vodka users

[zapata41]

ok well i am entertaining the tought of maybe dosing some vodka and would like to here some experiences of those that have dosed it. please state how long you have dosed it, the dosage, pros & cons, short term and long term effects and observations.

i am not looking for a debate on vodka, just wanting to see how it has worked for people so i can get some life experiences.

Tim

 

[wrassie86]

I dosed it on/off for a few years when I was running BB.Works great for reducing nitrates and phos if there fairly balanced.Since moving back to a SSB I've not had to dose or seen a need.

pros were nitrate/phos reduction along with slime algae,nucence algae.

Cons can lower oxygen levels best to dose during the day.also I'm not sure but I think its rather hard on fish(I've lost a few, During on /off starts).lightning of corals if dose is to high.
once I settled in with it, I found 2ml to be a good dose for my tank.

 

[zapata41]

so that would be like .1ml per 60g. what would be a good starting dose for a tank that is about 300g. also how quick were the effects noticed

Tim

 

[wrassie86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8235814#post8235814 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zapata41
so that would be like .1ml per 60g. what would be a good starting dose for a tank that is about 300g. also how quick were the effects noticed

Tim

If i were to start to with that much water i would use .05ml for a week then build to no more than 6ml moving up .05ml a week.
You dont want effects to fast.i think 0.5ml a week would allow your tank to adjust as well as any tangs.
if you want fast results you could go for a bac bloom but i dont recomend that.

 

[zapata41]

i meant 1ml per 100g. i was thinking of starting at .5ml per 100g per day and moving up .1ml a week till i am at 1ml per 1--g of water, for a total of 3ml a day dosage.

so a 1.5ml a day dose sound good for a starter point.

i do have 4 tangs, but i also have a skimmer that is rated for about a 1000g tank so it exygenates the water nicely.

Tim

 

[wrassie86]

1.5ml to start? thats up to you.that is pretty much the full dose for my tank.what if its your full dose also?

but i would go
week-1 ,05
week 2 .1
week 3 1.5 ect.

and build from there.you should start to see changes within 2 weeks.first the skimmer then the tank.if all go's right.
I belive in the original instructions you upped the dose every 3 days.I thought for my system that was to fast.besides tangs not taking it well.some sps showed slight stn.
I've never had a problem upping the dose weekly 5-7 days.so I stick to that.
Vodka Can wipe out your tank if you go to fast.So just take it slow.

Also something i forgot mention.I've found best results when using sump bags.
How long has it been since you used a p04 remover?

 

[jamal-188]

so for my 95g tank..

Week 1: .025ml
Week 2: .05ml
Week 3: .01ml

Does that sound right?

 

[zapata41]

man .05ml is les than a drop. or where you meaning .5ml

Tim

 

[reefinmike]

Re: vodka users

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8235045#post8235045 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zapata41
ok well i am entertaining the tought of maybe dosing some vodka and would like to here some experiences of those that have dosed it. please state how long you have dosed it, the dosage, pros & cons, short term and long term effects and observations.

i am not looking for a debate on vodka, just wanting to see how it has worked for people so i can get some life experiences.

Tim

i have dosed vodka before. overall i say its a good experience as long as you dont overdose. i usually dose it every couple weeks with friends around. dosing usually takes place over 4 or 5 hours. pros are fun times, cons are puking from the horrible taste. short term effects are intoxication and long term effects can be liver cancer




















sorry... i had to do it:rollface:

 

[zapata41]

lol too bad i saw that coming

Tim

 

[reefinmike]

it happens in every vodka dosing threads... however i do have some input. i have read through probabally 10 different threads about dosing vodka and it always seems to have either no or excellent results. so i guess you have nothing to loose...

 

[wrassie86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8242002#post8242002 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zapata41
man .05ml is les than a drop. or where you meaning .5ml

Tim

yes, my mistake 0.5 for a week, then 1ml the next week and so on up to 3-6 ml.

 

[Ti]

i dose, no harm no foul

 

[143gadgets]

Are u guys using any particular brand?

 

[exoticaquatix]

i hear Burnette's Kentucky Vodka goes great with a mullet.
is there any benefit to using better vodka? less stuff you dont want or does more distilling/different ingrediants change the effects? as in potatoe vs grain vodka. i dont drink so it would be silly for me to buy expensive booze just to dump it in my tank. id rather buy some frags than treat my acros to grey goose.
-nick

 

[dots]

Sugar and vodka dosing can be VERY dangerous if not done correctly. Randy Holmes-Farley doesn't recommend it because of the uptake of oxygen of the bacteria that leads to the potenial of low levels causing problems in the tank. He recommended growing macro algae in the couple of threads on the Chem forum that I read. After my own experiences I tend to agree now.

My own personal experience: I dosed sugar a couple of times when I pulled a newbie and forgot about the cycle of some new live rock I added and recieved a 50ppm Nitrate present.....after lugging jug after jug of water and was only down to 25ppm, I decided to try the sugar dose. AND IT WORKED!!!, within 24hours Nitrates were zero......however, the tank got knocked out of balance a little and smelled of Hydrogen Sulfide(ite?) gas and stunk up the house, and messed with the alk and Ph big time. Not to mention the sweet bacteria bloom It was a very uneasy time......but I overdosed I believe to begin with

The second time I tried it I got too frisky again (less than before)with the sugar and dosed too much and nearly crashed the tank, RTNd a bunch of stuff, my 18" Sebae detatched for the first time in a year and got caught in the PH......overall not worth it IMO. However, in extreme situations and as a one time fix as stated above, I would try it again.....but the main problem is the stench and the lack of O2 produced.......

I recommend Macro Algae and finding where the Nitrate is comming from my friend.........by the way the frags are great!!!!

 

[gemxsps]

Oh..Man.. All corals and fishes are drunken.. lol

 

[jamal-188]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8244028#post8244028 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sacramentodots
However, in extreme situations and as a one time fix as stated above, I would try it again.....but the main problem is the stench and the lack of O2 produced.......

From everything I've read on the subject this is exactly the opposite of what you want to do.

Vodka/sugrar are not a one time fix of dump a bunch in and the next morning your nitrates are zero. You start off with a small dose each day gradually increasing over a few weeks so you don't have huge depletions of o2 that could crash your tank.

 

[wrassie86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8243971#post8243971 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by 143gadgets
Are u guys using any particular brand?

cheap carbon filtered is supposed to work the best.i've always used a brand called karkov (red label) found at walmart.

 

[wrassie86]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8244028#post8244028 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sacramentodots
, I decided to try the sugar dose. AND IT WORKED!!!, within 24hours Nitrates were zero......however, the tank got knocked out of balance a little and smelled of Hydrogen Sulfide(ite?) I would try it again.....but the main problem is the stench and the lack of O2 produced.......

I can only imagine how much you added for things like this to happen. for one thing you should have never have added enough to take the tank down in 24hrs,this should have been done over a few weeks.I've kept up with most of the vodka/sugar threads and have never heard anything like this atleast from vodka.

I took a full 125g to bloom on vodka. it took 28 ml and 3 weeks.The water was cloudy for a day.2 fish were lost from lack of 02 and a few sps rtn.but nitrates dropped from 40 to 15ppm. but never any smell from the water only the god awfull stench from the skimmer cup as it ripped all that bac from the water.