Vodka in tank????

[femmeartist51]

Hi I was reading about putting vodka in a sw tank. Is that true?? How much do u use for a 90 gallon tank?? Come on that can't be real. It is a Joke right???
thanks

 

[smileyface9]

Why would you put vodka in your tank? I think, at least with freshwater fish, that can kill them.

 

[Alkane]

Yeap it's real. I never dosed vodka when I had my reef tank running a few years back, but several of my friends in the local club did. Here is a good article to read.

Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com

 

[carey]

I've considered vodka dosing myself, but for now I am trying a biopellet reactor instead. lol

But yep, it can and does work crazy as it seems. lol

 

[FTMMWS]

This whole idea still baffles me...People also use sugar or vinegar

 

[Schism]

Vodka is a carbon source that can feed denitrifying bacteria to aid in denitrification. Not everything is known about it and there is no way to test levels of carbon in the system. Overdosing vodka will cause major problems and it is very risky to do in the first place. Ive seen the end result if it a few times and it always ends in problems down the road.

Femm i would highly advise not trying this. It will only cause further problems in your tank. Vodka is used for uncontrollable nitrates to reduce them. Your nitrates are not uncontrollable. But it never hurts to learn new things. Just thought id warn you ahead of time.

A new safer way of carbon dosing is biopellets. The pellets consume nitrate so to speak. And no guess work in dosing. Also is a natural process not involving such risky additives such as vodka that cant be removed from the system easily like biopellets.

Only down fall to biopellets is they often work too well. They can completely consume all nitrates and more importantly phosphates. However corals actually need a small level of phosphates to grow and survive.

 

[femmeartist51]

Well seems a bit complicated to dose with vodka. Think I will do just water changes. It seems I have a few probs and addressing them. Wow this is work

 

[FTMMWS]

Look into algae scrubbers ..

 

[Hondatek]

Look into algae scrubbers ..

+1 . why use unnatural methods like vodka and carbon reactors when you can harness the power of algae to reduce nitrates naturally.

 

[Schism]

Id look into proper maintenance and procedures first

 

[Flreefer]

+1 Schism, I don't see how Nitrates could become such a problem, with proper maintenance ( regular water changes).

 

[FTMMWS]

Id look into proper maintenance and procedures first

Yeah but a scrubber is not a mere band-aid for trates or something you decide to get if your system is suffering from spikes like dosing is ,it is the maintenance for your system..It is your system

 

[Schism]

Ok if thats your thinking then why dont I need a scrubber?

Point being is that if you properly stock and maintain your tank you will never have a nitrate problem. I dont dump things into my tank and i do weekly 10-15% water changes. I maintain a 0 nitrate and 0 phosphate environment for my inhabitants this way. Along with basic know how and understanding.

Fact: if you were to do enough water changes and large enough on a consistent basis you would not need any form of filtration period. Export wins the battle every time.

 

[femmeartist51]

Well going back to what the store said, that I should cut back my water changes. Not listening to them. Oh they said to feed the fish twice a day, for about 2-3 mins of the eating a day. I think that is way too much. Not listening to them anymore

 

[Hondatek]

Scrubber is no different than using macro algae to export nutrients . It just exports them much faster and more efficiently .

 

[Schism]

Actually 2-3 times a day is not bad, but just keep each one small. No more than 1 frozen cube of mysis or brine a day but this also depends on number of fish and size.

I usually feed my 4 fish 3 times a day. However the get no more than 1 frozen cube a day. This is not overfeeding in my 29g

 

[FTMMWS]

Ok if thats your thinking then why dont I need a scrubber?

Point being is that if you properly stock and maintain your tank you will never have a nitrate problem. I dont dump things into my tank and i do weekly 10-15% water changes. I maintain a 0 nitrate and 0 phosphate environment for my inhabitants this way. Along with basic know how and understanding.

Fact: if you were to do enough water changes and large enough on a consistent basis you would not need any form of filtration period. Export wins the battle every time.

,,This is what a scrubber does.You don't need one.
So no skimmer for you either ?You don't need these either.
You also don't need to do weekly WC's ,,i don't

I'm not gonna get into know hows and what not or who knows more ...
OP asked about vodka dosing ,,we both agreed its not a good idea..I gave an option at that time, as did you ..

 

[FTMMWS]

oops DP,,internet is on the fritz

 

[Schism]

,,This is what a scrubber does.You don't need one.
So no skimmer for you either ?You don't need these either.
You also don't need to do weekly WC's ,,i don't

I'm not gonna get into know hows and what not or who knows more ...
OP asked about vodka dosing ,,we both agreed its not a good idea..I gave an option at that time, as did you ..

The point i was trying to make is that water changes are a way of doing the job that any piece of equipment can do. But water changes do way more for a tank that no piece of equipment can including an algae scrubber. Nitrates/phosphates are not the only thing removed in water changes. Algae scrubbers are also another piece of equipment that needs to maintained and functioning properly. And to get on point they dont do the job of denitrification as efficiently as biopellet or vodka but it is a natural option.

I have big problems with anything someone thinks they need to take care of nitrates, when the most important thing you can do for your tank takes care of them. And if you dont think water changes are needed then you opened a big can of worms lol.

So let me list the methods of nitrate removal so far listed;

Vodka
Biopellets
Algae
Water Changes

Each have drawbacks except for one on the list unless your lazy then they all have drawbacks.

 

[spoonman]

How are necessary elements (calcium...etc) replenished if you dont do water changes?