Vodka dosing

[Jcj0033]

Has anyone on here tried vodka dosing to lower nitrates, if so how were the results, and what was the process

 

[mr_X]

Yes, it works well.
Here's instructions-
Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Jcj0033]

Cool, so I think the reason why my nitrates are so high is that I am overstocked with fish my nitrates stay within 20-40 I'm loosing some of my sps. I want to give vodka dosing a try . How long should i dose and once I get my nitrates Down should I stop. And what r some of the risks of dosing. I want to go home and do a 20 gallon water change and begin this immediately

 

[jeffaquarius]

Cool, so I think the reason why my nitrates are so high is that I am overstocked with fish my nitrates stay within 20-40 I'm loosing some of my sps. I want to give vodka dosing a try . How long should i dose and once I get my nitrates Down should I stop. And what r some of the risks of dosing. I want to go home and do a 20 gallon water change and begin this immediately

There is a high risk in Vodka Dosing. Your tank may crash if you don't do it right. You have to follow precisely the instruction and with the right amount and intervals. You need to monitior your tank for any sign of abnormality. The amount of dosing is increased gradually and it takes time before you notice its effect. It is a continuous dosing even you already reached the right parameter. I tried it but I lost patience and I was concerned of the risk so I stopped. Since the skimmer is a must anyway so I thought why not just get a more effective skimner without dosing. That's what I did and my parameter is great.

 

[mr_X]

Just read that link and follow the instructions and you'll be fine. If you stop the dosing, your nitrates will go back up. I would remove some of the fish and then you can keep your sps happy.

 

[Jcj0033]

Cool, I'm ready to try it. Is biofuel by bright well basically the same thing

 

[mr_X]

I don't know the product. I hear you can have the same results with any carbon source. Sugar comes to mind.

 

[Nimo]

I tried sugar dosing to drop nitrates and phosphates. It works! I had extremly high nitrates after moving and resetting 2 tanks I bought used. I am talking off the chart nitrates. 3 days of sugar dosing got them down to around 40ppm then I did a big water change and took it to about 10 ppm. One more sugar dose zeroed out the trates.
You must have a good protiene skimmer!! The skimmate comming out of those tanks was alot and realy grose. Problem solved tho nitrates are 0ppm phosphates are trace at most. I do not dose any more I only did it short term to get the water perams under control. Now regular water changes keeps it in check.

 

[Robynleigh]

This would never work for me... One for the tank..... One for me..... Would be too messy to try lol. Best of luck though I have read that it can work quite well when done right!!!

 

[Nimo]

I would never use it long term but for a quick fix its great. Saved me quite a bit in salt mixes for continued large water changes to get the trates in control.
Havent used it any after perams were in check. Never get over 5-10 ppm now

 

[huma-huma]

just started vodka dosing today.

 

[Jcj0033]

Cool I started last night except u used a product known as biofuel it's supposed to do the same thing, so we will see how it works.

 

[huma-huma]

im going to take photos prob every 7-10 days, after 2-3 months ill compare

 

[Jcj0033]

Ill do the same after my first day the skimmer looks really nasty so I guess it's working

 

[lstimpy]

I'm doing vodka and vinegar, my tank looks like a diamond.

 

[Spechty37]

I started dosing vodka about 5 weeks ago I have about a hundred gallons total volume. I started with 5ml weekly increased it a half a ml a week. At about 3 weeks I noticed kinda like a white powderish stuff on my rocks but it went away in about 2 or 3 days. The reason I started is because I couldn't get my nitrates and phosphate down I tested my water every week and today is the first time I tested that my nitrates are 0 and phosphate are just trace. I also had a algae problem where I had to clean my glass twice a day and clean it from the sand bed Yesterday was the first day in a long time that I didn't have to clean algae off the glass or sand this is day two WOOT WOOT. So I would say it works.

 

[Gregcoyote]

It can also promote other bacteria you won't be so happy with. I had no problem with Cyanobacteria until I started dosing carbon. Between that and bacteria blooms, I am done with carbon. Will use alternate methods to reduce organics from now on. Trying something new didn't work for me very well.

 

[huma-huma]

im starting to notice cyano creeping up, but im ok as long as it doesn't get out of hand because im attempting to get my trates down to 5 or so, that way I wont have to do enormous water changes to get there.

 

[sharkiegirl94]

Hope your fish don't get drunk

 

[epaz]

I have been using red sea no3/p04 instead of vodka and my tank is crystal clear also nitrates just plummet when I dose. And I only use it when they creep up