Im started vodka dosing.

hey everyone, after reading and reading and reading.. Im starting a little dose of vodka to help with my high nitrate problems. was at 100ppm other day did a 20% water change, got to around 50-60ppm and six hours later back up to 100ppm.. I did vaccum crush coral/sand substrate. rinsed my bioballs, clean all my foam filters too.. did another 20% water change today.. its now around 50-60ppm.. so im going to give this vodka a try.. tanks been running for 10years, 8 months=reef added more sand as time went on.. started with CC at first. same sealife protein skimmer 60 model.. I did take 20% of my bioballs out as I think I dont need as many in the wet/dry anymore due to the LR in tank.

So Im going to start very low and slow. only .25ml vodka a day for 55g.. and see how it does. I run carbon and phosphate remover in media bags every 30 days. and my sand bottom is not much maybe 2-2.5 inches thick. 4 fish & soft corals & sails/crabs/etc.. I hope I dont mess up anything. which I know overdosing is a big problem, DSB, etc.. I think with my 50-60ppm and .5 phosphate levels this could help me out.. whos been doing this for over 1 year? let me here some news..

 

good luck i would love to hear your results could help alot of people in the future what bran vodka ya going with

 

I actually have a mixture right now of what as in my cabinet.. its a mix of smirnoff tripled distilled 80 proof and van gogh 80 proof... my fish like the good stuff

 

lol i wish i could really see the affects if there were any at all

 

Huhh? Try XO, Grey Goose, or Ketel One for the good stuff. Smirnoff gives me a headache. Van Gogh tastes like rubbing alcohol smells IMO.

Good luck with your vodka dosing by the way. Make sure you have a very good skimmer.

 

my only concern is my Dkh is like 16 right now and have read you want it like 8-10dkh but that was more of a warning to SPS owners.. which I'm not..

my parms:

salinity: 1.024
temp 78
Dkh: 16
nitrite 0
amnonia 0
nitrate 50+
phos: .5
PH 8.3
Calcium: 400
Mag 1300
Salt: Red Sea


Plenty of circulation: 2 maxijet 1200s, 350gph Magdrive return pump
Low level substrate: CC mixed with Sand. 2-2.55" max

so theres my current startup specs as I board the vodka dosing reef experiment.

 

I'm gonna second the Grey Goose and also throw in Sky. Good stuff. Sorry I know nothing about this, but here's a free bump.

If your fish start running into the glass, hugging each other or fighting, you have to post a video

 

What kind of skimmer do you have. I cannot stress the importance of a good reliable skimmer enough...

 

Sorry to kind of hijack the thread, but what are the benefits/main purpose of vodka dosing. I've heard of a lot of people doing it but never really understood the main point.

 

Grey goose is my favorite! I'll stick with smrinoff tripled distilled or something similar..

just checked my skimmer its foaming away like a raccon with rabies at the mouth.. its a sealife model 60 or 75. dam thing is 10 years old as still have original power head "rio" only thing I replcaed was the airline tubing "they got clogged for a while" once the new lines are in place its been great again.

During this vodka dosing time frame, I'll probly stop using kalk,cal,mag,iodine,stron. etc dosing.. just do 10% WC with red sea salt every 2 weeks through out. to keep stuff in check.. what do you guys think about that? or should I do no water changes and no dosing? I was thinking WC because dosing vodka can hurt oxygen levels, so new SW will help I think to replenish this as well as trace, and regular elements.