So I started vodka dosing...

Who is actively dosing here and how long.. I'm trying to see if it is as good as people say.. I took my denitrifier off line last week and my nitrate almost immediately shot up to a noticable level on my sali kit.. This is a tough decision but I'd like to try other methods of nitrate and phosphate reduction..

I can smell a algae bloom coming along..Especially feeding mysis daily.. My total water volume is around 400, I'll be doing a 100 gallon water change this week..

Please keep us informed as to how much dosing you started with and by how much you increased in 30, 60 and 90 days time. what the outcome is and of course pics!! I looked into it... but am afraid or drinking it instead of using it in my tank!! LOL. I believe QuestionMarc was dosing. Can't recall. Good Luck.

I tried dosing with Vodka. As my current tank was going through different cycles I had outbreaks of algae. I started with 2ml per day and added 1ml per day until the algae started to clear. I have 90 gallons in my system. I got to the point where I was dosing 6ml per day and my water got very clear. This is where I started to have problems. My coraline algae started to die back and my monti caps started to bleach. I backed off the dosing for a few weeks and started again using the same procedure. I've done this 3 times now and every time I notice the coraline start to turn white I now I've reached the dosing limit. I've decided to try different ways to keep the nutrient level down. I'm afraid of damaging my SPS frags. I wouldn't say I'm against the vodka dosing nor that I wouldn't try it again. If it wheren't for the SPS I would probably continue this strategy since it really gets the water crystal clear. I would suggest taking it slow until you get a sense of your tipping point.

bob which denitrifier do u have? i think u should put it back on first b4 your back starting to hurt from the water change

I started dosing 3 days ago at 1.5ml today on day 3 I decided to go to the second weeks dosage of 3.2 ml..
dnreef did you really go up 1ml per day?? and what week were you up to?? and were you testing trates and phates..

In 3 days I noticed my phosphate and nitrate shoot up to 25ppm N and 0.28 on the P.. Today the P is at 0.20 and the N is still around 25ppm..

There are other solutions to remove nitrate or phosphate on this site, vodka? Not a great idea, the effects are too slow, might do more harm than good.

Wow I might be having my first tank crash,,lol.. Is it possible to increase the dosage like dnreef said??? Like what?? GFO I'm not a fan of.. water changes either I think my denitrifier was the best way to go about this then..

Kill you to do the water changes Tobin?lol

Tobin, .2 is extremely high for phosphate and extremely harmful to your corals. Forget about your nitrates. Keep in mind the foundation for any carbon dosing method is a good nutrient removal system. Best advice that I could give you would be to stop screwing around and get a serious skimmer for your system. Along with routine water changes, manual cleanings, and some GFO even though you don't like it. Take a look at some the way some of the most successful large SPS reef systems are run.

your buddy,
Rich

dnreef you have not researched vodka usage. your coraline was bleaching and pilling off, because coraline doesnt like the light much. Since vodka makes water clear, light penatrates water much better, thus coraline its just turning whiite. Look underneath or on the side, you should still have plenty growing.

bob i suggest you research it better before pouring vodka like that. its great nutrient control, just takes research, time and patience.

and you need really good skimmer for this method to work

ZANYMASTER said:

Kill you to do the water changes Tobin?lol

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Possibly having to do 100 gallons a week to keep nitrates and phosphates undetectable is crazy to someone who does that much in a year possibly,,lol..

jackson6745 said:

Tobin, .2 is extremely high for phosphate and extremely harmful to your corals. Forget about your nitrates. Keep in mind the foundation for any carbon dosing method is a good nutrient removal system. Best advice that I could give you would be to stop screwing around and get a serious skimmer for your system. Along with routine water changes, manual cleanings, and some GFO even though you don't like it. Take a look at some the way some of the most successful large SPS reef systems are run.

your buddy,
Rich

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Yeah i know.2 is high.. My skimmer was upgraded when I upgraded the system.. It rips out just as much as the really expensive ones do.. I get about 2.5 gallons of dirty brown in 3 days.. Skimmer is good to go.. When my denitrifier was up an running all was good.. I just thought I'd try to dose vodka to see if it was as good..

mckostya said:

dnreef bob i suggest you research it better before pouring vodka like that. its great nutrient control, just takes research, time and patience.

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I've read all there is to read on it and still don't have the answers to my questions.. I'm not a newbie please don't tell me to read... As most of the questions I have asked on 2 forums with experienced reefers Don't have answers.. I'm on a whole other level bro.. I need to know if the dosage can be raised faster than the weekly chart being that I probably have these bacteria in my system from methanol dosage from my denitrifier.. My skimmer is more good enough..
Vodka is just another trial and error thing for me.. But I do think this will lead to my first tank crash in 10+ years...

I'm not going to preach on your thread anymore but if your tank can get to dangerous levels like that your nutrient export system is not good enough. Could be the skimmer, lack of water changes, feedings..... whatever. What goes in must come out. No secret sauce for that.

PS if you crash I got some stuff for ya.

I've been trying to feed a a fenicky fish so mysis is being dumped in at 5 cubes a feeding twice a day.. That's what has got the levels so high.. I'm really starting to rethink this dosing and put my denitrifier back on.. At least with the denitrifier all I had to do was up the methanol and strontium nitrate dosage and the levels would remain undetectable..
No biggie on the preaching guys.. But I have been doing this for 10+ years without a crash and some beautiful sps, I don't list the basics all the time just what I need to know at that point in time..
Does anyone aside from dnreef have any input on actual dosing?? Or did everyone give up on dosing??

I recently added a 400 12k reeflux to the exsisting 20k and all I can say is reeflux 20k se 400 watt is trash it looks like a 10k.. My 12k is brighter and bluer.. How is that??

i think u should put the reactor back on for my understanding it will take long time for the dosing to kick in and by the time it kick in ur coral wont look as good