Vodka Carbon Dosing Actually Works!

BobbyV

BobbyV

Established since 2008
I have always been plagued with high phosphates. Very irritating because SPS is my favorite coral. Acropora/Milli to be specific. The challenge of getting them to color up is very rewarding.

So with this being said, three weeks ago I was at .30 plus. (I don't feed much so I am convinced I have a Reef Goblin who pours in additional phosphates into my tank when I am asleep.)

I have been burning through GFO for years. I would probably feel that I have spent $1,000 in GFO over my lifetime in this hobby.

After being irritated I searched the forum to learn more about Vodka dosing.

Some people are incredibly successful while others completely crash their tank.

I have had bad experiences with BIO Pellets in the past so I was a bit apprehensive since I really couldn't afford another crash.

After testing one day I had one of my emotional moments and asked for guidance from the "Reef Gods".

I had an extra doser laying around and hooked everything up. I also took my GFO offline.

I purchased the cheapest most unique :hmm6: Vodka you can find (1.5 Liters for $10). "Rikaloff Deluxe" (Made in the USA, 80 proof.)

To my surprise as of this morning my phosphates are .11 :celeb3:

Hopefully this keeps going well.

I know to keep my KH below 8.5

I have about 350 gallons and I only dose 1.1 mill's a day (1 minute of BRS pump being on). Very low dose since Vodka is very potent.

I also have 6 Bio Media Marine Pure Blocks to harbor all the bacteria being fed by the Vodka. I am also running a SRO 5000 INT with two neck extenders.

Some SPS, colors are very vibrant - some are pale - I guess I need to feed more. (My current KH is 9.8 which is high.) But all polyp extension has improved.

I hope this was helpful to someone. Take care - :beachbum:

Some will argue that carbon dosing doesn't reduce phosphates, just Nitrates. At the end of the day, I am just happy that my phosphate are dropping and I am not running GFO. (or maybe the Reef Goblin is on vacation. :clown:)

Bobby V

Picture of my PC Rainbow acropora - sorry for the bad photo. Just a quick snap from my Galaxy S6 Cell Phone.



The Red Light is my grow light over the refugium.

 
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Bobby I have been dosing carbon for many years off and on and only in very small doses.
People can argue all they want. Carbon always reduces phosphates unless there is no nitrate available. If your nitrate does get so low you can always add that in small amounts.
I have used a ton of products from vodka and vinegar to zeo and more. Right now I am trying Red Sea no3 po4 x. Vodka and vinegar both cause cyano for me which I never have unless I am dosing one of those 2. Even if I am dosing nothing I have never had cyano. With the zeo which is crazy expensive I had no cyano and it is potent. No3 po4x has been the same. No cyano and it seems pretty strong.
I like to have more control of the dosage amount so I dilute in half with ro/di water. Your pump appears more controllable than mine.
 
robthorn said:
Bobby I have been dosing carbon for many years off and on and only in very small doses.
People can argue all they want. Carbon always reduces phosphates unless there is no nitrate available. If your nitrate does get so low you can always add that in small amounts.
I have used a ton of products from vodka and vinegar to zeo and more. Right now I am trying Red Sea no3 po4 x. Vodka and vinegar both cause cyano for me which I never have unless I am dosing one of those 2. Even if I am dosing nothing I have never had cyano. With the zeo which is crazy expensive I had no cyano and it is potent. No3 po4x has been the same. No cyano and it seems pretty strong.
I like to have more control of the dosage amount so I dilute in half with ro/di water. Your pump appears more controllable than mine.
Click to expand...

Thank you for adding in a message.

I think the best method as you mentioned is to keep an eye on it and test at least once a week to see what type of shape you are in.

But for $10's and at the current rate of consumption, this bottle may last me 4 to 6 months on a water volume as large as mine. You can not beat it. It is nice to stumble across saving money where you can in this hobby.

I did unfortunately just buy another 5 gallon bucket of BRS GFO for $270. It is unopened and sealed. I think I am going to hold onto it since it will not go bad just in case.

I am in love with this Vodka dosing. Just need to be patient and start off super slow. I got huge Cyano Bacteria with Bio Pellets. Tough to control output. I am personally not that gifted with Bio Pellets. They absolutely work, I just had a personal challenge with them. Not looking to offend anyone who has mastered them.

Dosing is very specific. Also with dosing you can be as specific to dose once a week if you want to.

The only area of concern is to not feel insecure checking out with the cheapest Vodka in the store. I had to ensure the cashier that I didn't have a problem and it was for a project. :lol:
 
Haha. Yeah the check out line can be fun.
Something else worth mentioning is once you see a slight lightening of coral color cut your dose in half. If it continues to lighten keep cutting the dose. Certain corals will be early indicators so look the tank over real good daily.
I am sure you have seen an increase in skimmate as well. :)
 
Funny you mentioned that Bobby. It was the first thing that jumped to mind reading your post, what must the person think about someone buying a 10 handle. Though I'm sure thy see much worse than that on a daily basis.

I might hit you up next week to chat a little about this. I've been thinking about trying it on frag tank. Glad you've had some early success with it.
 
