My Bacteria Driven Journey

[slow_leak]

Here is a quickie table of 5X dillution of 40 proof vodka dosing. It's within the range of BRS Drew's Doser. I make two weeks at a time.

Rate 1.6 ml/min
Dillution 5X

40 Proof @ 5X 1.6 ml/min
mls as is /// dillution mls /// mins/day
2 10 6
3 15 9
4 20 13
5 25 16
6 30 19
7 35 22
8 40 25
9 45 28
10 50 31

 

[luvreefs23]

I have a 250 gallon tank, total water volume is about 275 gallons. It was a transfer from a 90 gallon and already cycled rock was added to fill the tank out. The tank is now approaching 2 months old, ive been dosing 5ml of vodka a day for about 3 weeks now because of some algae growth on the sand and some hair algae appearing in the overflow boxes. Sand is clearer now but hair algae remains in overflow boxes. My sps is doing extremely well, 1/4" growth on my frags in a few weeks time. I also do 4 drops of sponge power and amino acids a day. I have a bottle of microbater7, but im wondering would using this give me any more benefits and if so how much and how often would i start out at and what to look for. Tank is very clear...

Thanks
Dennis

 

[rtparty]

Tswifty,

How are things doing? I love to see your tank looking so much better. I mean, ya know the algae going away! The corals have always looked good from what I've seen.

 

[elijaher]

bump

 

[sedorusc]

had an unfortunate break with my skimmer. have to order a new needlewheel impeller. probably week to ten days to arrive. should I hold off on any dosing of mb7 and vodka? plan on still dosing alk and calcium. just looking for ideas. thanks

 

[Aqua Keepers]

had an unfortunate break with my skimmer. have to order a new needlewheel impeller. probably week to ten days to arrive. should I hold off on any dosing of mb7 and vodka? plan on still dosing alk and calcium. just looking for ideas. thanks

I would definitely hold off til the skimmer is back up.

 

[trueblackpercula]

As stated no skimmer no vodka

 

[sedorusc]

ok definitely no vodka, but same for mb7?

 

[melev]

Yes, if you are skimmer-less, don't dose Vodka.

 

[Aqua Keepers]

Yes, same with MB7

 

[Padrino]

Here's a list of what I'm dosing/adding to the tank, along with my current feeding, carbon, and water change schedule. The Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium dosing is handled by my BRS Drew's Dosing pumps, which are controlled by my Neptune Systems Aquacontroller III.

Daily
- BRS Alkalinity: 102 ml (5 times per day in 20.4 ml increments)
- BRS Calcium: 88 ml (5 times per day in 17.6 ml increments)
- ESV Magnesium: 18 ml (once per day)

- 2.8 ml 40 proof Vodka
- 1 ml Microbacter 7

Feeding (twice per day)
- Mysis Shrimp & Spirulina Brine Shrimp
or
- Formula 1 Pellets & Formula 2 Flake Food

Twice per week
- 2 drops Brightwell Aquatics CoralAmino
- 1 cube Frozen Rotifers (after lights out)

Once per week
- 1 Drop Kent Marine Lugol's Solution
- Test Water Parameters

Every 2 weeks
- 5 gallon water change (Coralife Salt Mix)
- change carbon (TLF Hydrocarbon in TLF Reactor)

Tj,
you have changed from monthly water changes to bi weekly? Have you noticed any major changes since you removed the cheato? i have since opened the valve fully to my refuge and see a huge growth in cheato. I think cheato does better with higher flow rather than lower. Hope all is well

Rob

 

[Robert Patterso]

taggin along

 

[trueblackpercula]

What is the reason one should not use Mb7 without a skimmer?

 

[rkaires]

What is the reason one should not use Mb7 without a skimmer?

Your oxygen levels will drop too low.

 

[trueblackpercula]

I don't think that can happen, unless there is no water movement at all. If you have water surface movment powerheads,overflow etc then you shoul have O2 in the water. Very interesting product needs to be looked into more.
Thanks for the answer.

 

[Padrino]

I don't think that can happen, unless there is no water movement at all. If you have water surface movment powerheads,overflow etc then you shoul have O2 in the water. Very interesting product needs to be looked into more.
Thanks for the answer.

NOT TRUE. Many people suffer from low PH due to excess CO2 in their house (equilibrium) which then goes to the tank. For me this happens whenever i have a family gathering or party or when it is soo hot that i have to turn the AC on. Even with over 10X water turnover i still suffer from low O2 at times. I think mb7 produces Co2 as a by product as well so without a skimmer you o2 levels will drop

 

[trueblackpercula]

Wow ......are you saying that MB7 produces CO2? I found this on CO2 great little read check it out, http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide?wasRedirected=true
I should have stated that high temps create low oxygen levels. Now just a quick question what about all the reefers around the world running skimmerless they can never use MB7?
Thanks for the information

 

[melev]

In the Vodka article, it is very clear that you must run a skimmer to keep up oxygenation levels. I don't know about MB7.

 

[takayan]

MB7 is bacteria additive. Vodka is Carbon source which is the food for bacteria. I do not think Skimmer is mandatory with MB7, but you need skimmer with dosing MB7 and Carbon source(Vodka).
I am dosing MB7 on my wet system without Skimmer, but I never have a problem.

 

[A.VOID]

Joining in the discussion.

I've been dosing vodka for 5 months now. I started MB7 about 2.5 months ago, but I've been kind of hit and miss with dosing it.

I was down to undetectable NO, but over the course of a few weeks and a hosed up skimmer ... NO crept back up to 5-10.

I'm finally seeing it come back down after increasing Vodka to 2ml/ day. I've been hitting the MB7 at 10ml weekly with another 7 drops a couple other times a week.
NO now at 2.5 >>> PO have always been nil with salifert tests.
Cyano started popping up again last week. Nothing too out of control, but annoying. I have bubble algae issues now too. Nothing too severe, but annoying.

The thing that bothers me the most is keeping the film off the glass >>> I shouldn't be bad for about 3 days from past experience. I'm at about 1.5 now. I also get the brown build up on my powerheads after a week.

BTW >>> 2 part dosing advice.
I run my Alk and Ca with a medical pump all day.
You don't need a pump to dose your Mg. Just hit it once a week- week and half. You can raise it 100 without stress. I just throw in like a cup a week depending on need.