Thoughts on vodka dosing

[Scotty Fraiser]

About a year ago when I set up my 110 gall reef tank I was vodka dosing. About three months in I got scared and quit. My tank seemed to be thriving and just felt like I was pushing my luck. Since then I have learned a ton about this hobby and read a lot about vodka dosing. From what I have read as long as your husbandry skills are good you are safe. Any thoughts? (I am aggressively skimming)

 

[Scotty Fraiser]

Oh. I am considering dosing again bc I am having a problem with hair algae. Phos shows 0 on three different tests. Nitrates also show o.

 

[jeffaquarius]

I am vodka dosing my 28 gal nano for a month and I am monitoring my nitrate. It is just a slow process and taking some efforts of daily dosing. I split the dose 50/50 a day. I have not reached the point to cut the dose yet. I may loose patience and just use other nitrate products which are safer.

 

[Scotty Fraiser]

Lfs store told me to dose 5 ml for one week. Then go to 10 ml. I am looking for the chart to verify that. It's a 110 gall with a 35 gall sump. The chart that everyone has suggested on here won't load for some reason. Any suggestions or anyone know the formula?

 

[Gti_Leo]

Lfs store told me to dose 5 ml for one week. Then go to 10 ml. I am looking for the chart to verify that. It's a 110 gall with a 35 gall sump. The chart that everyone has suggested on here won't load for some reason. Any suggestions or anyone know the formula?

Melevsreef.com - Dosing Vodka to Lower Nitrate & Phosphate

 

[jeffaquarius]

It is 0.1 ml per 25 gal of tank water not including LR volume during 1st week.

 

[Gti_Leo]

It is 0.1 ml per 25 gal of tank water not including LR volume during 1st week

you could probably put a little more and speed up the process, all the vodka really does is adds a source of sugars to the water to help bind the dissolved organics togethere and makes it easier to remove with skimming, but doing this will also limit the amount of oxygen gas in the water so you may see some blue/green cyano growth.

when you dose be sure to have alot of water movement and surface aggitation and be sure to have a good skimmer, not only to pull out the organics but to help oxygenate the water

 

[Scotty Fraiser]

Thanks for the help! Just what I was looking for.

 

[Gti_Leo]

check out the link melevsreef provides, its a great expination of what exactly carbon dosing is i was trying to post that link but at the time the site wasn't loading, its all good now though

 

[Scotty Fraiser]

My question now is my tank is already reading 0 on phos and nitrates. So how do I know when to cut back? Using Red Sea test. API test and Hanna test. Haha. SICK OF THIS HAIR ALGAE!

 

[Gregcoyote]

Might consider fluidized bio beads. They also provide a slow release carbon source for beneficial bacteria growth. Works great on my system. Just replace the beads as they dissolve.

 

[Gti_Leo]

yeah bio pellets are a simpler form of carbon dosing, but some have found that when runing it all the time that you may find issues with it stripping everything out, where as some softer corals like a bit of nitrate and phosphate.

LA Fishguys, Bio Pellets, Episode 107 pt1 - YouTube

good episode on biopellets from a very knowledgable jeff at reef dynamics.


as for having hair algae issues, you're probably not seeing any because the redsea max and API kits are not the most accurate as they don't read low levels there are some kits that will though, you may also not get any levels because the algaes are already consuming all of it.

best thing i could say right now is turn out the lights and lower your feeding to once every 2-3 days and keep the lights one for a few hours a daymaybe like 4 hours to limit the growth of hair algae and promote its dies off so you can actually remove or test the levels in the take in order to maintain dosing levels

 

[Gregcoyote]

You turn the bio pellet reactor off if nutrient levels get too low. Easier than dosing in my opinion. At least for me it is.

 

[Gti_Leo]

You turn the bio pellet reactor off if nutrient levels get too low. Easier than dosing in my opinion. At least for me it is.

oh no doubt it is, no argument there, but take a look at the video i posted, reefdynamic has a pretty easy to use reactor, much easier then turnign of the reactor, it limits the flow through the reactor so it doesn't strip to much out and crash your system

 

[Gregcoyote]

That sounds cool, I will check it out. I used a $65 Lifegard fluidized filter for the beads.

 

[Gti_Leo]

lol yeah $65 won't buy you the reactor, the babie is liek $250 thats the one thing abotu reef dynamics products, they really aren't cheap at all but they are some of the best on he market, i'm tryign to model my DIY skimmer after their 135g recirculating skimmer

 

[jeffaquarius]

My question now is my tank is already reading 0 on phos and nitrates. So how do I know when to cut back? Using Red Sea test. API test and Hanna test. Haha. SICK OF THIS HAIR ALGAE!

That is a very good question. If hair algae is more efficient than other means then I would say those other means will not serve anymore purpose. If only we can contain the hair algae in the sump and not in DT it would be cool lol.

 

[Gregcoyote]

That is a very good question. If hair algae is more efficient than other means then I would say those other means will not serve anymore purpose. If only we can contain the hair algae in the sump and not in DT it would be cool lol.

You can with a algae scrubber. I have zero hair algae in my display tank .

 

[jeffaquarius]

Oh. I am considering dosing again bc I am having a problem with hair algae. Phos shows 0 on three different tests. Nitrates also show o.

Have you recently changed your lighting fixture when hair algae started showing up? What lighting fixture do you have and the time you turn them on?

 

[Scotty Fraiser]

Sorry. Been at the movies with my little boy. I have maxspect mAzarra p led lights. They are on the automatic setting. They start to brighten around 10 am and gradually brighten then start to dim around 8 pm. Running phosguard in a reactor. Have oversized skimmer. 15 gall water change every 7 days. Dose with aquavitro products. Fuge with chaeto. Algae is about to drive me nuts. Have a pile of money invested in this thing And work on it dang near everyday. Trying to keep algae at bay. Can't figure the source of the problem and its working me to death. Using rodi water with all new filters. Tried everything but the vodka so here goes!