How long from the time u started dosing do get that drop from .3 to .11? Carbon dosing will lower 16 to 1 so 16 parts of nitrate will be consumed to 1 part phosphate with carbon doing. So as mentioned as long as u know enough nitrate u will continue to see a nice drop in phosphate. If your nitrate drops so low eventually u will not drop phosphate anymore. Then u would have to add liquids nitrate to the system to keep removing phosphate.

I good results doing this in the past. Did u ramp up your dose slowly or just start at that point?

It will take some time to increase your bacteria population enough to see the results. So for others be patient.
 
Bobby, those that saw my last tank know how I advocate vodka. I was going onto 6 years using it with all success. I have tried vinager before and was dosing small amount but most successful was with vodka
 
Zeo Start 3 here. Carbon dosing, but only use 1.3ml 2x daily. Phosphates and Nitrates PDL (pretty damn low) :)
 
I've been dosing over a year now, first in the old tank and soon in the new tank. When done correctly, its a great way to reduce nitrate/phosphate. I am a heavy feeder, I like my fish fat, So I have also used it in conjunction with GFO without issue, though you really need to be careful running both because its super easy to strip the water clean, which of course can lead to alk burn if you are running higher alk levels.

I also tried switching to vinegar but did not like that it required more to dose. Also did not seem to work as well, but that is just my observation, not fact.

Another plus not mentioned: The odd looks you get from people when you tell them you put vodka in your tank! ;)
 
Awesome thread. I too overfeed for the same reason. I love my tangs nice and plump, and I have issues with high nitrates so just started vinegar dosing 3 days ago. I havent tested my nitrates yet but will do so tomorrow. For those who have carbon dosed with vinegar, how long did it take to get your nitrates down? Mine are at about 80ppm and I'd like to get them between 5-10ppm
 
Sorry Eros if your nitrates are at 80ppm you need more than carbon dosing.
If you are more than 5ppm I think you have something else that needs fixing. Filter socks or bigger skimmer or maintain sand bed or something.
Without dosing I have not been able to measure nitrates in my tanks in 15 years. Once 3 to 4 months old at least. Brand new tanks are always different.
Not to high jack Bobbys thread here but maybe start one of your own and lets figure out how to bring that down whether you dose carbon or not.
Carbon dosing is more for fine tuning not a way of life. Relying on carbon to keep nutrients low enough is only setting yourself up for failure. This is just my belief on how people crash tanks when carbon dosing and then blame the method or product. Fact is they are normally just doing it wrong or not as the method was originally intended.
 
robthorn said:
Sorry Eros if your nitrates are at 80ppm you need more than carbon dosing.
If you are more than 5ppm I think you have something else that needs fixing. Filter socks or bigger skimmer or maintain sand bed or something.
Without dosing I have not been able to measure nitrates in my tanks in 15 years. Once 3 to 4 months old at least. Brand new tanks are always different.
Not to high jack Bobbys thread here but maybe start one of your own and lets figure out how to bring that down whether you dose carbon or not.
Carbon dosing is more for fine tuning not a way of life. Relying on carbon to keep nutrients low enough is only setting yourself up for failure. This is just my belief on how people crash tanks when carbon dosing and then blame the method or product. Fact is they are normally just doing it wrong or not as the method was originally intended.
Click to expand...

I am no expert at all but I'd agree with what you said. My tank is at 0 nitrates right now. I am in Tallahassee and am going to pick up a calcium reactor from my wife's cousin. I'm going to use it just for my corals and to make my water clearer. To use it for the purpose of bringing nitrates down from 80 to 5 seems pretty risky to me. I agree with finding out why your nitrates are high and correct that before relying on calcium dosing to lower them. Just my thoughts.
 
No worries on high jacking this thread. My intentions are to get the local conversations flowing to maybe help others unaware of carbon dosing, the advantages, what to be careful for when starting and or how to start.

By the way, I found out why my phosphates are lower now.

My scientific hypothesis was proven correct after all!

Found this note posted on the tank at 3:30am.

 
I tried carbon dosing twice, Once with vinegar and other with Vodka, Both time I went slow and less then the recommended about, Yes both times my po4 and no3 went down BUT I had Cayno issues both times. Now I do believe that my skimmer at the time was not up for the job, Was thinking about trying it again now that I have a killer skimmer, Because I'm adding 8 new coral to my tank today and I would like to start over feeding again. Just my thoughts....
 
BobbyV said:
No worries on high jacking this thread. My intentions are to get the local conversations flowing to maybe help others unaware of carbon dosing, the advantages, what to be careful for when starting and or how to start.

By the way, I found out why my phosphates are lower now.

My scientific hypothesis was proven correct after all!

Found this note posted on the tank at 3:30am.

Click to expand...

Maybe that vodka got him to leave you alone as he doesn't condone underage drinking. Or he stole your bottle and went partying.
 
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I forgot where I got this..I was dosing vinegar before I changed to nopox. I hope it helps

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
 
I agree with all of the above. I have been dosing vodka to the tank and Jack Daniels to the guy that does the maintenance (Me) with great success for years now. It works. All you have to do is perform a large water change and do a full maintenance before you start so that you have a better starting point.

As with everything in this hobby, start slow and have patience.

Good luck to all starting dosing Vodka in your tank. It will be a wild ride at first, but you will learn a lot about your tank very quick.
 
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