No problem. I really meant for this thread to be a thread for learning more about this method and to also track the progress of my tank so keep the questions/discussion going. I plan to post a picture tomorrow of the tank. I actually was trying to get a picture with no fish because I usually don't shoot at a high enough shutter speed and they come out sort of blurry and distract from the tank overall. The wrasses are actually out most of the time, especially the Flame.
Vodka Dosing Experiment
- Thread starter Gondore
- Start date
No problem. I really meant for this thread to be a thread for learning more about this method and to also track the progress of my tank so keep the questions/discussion going. I plan to post a picture tomorrow of the tank. I actually was trying to get a picture with no fish because I usually don't shoot at a high enough shutter speed and they come out sort of blurry and distract from the tank overall. The wrasses are actually out most of the time, especially the Flame.
SeasonedReefer
New member
Yea im doing my research and you guys are right there is alot of different techniques that can be used here. But from what I have read thus far from this thread the one jcr gave me and a little of sunny's thread. I still need to read more lol. I will keep and touch and ask questions often before I start dosing my reef.
This weeks update.
Dosages:
07-04-2009
- 4 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
07-05-2009
- 4 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
07-06-2009
- 5 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
07-07-2009
- 4 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
07-08-2009
- 5 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
07-09-2009
- 5 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
Picture:
This week I will be upping my dosage of Vodka to 0.4 ml starting today. I have continued to leave my GFO reactor off and so far nutrients have remained under control.
Dosages:
07-04-2009
- 4 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
07-05-2009
- 4 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
07-06-2009
- 5 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
07-07-2009
- 4 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
07-08-2009
- 5 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
07-09-2009
- 5 Drops MP7
- 5 ml Potassium
- 0.2 ml 80 proof Vodka
Picture:
This week I will be upping my dosage of Vodka to 0.4 ml starting today. I have continued to leave my GFO reactor off and so far nutrients have remained under control.
SeasonedReefer
New member
Gondore, I definatley see a color change it's looking alot better in comparison to that first pic you posted. Who makes/sells the MB7 i would like to do a little reading up on it.
JCR's Reef
New member
Nice shot Dave. Tank is looking good. Have you noticed a decline in algae on the glass. I dont have to scrape mine hardly at all throughout the week anymore. Thats a blessing in disguise all by itself : )
Seasoned Reefer-Brightwell Aquatics is who makes it.
I dont think anyone locally sells it. I purchase most of my stuff from Premium Aquatics..
Seasoned Reefer-Brightwell Aquatics is who makes it.
I dont think anyone locally sells it. I purchase most of my stuff from Premium Aquatics..
SeasonedReefer
New member
Thanks Jcr! any other recomendations on good bacteria supplements? I've heard of bio digest is that any good? It seems pretty expensive.
JCR's Reef
New member
I've never used Bio-D personally. There are people on here who use it and have great looking tanks. There is also some reefers on here who dose Vodka/MB7 regulary while only dosing Bio-D as a boost every once in awhile with good results. I guess they do it to increase different strains of bacteria but I'm not positive on that. Once you get reading you'll see people mixing different batches of stuff all the time. But its all still pretty new to the hobby so its hard to tell what the future of their tanks are down the road.
Bio-D is kinda expensive to start up but the doses get lower as you go. The same as Zeovit. Zeovit is really expensive if you get into it with everything they have to offer. Fuan Marin is another pretty good product too. Its along the same lines of Zeovit and can add up pretty quick. MB7/ Vodka is about the cheapest you can go with a bateria driven system though hands down. But you can also make the hobby as expensive as you want too. LOL. Just like what Dave is doing, you try to manipulate the coral colors a bit to your liking. Daves tank looked great without dosing but he has to make it better
which makes it a little bit more of an expensive hobby. LOL
I told myself I would try the Vodka/MB7 method but I wouldnt go as far to dosing other things to my tank like sugar, or Bio-digest, etcc, Im sure it all out competes beneficial bateria thats naturally resides in/on live rock and such too. Thats just me thinking though. Just seems like the more you put in, the more it will accumulate in the tank at one point down the road and cause problems. Most people change water, not rocks and sand and thats what usually absorbs everyting. But that just me again.
