vodka dosing....anyone tried this?

[The ReefBox]

curios if anyone has any experience with vodka dosing and their results. I am looking at lowering nitrates and phosphates without having to run two reactors!  looks promising if it works. please post your expriences here and before and after pics if you have tthem

[badxgillen]

Carbon dosing is the way to go for most applications, I have a 210 I only dose .8 milliliters a day and it has been stable for quite some time. Don't get me wrong as I have had success with bio pellets and refugiums, the carbon dosing is simply another method I have had to employ on systems that would not or cannot benefit from reactors or extra sump space. 

 

As with any dosage start slow and when you see results re assess the situation, general recommendations are to cut the dosage in half once you see results.

[Higher Thinking]

Carbon dosing has definitely been proven to be effective!

[The ReefBox]

So in your opinions is this a good alternative to using reactors and GFO/ bio pellets

[caolewis]

Po4 reactor and some small water change weekly until your tank stablized.  Carbon will strip all nutrients/trace elements and so corals look pale/starving colors.  Use a small pump ( maxjet 400 and valve to adjust the flow ) for pox4 reactor.  Don't use your main pump t-out as it affects your ca reactor water flow so is KH swing a bit.

Edited February 5, 2016 by caolewis

[ssappington]

I use the vsv method and phosguard- heavily overfeed, and heavily overstock, my phosphates stay around .05

[ssappington]

http://glassbox-design.com/2008/the-vsv-method-faq/

[The ReefBox]

Po4 reactor and some small water change weekly until your tank stablized.  Carbon will strip all nutrients/trace elements and so corals look pale/starving colors.  Use a small pump ( maxjet 400 and valve to adjust the flow ) for pox4 reactor.  Don't use your main pump t-out as it affects your ca reactor water flow so is KH swing a bit.

Tom you have me confused here, if I have a manifold et up form main return, how does this effect calcium reactor flow if the valve for each are set adequately?

[The ReefBox]

http://glassbox-design.com/2008/the-vsv-method-faq/

Can you expand on this a bit. What is your ratio of each in making the VSV. What size is your tank and how much are you dosing?

[ssappington]

The vsv article gives the same ratio, but I mix 400ml cheap vodka, 100ml white vinegar and 3 TBSP sugar- my current stable dose is 8ml/day for a 120 gal tank... I think I started at 5, got up to maybe 45 then back down.... another in portal part of this method is using good bacteria like biodigest every couple weeks...

[caolewis]

Tom you have me confused here, if I have a manifold et up form main return, how does this effect calcium reactor flow if the valve for each are set adequately?

 

I use PO4X4 media reactor, as it runs over a week or 2, tiny media clogged up in the sponge and slow down the flow in PO4 reactor.  CA reactor flow changed as well and it swing KH a bit.  My aimed KH is 9 and it got swinged around 9.5ish.  I now leave my main, frag and CA reactor alone.  Run Phosphate reactor separately with cheap maxject 400.

 

You need PO4 and Nitrate stuff, and intensity (par) to have rich best colors.  Too much will brown and burn tip and kill 'em.  Too little or none will starve/pale its colors.  It's tricky.

[The ReefBox]

I use PO4X4 media reactor, as it runs over a week or 2, tiny media clogged up in the sponge and slow down the flow in PO4 reactor.  CA reactor flow changed as well and it swing KH a bit.  My aimed KH is 9 and it got swinged around 9.5ish.  I now leave my main, frag and CA reactor alone.  Run Phosphate reactor separately with cheap maxject 400.

 

You need PO4 and Nitrate stuff, and intensity (par) to have rich best colors.  Too much will brown and burn tip and kill 'em.  Too little or none will starve/pale its colors.  It's tricky.

Hey tom I'm stil lost on how the clogging of sponge in po4 reactor is changing flow in the CA reactor. Do you not control the effluent with a valve?

