Frank Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 I dont think I'm under skimming, My skimmer is more than efficient I do feed a lot but like you said every thing is healthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted March 20, 2011 Share Posted March 20, 2011 Seems readings are going where they need to be! Let us know how it goes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted March 20, 2011 Author Share Posted March 20, 2011 Ryan just left... Now at .15 he said my nitrates we high 35.2ppm he tested them with his LaMatte Nitrate test kit. So going to get a LaMatte Nitrate test kit and start working on those... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Try a WC first and see what that does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 get ready to start ramping up the vodka dose, lol. My nitrates got up to 20 and lately I have been dosing over 200ml of a vinegar/vodka mix and my nitrates are down to about 5 now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 Ok I have been doing Bio Fuel but it is getting way to spendy.. So I want to do the MB7 and vodka but have no clue on where to start with the vodka.. So any input would be great.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madmike Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 I am using vodka/vinegar mix. People who use it say that it is a little less prone to cause cyano. Read the vodka distilled article in reefkeeping magazine http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php It has good recommendations and starting points for vodka. Vodka is essentially 8 times more potent than vinegar so for every 1ml of vodka you will need to put in 8ml of vinegar to equal the same amount of carbon source. Distilled white vinegar is pretty cheap for a gallon from the grocery store so I just mix a gallon of vinegar with about 1000ml of 80 proof vodka and set my dosing pumps to deliver the daily dose. I have worked up to about 200ml daily over a couple of months in my aprox 500 gallon system. The jury is still out on whether MB7 or any other bacterial supplementation is really doing anything. They might work if somehow you didn't have the "correct" denitrifying strain of bacteria, but no one really knows exactly which ones are the best.... For as many people who claim success with a bacterial additive/carbon source, there are equally enough people who have had success without the bacterial additive, just the carbon source. I tried some MB7 initially when I started carbon dosing but after having a few small bacterial blooms, I realized that there were PLENTY of bacteria in the system to uptake the carbon source. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 When Ryan came out he told me he is doing MB7 and vodka and he is almost at zero... I did just find out that I was under doesing the Bio fuel but at the rate it would just cost to much... In the whole time I have been using both of them I have had no problems with any kinda of blooms. On another note down to .08 on the po4... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 Down to .05 today.... getting there things are looking great...To add to this tank looks fgreat whan I thought the tank look good over the few days of working on the phosphates the tank even looks better ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Frank, If you are going to go with Vodka, go SLOW! I used the dosing recommendations from the link Mike provided, but I ramped the Vodka up at about half of the rate the chart shows. I think its important to go slow, and allow your tank to adjust to the lower nitrates. I have also not seen a hint of cyano, which I think has a lot to do with going slow on the Vodka. Here is what I did for 100 gallons (I started out with 13.2ppm N & .12 p): Week 1: .80 ML Week 2: 1.20 ML Week 3: 1.60 ML Week 4: 2.00 ML (started to see Nitrates fall in week 4, so I left it at 2.00 ML to see if the would continue to fall at the same dosage) Week 5: 2.00 ML Week 6: 2.40 ML I started to see my nitrates fall at week 4. Im now at less then 1.1ppm (according to my LaMotte Nitrate Kit). I suspect I'll be at zero Nitrates after I test next week. Once I get to "zero", I'll probably dose 2.4 ML for another week, then cut the dose in half and maintain at 1.2 ML per day. I also dose at the exact same time every day. I dose when I get home from work when the lights are still on, and PH is at its highest. I read somewhere that carbon dosing can lower the tank PH temporarily. I have no idea if its factual or not, but it seems to be working alright for me. When I started MB7/Vodka, I followed Sonnys (from reef2reef). You can read more here: http://www.reef2reef.com/forums/general-sps-discussion/41018-microbacter7-vodka-dosing-guide.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 Thanks for the info how much MB7 do you does? What do you think is my total water volume? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 I have right under 100g. I started with a cap full per day for 2 weeks, then decreased it to 4 drops per day. I started dosing Vodka 2 weeks after I started the MB7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 Mpt sure what my water volume is... With me using the bio fuel wounder where I should start at... Im doing 2 caps full every Sunday of the MB7...Where would you suggest I start at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 hmmm...at only dosing once per week, I would start from the beginning. You probably aren't getting much benefit from dosing weekly anyway. I would do a cap per day for 2 weeks, then drop to 6 drops per day. Then again, for all we know, MB7 is nothing more then magical snake oil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 LOl... So will do that where do think I should start on the vodka?... Thank you so much for your help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted March 23, 2011 Share Posted March 23, 2011 If I were you, I would start do the following since your TWV is roughly 150g: Week 1: 1.2ml daily Week 2: 1.8ml daily Week 3: 2.4ml daily Week 4: 3.0ml daily I would check Nitrates every week once you get the LaMotte Test Kit. I would increase the vodka every week by .6ml until you start to see the Nitrates drop. Once you get to zero nitrates, I would cut the vodka in half. ONCE AGAIN, this is only what I would do. Please read the link Mike provided, and the link I provided and make you own determination on what you should dose. It is also important that you are extremely consistent with it. It's something that you have to dedicate to, its not something you should do for a month then slack off on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 So here is the update the phosphates are hanging at .05 cant get it lower than that.. So getting ready to start the MB7/ vodka doesing... Will start with to 10ml of MB7 for 2 week then going to Week 1: 1.2ml daily Week 2: 1.8ml daily Week 3: 2.4ml daily Week 4: 3.0ml daily Test ket should be here next week... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobkat330 Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 ok i was looking at bio pellets and its soppose to do the same, have you looked in to it???? im new to the vodka/bio pellets i have been reading alot about it. Im not there yet since my tank is small but im hoping to have a big tank in my next place and i want to do it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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