chocolateblnt
New member
Thanks for the info Joe ...
Vodka dosing
- Thread starter Joe69
- Start date
Well, I'm hoping the long term effects are low nutrients and that's it, but only time will tell. I have read that some people have used vodka for years and while others had problems after four months. The problem is no one does anything the same and everyone's tank is different. What works for one tank may crash another.
I am on my 6th week now and everything is going great. I have noticed that I only have to clean the glass once every 3 -4 days as opposed to everyday like I was before. All those snails I just got may also have something to do with that.
I am on my 6th week now and everything is going great. I have noticed that I only have to clean the glass once every 3 -4 days as opposed to everyday like I was before. All those snails I just got may also have something to do with that.
I can't give you specific negative effects, if I knew what they were already I wouldn't say I was experimenting.
I've read that people have lost fish and corals due to limited O2 in their tanks due to power failure. This makes sense because the increased bacteria are using extra O2 in the tank. This also only happened when people were overdosing. I've also heard of people overdosing and bring the nutrient level down too fast and causing RTN. Actually, everything I've read that has been negative has come from overdosing.
I think the problem is, is that everyoness tank is different and if I dosed 1ml/100L in my tank I would think that would be overdosing, because my tank has a dsb and I already have very low nutrients (NO3 ~ 2.0 and PO4 ~ 0 Salifert) However, I think someone with a BB tank and high nutients could easily dose 1ml/100L and not have any problems. I guess the main thing is that people could crash their tanks by removing all nutrients completely. I wish I had more for you Dan, but I'm new at this myself.
On the other hand, I also cannot give positive specific effect either. Mainly because I have no control tank to compare with my test tank. Everything I report here is all anecdotal and nonscientific. I wish I had the time and money to conduct scientific experiments with vodka or dosing carbon from other sources as well. You could also dose carbon in the form of vinegar. I've read that this works very well with kalk and positively affects other types of bacteria as well. I think there is still much information we as aquarists have not discovered and the only way to discover it is to try out different methods. Some may work well while others not so well.
I think the first bloom was because I was adding it too fast. I don't think it was at the optimum dosing level. I decided to try for one more bloom and then cut that in half and stay there. If I get to 5ml total, I may just stop and leave it there for a long time and see if anything changes. I don't want to overdose, but I would like to get my NO3 down to ~1, it is ~ 2 - 2.5 right now. PO4 is still undetectable. I may buy a Merck or Hatch test kit to see where PO4 really is. Sometime I feel obsessed....lol
normanviking
New member
Joe how are things going with your tank?
reefworldaq
New member
Hai Joe69, I have 25 gallon BB tank with NO3=<1ppm and PO4=<0,01ppm. I'm planning to dose vodka, start with 1 drop and increase every 3 day with 1 drop. What do you think, is it correct? My tank 100% SPS and have 4 SPS and 2 small fish.
Hi reefworld, I am definately not an expert on vodka dosing, so please take anything I say with a grain of salt. No one knows your tank better then you, and I think its great that you want to expirement as I have, but please exercise caution when dosing.
Your tank is BB and is going to be very different than my DSB.
The recommended dosage from the posts I've read is:
Day one - 1ml/100L
Day two - 1.1ml/100L
Day three - 1.2ml/100L
and so on.....until you get a bacterial bloom. Then you cut the dosage in half and maintain.
I think this is way too much for your size tank. Anything that is going to go wrong in your tank is going to happen very quickly because of its size.
I would definately not use drops and measure out your dosage in ml's instead.
Your nutrients are already pretty low so start off dosing very slow, about .2ml the first day and up the dosage by .025 every day after that. If that is too hard to measure maybe you can just up the dosage every other day by .05ml.
Remember to skim wet and always dose your vodka when the lights will be on for a few hours. The bacteria will use up O2 and leave CO2. Make sure you have good gas exchange.
Don't forget to add some amino acids to your tank when your N and P get down to low levels.
Monitor your Ph and please keep us informed if you try it and let us know the results.
Your tank is BB and is going to be very different than my DSB.
The recommended dosage from the posts I've read is:
Day one - 1ml/100L
Day two - 1.1ml/100L
Day three - 1.2ml/100L
and so on.....until you get a bacterial bloom. Then you cut the dosage in half and maintain.
I think this is way too much for your size tank. Anything that is going to go wrong in your tank is going to happen very quickly because of its size.
I would definately not use drops and measure out your dosage in ml's instead.
Your nutrients are already pretty low so start off dosing very slow, about .2ml the first day and up the dosage by .025 every day after that. If that is too hard to measure maybe you can just up the dosage every other day by .05ml.
Remember to skim wet and always dose your vodka when the lights will be on for a few hours. The bacteria will use up O2 and leave CO2. Make sure you have good gas exchange.
Don't forget to add some amino acids to your tank when your N and P get down to low levels.
Monitor your Ph and please keep us informed if you try it and let us know the results.
caribbeanguy
Member
any updates?
I am still dosing vodka in both tanks. The 125 gets 10ml per day for the past month and the 54 gets 3.5ml per day for the past 2 weeks.
No macro algae growth in either tank, but still have algae in sump.
N and P undetectable in both tanks using Salifert kits checked weekly beofre water changes. I will try to get some pics up of both tanks soon.
I have just come to realize Vodka as a carbon supplement to be dosed daily as I would any other supplement. So far so good. I have also been dosing Salifert amino acids and strontium. I am thinking of swithing to Zeo brand amino acids, but not sure it is worth the extra money.
No macro algae growth in either tank, but still have algae in sump.
N and P undetectable in both tanks using Salifert kits checked weekly beofre water changes. I will try to get some pics up of both tanks soon.
I have just come to realize Vodka as a carbon supplement to be dosed daily as I would any other supplement. So far so good. I have also been dosing Salifert amino acids and strontium. I am thinking of swithing to Zeo brand amino acids, but not sure it is worth the extra money.