To be honest I would only dose Vodka if your phosphates or your nitrates are out of whack.
You can dose MB7 alone just to achieve clearer/cleaner water and dont really need to dose vodka at all unless your wanting to drive down your nutrient levels. Vodka is whats going to fuel MB7 to muliply in the system to make it a more active bacteria so to speak.
I dosed MB7 for 1 month prior to dosing Vodka just to get a feel for it(yeah I was a puss). I noticed my water was literally twice as clear and it also improved skimming with MB7 alone. I started dosing Vodka and really the only thing I noticed was a little more skimmate and the algae on the glass takes a little longer to grow vs. dosing MB7 alone. Last week I only had to clean the tank sides once. And it was only little blotches. Not a big chore like it was before. It get more of a whiteish/clear fuzz patch vs. the brown green algae on the tank. Incication its trying to grow but the V/MB7 is out competing it. I was also checking my water/ test kits with Daves just to make sure everything was good.
But if you decide to start, just monitor your tank parameters closely and pay attention to your tank . Those indications will let you know whether to up your dose or back off a bit. You'll get a feel for it. Just gotta take it slow and one step at a time. Dont think more is better.Read as much as your brain/eyes can tolerate and ask as many questions as you can. I've asked some real doozies'.. As soon as you get it all figured out there'll be a "new method" to try out that everyone will jump on I'm sure. Just like the thread I was reading the other day a guy was using stump remover in his reef tank to drive down nitrates and it was working. Who would'a thought?
Bio-D is kinda expensive to start up but the doses get lower as you go. The same as Zeovit. Zeovit is really expensive if you get into it with everything they have to offer. Fuan Marin is another pretty good product too. Its along the same lines of Zeovit and can add up pretty quick. MB7/ Vodka is about the cheapest you can go with a bateria driven system though hands down. But you can also make the hobby as expensive as you want too. LOL. Just like what Dave is doing, you try to manipulate the coral colors a bit to your liking. Daves tank looked great without dosing but he has to make it better
which makes it a little bit more of an expensive hobby. LOLI told myself I would try the Vodka/MB7 method but I wouldnt go as far to dosing other things to my tank like sugar, or Bio-digest, etcc, Im sure it all out competes beneficial bateria thats naturally resides in/on live rock and such too. Thats just me thinking though. Just seems like the more you put in, the more it will accumulate in the tank at one point down the road and cause problems. Most people change water, not rocks and sand and thats what usually absorbs everyting. But that just me again.
To be honest I would only dose Vodka if your phosphates or your nitrates are out of whack.
You can dose MB7 alone just to achieve clearer/cleaner water and dont really need to dose vodka at all unless your wanting to drive down your nutrient levels. Vodka is whats going to fuel MB7 to muliply in the system to make it a more active bacteria so to speak.
I dosed MB7 for 1 month prior to dosing Vodka just to get a feel for it(yeah I was a puss). I noticed my water was literally twice as clear and it also improved skimming with MB7 alone. I started dosing Vodka and really the only thing I noticed was a little more skimmate and the algae on the glass takes a little longer to grow vs. dosing MB7 alone. Last week I only had to clean the tank sides once. And it was only little blotches. Not a big chore like it was before. It get more of a whiteish/clear fuzz patch vs. the brown green algae on the tank. Incication its trying to grow but the V/MB7 is out competing it. I was also checking my water/ test kits with Daves just to make sure everything was good.
But if you decide to start, just monitor your tank parameters closely and pay attention to your tank . Those indications will let you know whether to up your dose or back off a bit. You'll get a feel for it. Just gotta take it slow and one step at a time. Dont think more is better.Read as much as your brain/eyes can tolerate and ask as many questions as you can. I've asked some real doozies'.. As soon as you get it all figured out there'll be a "new method" to try out that everyone will jump on I'm sure. Just like the thread I was reading the other day a guy was using stump remover in his reef tank to drive down nitrates and it was working. Who would'a thought?
