off. My evap rate is about 2.5gal/day. The system has roughly 240 gallons of water. Is that confusing? :lol: I'll try this a different way 0.8mL pure ethanol and 60mg of sugar per day.
You have some large softies in your tank, including that leather. I'm just wondering if you ran ozone to reduce potential toxins in the water if that would help you keep some of these sps. Just a thought unrelated to this thread.
fishfanatic06
New member
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Update: I have been dosing for about 3 days now at 10 drops of a vinegar/sugar mixture once per day. I have noticed that my skimmer has increased its production of skimmate by about 25% and a few patches of cyano I had are slowly disappearing. Should I keep my dosage the same? Increase it maybe? Also, Im dosing this much vinegar/sugar on a system that has a total of approximately 40 gallons of water in it.
Thanks!
Update: I have been dosing for about 3 days now at 10 drops of a vinegar/sugar mixture once per day. I have noticed that my skimmer has increased its production of skimmate by about 25% and a few patches of cyano I had are slowly disappearing. Should I keep my dosage the same? Increase it maybe? Also, Im dosing this much vinegar/sugar on a system that has a total of approximately 40 gallons of water in it.
Thanks!
stony_corals
New member
Genetics, you're dosing the vodka/sugar in the freshwater that goes into your kalk reactor? You may be limiting the effectiveness of both your kalk and your ethanol dosing. Unless you are pushing the entire container of freshwater and ethanol in a day, the bacteria growth is happening in your freshwater container. The strains that develop in freshwater versus salt are probably different, and assuming 100% saturation of your kalk reactor, the pH of 12.45 may kill off said bacteria so they may not reach your system and your ethanol will be depleted. Second, the CO2 that the bacteria produce will react with the kalk and form CaCO3, calcium carbonate precipitate. Thinking out loud here....
stony_corals
New member
This is an interesting area, what happens with cyanobacteria with carbon dosing? Some experience a reduction, some an increase.... why? Are they competing for the carbon source? Are they counterproductive in our goal of reducing nutrient levels (they are nitrogen fixers)? You'd think that they they'd get their sugars during daylight via photosynthesis, and if there were a dark cycle, like the calvin cycle, which produces organic compounds....
Didn't mean to go off on a tangent.
Actually, I'm trying very hard not to grow bacteria in the freshwater (this was one of my worries in dosing this way). Though to some extent I'm sure it happens. I wanted a way to add constant CS over a period of time and decided that I could just add it to top-off water without too many horrible side-effects. I know that addition of ethanol to tap water sitting at 37 degrees Celsius grows some interesting stuff over the course of a week. Haven't seen much though with RO at 20 degrees. Also, you're right the CO2 from the air/ or respiration from bacteria should be precipitating my kalk. I'll keep an eye out for it. Haven't seen much over the course of the past 8 months.
OnlyCrimson
New member
I don't want to interupt the flow of this thread, but if someone could answer a couple questions for me i would be all set.
I understand the basics of vodka dosing, but how about the sugar? Is there a good starting dose and does it follow just like the vodka dosing? If I am going to be doing vodka and sugar is it ok to dose at the same time?
I understand the basics of vodka dosing, but how about the sugar? Is there a good starting dose and does it follow just like the vodka dosing? If I am going to be doing vodka and sugar is it ok to dose at the same time?
stony_corals
New member
Sorry, never dosed sugar before, can't help you. I don't know what the appropriate dosage for sugar is.. Sure you can add them at the same time....
Reefflections
New member
Genetics and Stony_Corals.
Oh I see where you have a 15 gallon reservior with this 0.8 ml vodka and 60 mg of sugar.But only putting in 2.5 gallons per day of make up water.So this ratio that you mentioned above is based on only 2,5 gallons that actually that is really added.Now I probably have you confused.Is there anyway with 200 total volume,it can be added daily.Has anyone one broke it down to just a daily dosage?
I was a zeo user when this first hit the scene.And every thing was down daily as for a few drops of this and a few of that.This is what I'm trying to find out.I know with sugar it's grandular as for a liquid dosage goes.I'm just looking for some fairly close guide lines.Or again would be just better just doing sugar?
What actually is the benefits of adding both of these?If both are a carbon source.
Thanks
Oh I see where you have a 15 gallon reservior with this 0.8 ml vodka and 60 mg of sugar.But only putting in 2.5 gallons per day of make up water.So this ratio that you mentioned above is based on only 2,5 gallons that actually that is really added.Now I probably have you confused.Is there anyway with 200 total volume,it can be added daily.Has anyone one broke it down to just a daily dosage?
I was a zeo user when this first hit the scene.And every thing was down daily as for a few drops of this and a few of that.This is what I'm trying to find out.I know with sugar it's grandular as for a liquid dosage goes.I'm just looking for some fairly close guide lines.Or again would be just better just doing sugar?
What actually is the benefits of adding both of these?If both are a carbon source.Thanks
fishfanatic06
New member
I hate to say it, but I just sort of made my own mixture by throwing random amounts of sugar and vinegar into a sealed container. If I had to guess, I would say I used about 1 1/2 tbsp. of sugar and about 300 ml of vinegar and mixed them together. I also had a vial of bioptim left over from when I was dosing Prodibio's products. I put that into the mix too.
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12328555#post12328555 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefflections
Has anyone one broke it down to just a daily dosage?
I was a zeo user when this first hit the scene.And every thing was down daily as for a few drops of this and a few of that.This is what I'm trying to find out.I know with sugar it's grandular as for a liquid dosage goes.I'm just looking for some fairly close guide lines.Or again would be just better just doing sugar?
The 0.8mL of ethanol and 60mg of sugar is the concentration I add to my system everyday. The ethanol is the concentration of 100% EtOH. I use a 20% mix for my tank as 100% EtOH usually contains additives, such as benzene, that would be detrimental to a reef tank.
I don't think anyone has reported benefits of adding both sugar and vodka as of yet. And don't know if there will really be one. Both give you the end results of lower NO3 and PO4 which is what most people like to see. For ease I would find one you feel comfortable working with and stick with it.
The problem I find is that daily dosing becomes problematic on trips, vacations, and long days at work. So I've been trying to find a way around these issues when I can't be around or my friends are taking care of the aquarium. To do this I'm thinking of switching my sugar addition by adding it into the home-made food I feed the tank. The top-off serves the ethanol needed but the sugar in the food would provide a method of additional removal if my friends decide they want to overfeed my fish. Now I'm thinking out loud.
Last edited:
FoothillCorals
Premium Member
DP
FoothillCorals
Premium Member
I would like to start dosing carbon on my system. Would it be ok to mix vodka, vinegar and sugar with some ro water in to a solution ahead of time? Or do they need to be added separately?
- Status