[caolewis]

Brian,

     CA reactor is very sensitive to water flow or CO2.  A tiny twist of water flow or CO2 make a swing in KH ( atleast for me ).  PO4 is often changed and clogged up pretty quickly with tiny media PO4X4.  Most of the time it's alrite but once a while, I noticed the water flow through the effluent slower than normal.  For me, I want stable flow through DT tank, frag tank, and CA reactor ( these are barely touched and plumbed together ).   I never shut off my main pump.  Feed time, only MP40s get slow down 20%  for 6 mins.

 

    I got few frags for you to test your water when you tank is ready :-).  

Edited February 5, 2016 by caolewis

[softy]

nope no vodka.... i just tend to whiskey dose myself when working on the system!!

[caolewis]

Be careful with vodka, your corals might get drunk and fall of their base to become a snow white ones :-)

[The ReefBox]

Brian,

     CA reactor is very sensitive to water flow or CO2.  A tiny twist of water flow or CO2 make a swing in KH ( atleast for me ).  PO4 is often changed and clogged up pretty quickly with tiny media PO4X4.  Most of the time it's alrite but once a while, I noticed the water flow through the effluent slower than normal.  For me, I want stable flow through DT tank, frag tank, and CA reactor ( these are barely touched and plumbed together ).   I never shut off my main pump.  Feed time, only MP40s get slow down 20%  for 6 mins.

 

    I got few frags for you to test your water when you tank is ready :-).  

 

Brian,

     CA reactor is very sensitive to water flow or CO2.  A tiny twist of water flow or CO2 make a swing in KH ( atleast for me ).  PO4 is often changed and clogged up pretty quickly with tiny media PO4X4.  Most of the time it's alrite but once a while, I noticed the water flow through the effluent slower than normal.  For me, I want stable flow through DT tank, frag tank, and CA reactor ( these are barely touched and plumbed together ).   I never shut off my main pump.  Feed time, only MP40s get slow down 20%  for 6 mins.

 

    I got few frags for you to test your water when you tank is ready :-).  

 

 

 

Thanks Tom, I think it isnearly ready just need to test again

[Fisher15]

Why not an algae scrubber?

[pledosophy]

I have been carbon dosing for about 9 years. First with a sugar and vinegar mix and then with vodka. I find vodka to be the easiest for me as it is the most consistent.

I dose 1mL every 3 hours by a peristaltic pump, so I use about 1 ounce per week of vodka, in my 120g system. I feed 3-4 cubes of food a day along with reef roids. I also dose AA twice weekly. With vodka dosing I do not have an accumulation of nutrients that one would expect to find in a tank that size with that amount of feeding.

 

I can notice when my vodka runs out, algae appears in the tank. So I know it is working. After resuming vodka dosing the algae usually disappears in a few days to a week. 

 

My experience differs from Tom's in that I get better coloration in my corals when vodka dosing as compared to not vodka dosing. When not dosing my sticks tend to get a bit more brown as with the amount I feed the nutrient content of the water is high. 

 

I have found that when dosing vodka it is best to not dose GFO concurrnetly as it limits the effectiveness of the vodka in removing nitrate. 

 

I have also noticed that it is better to dose a small amount several times a day then to dose the same amount once a day. I do not know why but I do notice a difference in the system. I also notice a difference in the system and nutrients if I empty and clean the skimmers neck daily as opposed to letting the skimmate collect in a storage container. I am not sure how much of this affects the carbon dosing but their is a noticeable difference in a short time period. 

 

For me personally Carbon dosing saves me so much time and energy. I no longer do weekly or monthly water changes and now find the only time I change water is when I remove equipment for cleaning (I vacuum my sump when I clean the sump). I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is using a protein skimmer. The only drawback for me is that I am not able to grow algae in my refugium the same as I used to be, but the pods seem to colonize there the same. I am thinking of making it a place to keep frags now, so that might be a good thing after all. 

JME. 

[ssappington]

+1 to everything pled just said...

[The ReefBox]

thanks for the great reviews. I started dosing last night. I estimated my total water volume at about 180  the chart stated to does .8 ml but I went with .6.  I am using 80 proof   how does this sound?