JCR's Reef
New member
Wow that was a little too in depth, sorry. Im rambling so Im off to bed
Good post Josh.
Bio-D is just another bacteria source and is also part of another system called Prodibio. I know that Sunny has used Bio-D as his bacteria source in the past and said that he prefers MB7. As Jesse mentioned above I know there are some guys dosing both MB7 and Bio-D under the assumption that it gives them more bacteria diversity.
I would agree that my colors were descent before starting this system, but they weren't the quality of Sunny's or Pnoy's colors. The colors these two guys are getting are just crazy. That is the main reason I wanted to see Sunny's tank in person to verify that it wasn't just Photoshop accounting for the his awesome colors. What I found is that his tank looks just as good if not better in person. I peronally will not be happy until I reach these two guys levels of color. Here are some recent pictures of Pnoy's tank to give you an idea of the colors he is getting. He is running a single 400 watt Radium bulb over his tank.
Bio-D is just another bacteria source and is also part of another system called Prodibio. I know that Sunny has used Bio-D as his bacteria source in the past and said that he prefers MB7. As Jesse mentioned above I know there are some guys dosing both MB7 and Bio-D under the assumption that it gives them more bacteria diversity.
I would agree that my colors were descent before starting this system, but they weren't the quality of Sunny's or Pnoy's colors. The colors these two guys are getting are just crazy. That is the main reason I wanted to see Sunny's tank in person to verify that it wasn't just Photoshop accounting for the his awesome colors. What I found is that his tank looks just as good if not better in person. I peronally will not be happy until I reach these two guys levels of color. Here are some recent pictures of Pnoy's tank to give you an idea of the colors he is getting. He is running a single 400 watt Radium bulb over his tank.
gmpower262
New member
Once I started dosing Vodka my nitrates started going up. The theory is now that the water is low nutrient, the nitrates are leaching out of the rock. Have you experienced this in your tank?
I have heard of this happening before but usually with phosphates. If the rock was in a high nutrient system for a long period of time it will start to absorb the nutrients. I would guess that if you continue to dose the vodka the nitrates will work themselves out of your rock without any problems. Are you just dosing vodka by itself? Also, what brand are you using?
SWINGRRRR
Premium Member
Ever find an answer to this? I top-off with Kalk, and dose vodka and MB7. I does vodka for a long time with good results. Then I read all of Sunny thread and started dosing MB7 and stopped the vodka for 2 weeks. Now I dose both after the initial seeding. Again, I run a Geo Kalk Rx 24/7 for top-off and I have no negative effects. My tank is spotless except for some flakes in the water column. My Nitrates are zero, I have no way to check phosphates, but I have no algae growth. I scrape my glass once a week.
Im just wondering if you can expound on the Kalk issue. I wonder if it’s the reason for my ever present, annoying “flakes.â€Â
I have actually seen varied opinions on this. I believe I recently seen someone post in Sunny's thread though about this and Sunny said he wished he still had a Kalk stirrer on his tank because he loved the results he was getting with Kalk on his previous tank. If you are getting good results I say stick with it.
I am running carbon passively in a bag and I have taken my GFO reactor offline for now. I am closely monitoring my phosphates. They have come up from 0.00 to 0.02. If they cont. to rise I will plug it back in for awhile. I imagine once I increase my Vodka dosage a bit more it will take care of this problem.
JCR's Reef
New member
Anything new to add to this post Dave? How about some new pics
I will try and post a couple new pics sometime this week. I have actually stopped dosing vodka. I am continuing to dose the MB7, AAs, and iodine but I have decided I prefer GFO for nutrient control. More and more I am thinking success is all about keeping things as simple as possible. From my experience I really think that stability is the key. For my tank that means good flow, good lighting, gfo, carbon, large skimmer, and a good amount of food.
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