BigJim
Member
I dosed vodka for a few years to reduce phosphates and it worked great. I stopped about 8-10 months ago b/c I started losing corals and clams, my thinking was that the low nutrients were the culprit. I had all of my clams die, lost a few green slimers, a large purple montipora and half of a chalice. The chalice came back when I stopped the vodka and the tips of two of the green slimers have started to regrow.
Recently I've noticed and increase in hair algae and my orange montipora have turned light pink. I figured I should start dosing vodka again. I started with 5ml to a 150g tank. So after 10 days, the chalice is starting to loose tissue and the green slimers have turned light in color, no change to the orange montipora. I also had an anthia die (may or may not be related). The hair algae looks the same.
It seems like dosing vodka causes more harm than good at this point in my tank. How do I balance everything? Phosphates measure zero but are clearly present due to algae. How do you keep phosphates low but not at zero? Should I stop with the vodka and maybe switch to vinegar? I have a small clean up crew, I could probably add more snails and hermits but which are better? I'm lost.
Recently I've noticed and increase in hair algae and my orange montipora have turned light pink. I figured I should start dosing vodka again. I started with 5ml to a 150g tank. So after 10 days, the chalice is starting to loose tissue and the green slimers have turned light in color, no change to the orange montipora. I also had an anthia die (may or may not be related). The hair algae looks the same.
It seems like dosing vodka causes more harm than good at this point in my tank. How do I balance everything? Phosphates measure zero but are clearly present due to algae. How do you keep phosphates low but not at zero? Should I stop with the vodka and maybe switch to vinegar? I have a small clean up crew, I could probably add more snails and hermits but which are better? I'm lost.