Vodka Dosing Anyone??
- Thread starter gaetyn
- Start date
oscarslr
New member
I have tried it for about 2 months now, I did see an increase in coral coloration, you have to have a very good skimmer or it will work against you. The dosing is also something to keep reading on, you dont want to over do it or you can crash your tank with a big swing in parameters.
aquaph8
Love The Fish
I switched to vinegar a while back but have been dosing for a while. I agree with Oscar, make sure you have a good oversized skimmer. Go really slow it takes time for your tank to get used to having low nutrients. If your up for keeping up with it, dosing vinegar will keep your nitrates low but I still have to use GFO to keep my phosphates where I like them.
I have been dosing vodka for a year and a half and my nitrates are never over 2 however I do agree with the previous posts you need a really good skimmer and I also feed heavy with a pretty good bio load so I am not in to much danger of creating a nutrient starved system. I also use GFO and am going through a cup every 2 to 3 weeks, probably because I feed heavy and have large fish. My total system is 150 gallons and I am dosing about 7ml of Vodka per day but it took me 4 or 5 months to get there.
Newsalth2o
New member
I've been dosing vinegar for almost a year now. Go slow. It definitely helps stabilize your water quality if you are consistent. I use carbon and GFO 1/2 cup each in a BRS reactor and change it every two weeks. Good luck
brettinteriors
New member
I also have dosed vinegar for roughly a year with similar results. It is 1/8th the strength of vodka. It took about 4 months to zero out from 20 no3. A doser makes is easy. In my 140 I increased the vinegar 5 ml per week and maxed at about 60 ml. I run about 30 now and my no 3 stays low. Cyano has been somewhat of an issue for me. I use Gfo and dose phosphate e and test po4 with a Hanna. I did notice an increase in gha and cyano overall but it is worth it. I can have lots of fish and keep sps.
Newsalth2o
New member
+1 sometimes I see a bit of cyano but i just scrub and vaccum the spot and its gone so dont freak out and stop dosing if that happens
gaetyn
New member
Well ive been doing it for about a week. Not much change yet. It might be the protein skimmer i have, a heavily modified Seaclone. i wis getting 1 cup of skim mate ever 2 days. since i started vodka dosing there seems to be little collection if skimminate. anyone else have this problem.
Newsalth2o
New member
You are putting the vodka in the tank? Right? if not you have to drink lots of it before your corals look different or skimmate looks good. Jk I don't remember skimmate changing right away but I just kept the same dose at the same time until things found a new normal. I wouldn't panic unless you see changes in livestock. Check your water parameters twice a week and see what's happening. Double check your skimmer and make sure it is operating properly. You can always stop dosing and see if things return to normal. Remember reefing is a marathon not a sprint. It's weeks not days..
brettinteriors
New member
A couple things to keep in mind. It will most likely take more than a month to have measurable results. Something to watch out for is increased Alk, calcium, mag, ect usage. Growing stony coral and coralline will eat it up as water conditions improve. In my case by as much as triple.
