Vodka, vinegar,biopellets and other organic carbon dosing
- Thread starter tmz
- Start date
The vinegar feeds heterotrophic bacteria that take up the organic C along with other nutrients( phosphate, nitrogen , iron , potassium etc). Some of those bacteria are skimmed out ;some do add to the food web but may not be in a form useful to certain corals that may be more reliant on adsorbing some ( C, N , P etc.) from the water
Maybe,before dosing the acetic , the Euphylia and Plerogyra were adsorbing certain organic compounds and / or some soluble inorganic nutrients to meet some of their needs.
What are the NO3 and PO4 levels.?
With the light bioload it's possible those corals just aren't getting enough food and there's little in the water in terms of soluble stuff that excites them.
Maybe,before dosing the acetic , the Euphylia and Plerogyra were adsorbing certain organic compounds and / or some soluble inorganic nutrients to meet some of their needs.
What are the NO3 and PO4 levels.?
With the light bioload it's possible those corals just aren't getting enough food and there's little in the water in terms of soluble stuff that excites them.
The amount you are dosing is relatively small but then so is the bioload. It could just be coincidence with other variations in other parameters. Maybe even increased light intensity from clearer water.
I did notice early on in dosing my system that some corals appeared to do better without it ;like : xenia, capnella( kenya tree) nemenzophylia, plerogyra caulastrea ,euphylia, IIRC. The xenia and capnella still fare relatively poorly but the others are doing very well along with a wide variety of lps and sps and some nps . Sponges, zaonthids and sps , goniopora and gorgonia seem to benefit most from the bacteria and it's effects on the nutrient levels and food web. I do ,however , make it a point to feed heavily and keep low detectable PO4 ( 0.02ppm to 0.04ppm).
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I did notice early on in dosing my system that some corals appeared to do better without it ;like : xenia, capnella( kenya tree) nemenzophylia, plerogyra caulastrea ,euphylia, IIRC. The xenia and capnella still fare relatively poorly but the others are doing very well along with a wide variety of lps and sps and some nps . Sponges, zaonthids and sps , goniopora and gorgonia seem to benefit most from the bacteria and it's effects on the nutrient levels and food web. I do ,however , make it a point to feed heavily and keep low detectable PO4 ( 0.02ppm to 0.04ppm).
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oseymour
Euphyllia Addict
Just starting to read this thread.
I've had biopellets running on my 50 gallon breeder for about 2 months now and I've finally got my nitrates to about 10ppm.
In the past I dosed Vodka using the instructions here http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/ and it was much easier to ramp up and figure out the proper dosing and to adjust quickly when I noticed issues.
The pellets have been a pain, if I didn't invest in a reactor and pump I would probably go back to ASAP.
I've had biopellets running on my 50 gallon breeder for about 2 months now and I've finally got my nitrates to about 10ppm.
In the past I dosed Vodka using the instructions here http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/ and it was much easier to ramp up and figure out the proper dosing and to adjust quickly when I noticed issues.
The pellets have been a pain, if I didn't invest in a reactor and pump I would probably go back to ASAP.
I don't use the pellets. I prefer soluble orgnaics( ethanol/vokda and acetic acid/vinegar) for a variety of reasons noted throughout the thread;primarily : easier to control a precise dose ; less complex source with less complex byproducts and bacterial acitivity. Perhaps someone who does use the ploymer plastics will comment on skimmer issues.
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ridetheducati
20 and Over Club
oseymour
Euphyllia Addict
I've dosed vodka before with great results. I wanted a more automated process so I tried pellets.
Do I have to have a period between shutting down the pellets and then starting vodka
markalot
...
I am thinking about doing this and the way I figure it (no facts here) is that cutting off the pellets immediately halts the bacterial source so I will have make that up with dosing or else risk a nutrient spike. My Avast recirculating reactor has been nothing but trouble and flow had reduced itself to a trickle (I wondered why I needed to still use NOPOX) so I'm in a good spot to switch.
Maybe.
biom
Member
If you want more automated process just make DIY NOPOX and use dosing pump (i'm using GroTech TEC 1 NG it is very cheap and works great). I switched from AiO biopellets to vodka /vinegar without transitional period.
oseymour
Euphyllia Addict
Vodka, vinegar,biopellets and other organic carbon dosing
I'll dose by hand until I get the maintenance amount then I can automate with a BRS doser.
I'll dose by hand until I get the maintenance amount then I can automate with a BRS doser.
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Tom, I picked up a 90 gal established reef 2 weeks ago, everything looks good except No3 got up to 30ppm - done several WC and now down to 15-17 I am considering Vodka but I can't seem to get a wet skim on my skimmer, in fact it is not producing much skimate at all - it is a Bubble Magus Curve 7 which is a +1 skimmer for that tank, I have tried several water levels and am currently running it on the minimum flow setting to get the bubble column just below the cup neck. I can get it wet if I restrict the air intake by about 1/2 or so.... will the dosing start making the skimmer work better or should I get it skimming wetter before I try dosing? Thanks....
Lou
Lou
Just plain white vinegar. Supermarket store brand is fine. Check to be sure it's 5%. For a 110 gallon water volume added , I'd start at 10ml and for up to 40 or less depending on PO$ and NO3 levels over the course of a month. You could go higher after running it at 40 for a month. Be sure your top off dses it slowly over the course of the day.
I've never done it., perhaps someone who has will chime in.
The pellets aren't equatable to ethanol.;don't really know how much organic carbon the reactor is producing.
A significant amount of bacteria are also on the pellets and tossing them may create a short term suppression in activtiy during the switch.
So, I'd pull half the pellets and start a small amount of vodka .
How much to use is hard to figure since the pellets aren't equatable to the ethanol.
With only vodka most settle on a maintenance dose around 0.04ml to 0.07ml per gallon of 80proof/40% vodka per gallon.FWIW I use a mix of vodka and vinegar which equates to about .06 ml per gallon for the heavily fed system.
With half the pellets left in play I'd go with 0.01ml of 80 proof vokda per gallon for a week. Then I'd pull the rest of the pellets and bring the vodka up to 0.02mler gallon. The next week I'd move it up to 0.03 and then to 0.04 wher I'd stay for a month measuring PO4 and No3 along the way.
Nice to hear; you are welcome.
I'm not familiar with your particualr skimmer but I wouldn't wait on it.
The bacteria are readily skimmed by all of the skimmers I've seen and heard about in use with organic carbon dosing.
Skimmers , trap mostly amphipathic molecules in the air water interface between the bubbles. Basically one side of an amphipathic molecule is drawn to the water( hyrolphyllic) while one side pushes away from it(hydrophobic) due to mixed polarities in the molecule. The bacteria fit this profile and are readily skimmed out. It may be your skimmer isn't making enough foam to climb up into the cup because there isn't enough skimmable material in the water now.
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