[ssappington]

thanks for the great reviews. I started dosing last night. I estimated my total water volume at about 180  the chart stated to does .8 ml but I went with .6.  I am using 80 proof   how does this sound?

I would think you could start higher, but never hurts to start slow- I use 80 proof as well- remember it may be weeks before you see an impact, I would strongly suggest dosing with good bacteria too...

[The ReefBox]

I have been carbon dosing for about 9 years. First with a sugar and vinegar mix and then with vodka. I find vodka to be the easiest for me as it is the most consistent.

I dose 1mL every 3 hours by a peristaltic pump, so I use about 1 ounce per week of vodka, in my 120g system. I feed 3-4 cubes of food a day along with reef roids. I also dose AA twice weekly. With vodka dosing I do not have an accumulation of nutrients that one would expect to find in a tank that size with that amount of feeding.

 

I can notice when my vodka runs out, algae appears in the tank. So I know it is working. After resuming vodka dosing the algae usually disappears in a few days to a week. 

 

My experience differs from Tom's in that I get better coloration in my corals when vodka dosing as compared to not vodka dosing. When not dosing my sticks tend to get a bit more brown as with the amount I feed the nutrient content of the water is high. 

 

I have found that when dosing vodka it is best to not dose GFO concurrnetly as it limits the effectiveness of the vodka in removing nitrate. 

 

I have also noticed that it is better to dose a small amount several times a day then to dose the same amount once a day. I do not know why but I do notice a difference in the system. I also notice a difference in the system and nutrients if I empty and clean the skimmers neck daily as opposed to letting the skimmate collect in a storage container. I am not sure how much of this affects the carbon dosing but their is a noticeable difference in a short time period. 

 

For me personally Carbon dosing saves me so much time and energy. I no longer do weekly or monthly water changes and now find the only time I change water is when I remove equipment for cleaning (I vacuum my sump when I clean the sump). I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is using a protein skimmer. The only drawback for me is that I am not able to grow algae in my refugium the same as I used to be, but the pods seem to colonize there the same. I am thinking of making it a place to keep frags now, so that might be a good thing after all. 

 

JME. 

 

 

pledo did you see my starting dose?   are you dosing any other beneficial bacteria on top of this?

[Higher Thinking]

Just in case you never quite got what was being mentioned earlier, there is a potential running multiple units on one return pump manifold. I'll try to explain using some arbitrary numbers:

 

Imagine you have a return pump that's pumping 100gph. Let's say you have 50gph going to the main display and 25gph going to calcium reactor and 25gph going to phosphate reactor. Everything is set and running as it should.

 

However, as the sponge in the phosphate reactor begins to clog, the pressure going to the phosphate reactor will increase. That pressure will cause the water to find the route of least resistance (which it always does). Pretty soon you only have 15gph going through the phosphate reactor and maybe 30 in the calcium reactor and 55 to the main display. That increased flow can and will affect the water parameters of the system.

 

These are just random numbers, but the overall affect is the same: As the flow in one thing changes, so will the other things hooked to the same manifold.

Edited February 6, 2016 by Higher Thinking

[pledosophy]

 

 

pledo did you see my starting dose?   are you dosing any other beneficial bacteria on top of this?

 

I started with 1mL in a 120g tank. Then after a week I told the doser to dose that 2 times a day, then the next week 3x per day, etc etc until I saw nitrate and phosphate drop. Then I held. 

 

It is a conservative way, but IME much less carbon is needed then most think. If you dose to much you get this white stringy stuff. By keeping the dose small you can avoid that bacterial bloom IME. 

[The ReefBox]

I started with 1mL in a 120g tank. Then after a week I told the doser to dose that 2 times a day, then the next week 3x per day, etc etc until I saw nitrate and phosphate drop. Then I held. 

 

It is a conservative way, but IME much less carbon is needed then most think. If you dose to much you get this white stringy stuff. By keeping the dose small you can avoid that bacterial bloom IME.

 

Thanks Pledoshpy. I'll up the dose to 1ml on day 4 dose that sound good?