PowderBlue Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/ So I've started to dose vodka. After a lot of time reading, I've come to the conclusion that it's worth a shot. Kevin has helped me a lot with what to do and what to look for. I'm just starting this thread to sort of document my results and if anyone has any input, or questions, I thought this would be good to have up. A lot of people have had amazing results with vodka dosing. I linked a very informative wrote up from reefkeeping magazine for everyone. I'm struggling with high nitrates and somewhat elevated phosphates. I have a lot of fish and I'm guessing that plays a large roll in my issue. I thought that have a skimmer the size that I do and the amount of rock that I could get away with it, but it's looking like I'd have to either do water changes every week or dose a carbon source. I honestly don't have the want or much time to do large water changes weekly. So I'll settle for vodka Starting out today on a red sea pro phosphate kit my Phosphates are reading apx 0.06 Nitrates are apx 15 on red seas marine care test kit. I'm going to start of dosing today and I will retest in 3 days. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bamburgb Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 definitly gonna follow, i have been debating for a while on starting to dose vodka 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Unless you are desperately fighting algae, I would advise against it. There are a few people with systems that do well with it, and Kevin's is a good example. For him, vodka dosing saves a lot of time. Maybe this has something to do with the size of his system. I would say that 8 out of 10 posts that I see about carbon dosing is about tank crashes, STN, and tons of Nitrate and Phosphate testing. I tried it for 9 months and got to the point where I was testing nitrate and phosphate twice per day. It ended up being way more work than water changes, and led to me crashing my tank before I gave up on it. If you really hate water changes, it's worth a try, but if it starts to be a lot of work with testing and you start to see some STN on your corals, that's a good sign that water changes are best for your system. I ended up using algae scrubbers and weekly water changes to control my nutrients and my tank has never looked better. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted January 10, 2017 Author Share Posted January 10, 2017 Unless you are desperately fighting algae, I would advise against it. There are a few people with systems that do well with it, and Kevin's is a good example. For him, vodka dosing saves a lot of time. Maybe this has something to do with the size of his system. I would say that 8 out of 10 posts that I see about carbon dosing is about tank crashes, STN, and tons of Nitrate and Phosphate testing. I tried it for 9 months and got to the point where I was testing nitrate and phosphate twice per day. It ended up being way more work than water changes, and led to me crashing my tank before I gave up on it. If you really hate water changes, it's worth a try, but if it starts to be a lot of work with testing and you start to see some STN on your corals, that's a good sign that water changes are best for your system. I ended up using algae scrubbers and weekly water changes to control my nutrients and my tank has never looked better. Oh dang! I don't have any algae other than a small amount of brown algae on my sand but nothing on my rocks or coral. It's mainly just to kill the nitrates and phosphates. I really do hate water changes haha but seeing your tank crashed definitely brings caution. Was the problem just not being able to determine how much to dose for your tank? I started off at half of the suggested dose for my tank and am going to slowly work my way up. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 Oh dang! I don't have any algae other than a small amount of brown algae on my sand but nothing on my rocks or coral. It's mainly just to kill the nitrates and phosphates. I really do hate water changes haha but seeing your tank crashed definitely brings caution. Was the problem just not being able to determine how much to dose for your tank? I started off at half of the suggested dose for my tank and am going to slowly work my way up. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk For some systems there is no correct dose, and I think that was the case for me. I spent 9 months trying to the find the right dose until I almost killed all of my corals. I even got a medical grade peristaltic pump that could dose a few ml at a time, and tested nitrate and phosphate in the morning and in the evening. If you have some nitrate and phosphate, but hardly any algae, and your corals look good, there is no problem to solve. Vodka dosing is likely to upset the balance that you have in your tank and lead to lots of headaches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted January 10, 2017 Author Share Posted January 10, 2017 For some systems there is no correct dose, and I think that was the case for me. I spent 9 months trying to the find the right dose and until I almost killed all of my corals. I even got a medical grade peristaltic pump that could dose a few ml at a time. If you have some nitrate and phosphate, but hardly any algae, and your corals look good, there is no problem to solve. Vodka dosing is likely to upset the balance that you have in your tank and lead to lots of headaches. My sps are browning at the tips and dying. Then just the brown algae on the sand. That and the elevated nitrates and p04. I run an SRO xp 3000 on my system so the nitrates and phosphates are my main concern. Sps did great in my tank for about 5 months then all of a sudden went to the dumps. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexinverts Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 My sps are browning at the tips and dying. Then just the brown algae on the sand. That and the elevated nitrates and p04. I run an SRO xp 3000 on my system so the nitrates and phosphates are my main concern. Sps did great in my tank for about 5 months then all of a sudden went to the dumps. Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Nitrates at 15 and phosphates at .06 should be ok for SPS. Phospate at .06 is perfect. Nitrate is slightly high. I like to keep mine around 10-ish, but I would not expect to have corals die at 15. I think that there is something else going on with your system. Perhaps try sending in your water for a Triton test. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted January 10, 2017 Author Share Posted January 10, 2017 (edited) Nitrates at 15 and phosphates at .06 should be ok for SPS. Phospate at .06 is perfect. Nitrate is slightly high. I like to keep mine around 10-ish, but I would not expect to have corals die at 15. I think that there is something else going on with your system. Perhaps try sending in your water for a Triton test.Ok, thanks for the help! I'll have to send it in. I thought I had everything ironed out but still getting little to no growth on my strong sps and just lost my lepto over the past few weeks. Something is definitely wrong. I thought it was nitrates :( Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Edited January 10, 2017 by PowderBlue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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