Vodka Dosing & LPS?

They seem happier, less shy, and have much less trouble talking to the ladies.

I dose sugar, as I have trouble justifying the use of perfectly good vodka. I don't notice any change whatsoever in regards to the lps, in fact have had solid chunks of sugar land and dissolve on my lobophyllia with no ill results.

Do it. I'd go with sugar, but vodka will work too.
 
I have been dosing up to 5ml of vodka in my 90 cube for about three months and I have also been using the blue coral method(sugar) for feeding. And all my Lps are blown up and always feeding, in addition my sps are growing ridiculously fast while holding color.
 
what is the sugar method? how is it used? do you just add some sugar right to the tank and how much? I have a 50 gallon reef
 
bio-nut

after dosing vodka I've been wondering if I need to get ultralith ot zeovit to feed the corals.

Is that what the sugar does or do I need to find a method to feed them?

Right now I only feed the fish twice a day and nothig else and have great PE-growth- & colors...
 
Ive been adding sugar for over a year now (did stop for a few months though then started again).

I never heard of it for feeding corals. I dose it to control nitrates.
It feeds the bacteria so you have more to consume nitrates.
I thought vodka did the same thing from the threads I read back when I started dosing it and sugar is cheaper lol.

I don't think I really noticed a big change in the corals. Just that my nitrate went down.

I don't like to tell someone blindly how to do something without them reading and knowing what they're getting into.
Heres the old threads. They are very lengthy. I havent read them in a long time either.
I only dose about 1/4 teaspoon per day to my 55 gal and about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon to my 150 gal of sugar per day.
You don't want to dose too much or your water will become cloudy and it could use up the oxygen in the tank. I think a skimmer is recommended also.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/s...98931&perpage=25&highlight=sugar&pagenumber=2

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=288714&perpage=25&pagenumber=36

kass
 
I've been patiently going through the thread :D

Yes the vodka and sugar add to bacteria growth for N & P. I know that the bacteria that zeovit grows it consumed by the corals- so it says.... I didn't know if these were to.
 
Sugar and Vodka do nothing to feed your corals. It's a method of nitrate reduction that uses a carbon source (sugar or vodka) to cause a bacteria bloom that consumes nitrate. It can improve the health of corals in tanks with chronically high Nitrate levels, but it can also cause a massive crash of the entire biological filtration capacity of the tank that results in the suffocation of every living creature, so it shouldn't be done haphazardly.
 
seapug-

zeovit and ultralith produce bacteria that consume N & P and then they get consumed by the coral and skimmed out. From my research similiar results are achieved from vodka and sugar dosing...
I just came accross it again from other previous exchanges on this topic.

I just dosed my first ml to my 90 gallon (120g total) setup. :D
 
I think the Zeolite method involves introducing a carbon source to populate the surface of the media with the denitrifying bacteria, not introduce it to the total water column as the sugar and vodka method do.

I'm not bagging on it. I know many people do it and it can work, but just needs to be closely monitored because you are walking a very fine line between improving and destroying your tank. The Reef Aquarium Vol. 3 book talks a lot about how it works, how to do it, and what the dangers are.
 
I ordered UltrsBAK & UltraBIO as these work as a carbon source and a food for the bacteria and corals. I'm also dosing 1ml of vodka a day until I receive the my Ultalith lith products.

Funds are tight otherwise I would have also ordered the ultraLITH ans ultramin S
 
I'm sorry for posting this, but reading about sugar and vodka dosing in reef environments just seems wrong to me. I ask myself, "Are sugar and vodka found in real reefs?" My response to myself is, "Hell no."
In my way of thinking, if it's not found in a real reef, it's got no business in my nano.
 
rob- I thik that is kind of a noob way of thinking. there are numerous things that are in the ocean and not in our tank- some that we have no idea about. This is one way of creating something that is in nature but not found in our tanks... Study the science then decide.
 
Rob,
Just a minor correction to your logic on vodka and sugar dosing. Vodka and sugar are found in the ocean, just not called as such. Sugar is a byproduct of photosynthesis, and as we all know there is alot of that going on in the reef system. As far as vodka. Where there is sugar, bacteria, and a temperature in the 80F area or above there will be fermentation. The byproduct of tis is alcohol. So as far as your statement of it not being in the reef you are partly right. The proper sugars should be glucose, and dextrose, but simple table sugar when heated and combined with water converts to an inverted sugar (glucose, and sucrose). My chemistry may be a little of, but the principal is sound.
 
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