wannabereefer Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Is anybody here dosing sugar regularly? If so, reason for dosing, how much and how often, what changes have you seen and what do you test?? I have been dosing 1tsp everyday for the past 1 week. The water is cloudy but the algae are dissapearing. Any info would be welcomed. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 I did that for years. I ended up dosing one packet once a day until nitrates hit zero and the algae went away. Then I would dose spuratically when I would think about it. It took me a few weeks to build up to a full packet. I did this after doing 35% water changes weekly for a couple years. Sugar is just easier on the back. I don't really do water changes anymore. I will go months at a time now. I also have stopped dosing sugar since setting up my new system, but I do have a 65g refugium now that is sucking up all of the nutrients. If your water is cloudy, you are dosing to much. Just dose enough until you see the nitrates drop, then continue to dose that amount. JMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 Interesting. I have never heard of this. Is there a link somewhere about this with more information? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 same principle as all carbon dosing including vodka, or ethanol. It's just a different media. I tried vodka dosing, but sugar is just more user friendly IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted June 7, 2010 Share Posted June 7, 2010 I started off dosing sugar, and then went to vodka cuz it was easier to buy a flask of rotgut than mix my sugar solution. I posted my formula for vodka carbohydrate equivalent sugar solution a while back, maybe in the General section... a bit of forum archaeology should turn it up if you are sufficiently curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 I started off dosing sugar' date=' and then went to vodka cuz it was easier to buy a flask of rotgut than mix my sugar solution. I posted my formula for vodka carbohydrate equivalent sugar solution a while back, maybe in the General section... a bit of forum archaeology should turn it up if you are sufficiently curious.[/quote'] I'm sufficiently curious but I'm a horrible researcher.(scratch) I always have librarians do that kind of thing for me! Is there a forum librarian? Is the rationale to decrease nitrates? decrease algae? or both? What if your nitrates are at zero already? Probably dumb questions but I'm not afraid to look stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kendaroo Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9096 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreefer Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 do a search on vodka dosing, sugar, vinegar, bacteria dosing... All are forms of carbon dosing which feeds bacteria...the bacteria then consume phosphates and nitrates, thus helping to lower both, which starves algae... I switched from sugar to dextrose, while also dosing vodka...persistent hair algae from years ago sins trapped in rocks made me start over...while I am not currently dosing carbon sources, I am occasionally adding bacteria, using Filtra M as a zeolite and running GFO/carbon... I am very close to ordering and starting NP Biopellets, which are "solid vodka" pellets, automating the dosing carbon theory. Stay tuned as I was close to starting a post on it. wannabe---if your water is cloudy, you have a bacterial bloom...stop dosing until things clear and then start over at a lower dose, perhaps half as much...this is not a process to rush... DrMerle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=9096 Thanks Kendra! You statisticians are great with getting the facts out!(clap) do a search on vodka dosing, sugar, vinegar, bacteria dosing... All are forms of carbon dosing which feeds bacteria...the bacteria then consume phosphates and nitrates, thus helping to lower both, which starves algae... I switched from sugar to dextrose, while also dosing vodka...persistent hair algae from years ago sins trapped in rocks made me start over...while I am not currently dosing carbon sources, I am occasionally adding bacteria, using Filtra M as a zeolite and running GFO/carbon... I am very close to ordering and starting NP Biopellets, which are "solid vodka" pellets, automating the dosing carbon theory. Stay tuned as I was close to starting a post on it. wannabe---if your water is cloudy, you have a bacterial bloom...stop dosing until things clear and then start over at a lower dose, perhaps half as much...this is not a process to rush... DrMerle Very useful information thank you! I learned something new today! Would be curious to hear about the biopellets! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted June 8, 2010 Share Posted June 8, 2010 I followed the vodka dosing thread a while back with good results. I still dose vodka cause I think it is easier. Did a great job on the cyano problem in my display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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