Im started vodka dosing.

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by Night-Rida, Jan 15, 2010.

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  1. BTowned

    BTowned Peppermint Shrimp

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    +1, I've been dosing vodka for over a year now, and I can tell you that if you don't have an oversized skimmer, you will likely end up with cyano, and possibly dynos too. Take it slow and make daily observations of bacterial blooms. Your skimmate should look like this, with high amounts of solids. It will really stink too.
    [​IMG]
     
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  3. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    I have a sealife model 60 skimmer on my 55gal. its been foaming and skimate looks and smells like that. but only get about 1/4" a day of fluid. I only have 4 small fish so my bioload is low. Im going to start feeding more and ose more pythoplankton. havent use phyto in 2 weeks and only feed very small amount of rinsed brine once a day.
     
  4. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    update week 5 vodka dosing results.

    salinity: 1.025
    temp 76
    Dkh: 15
    nitrite 0
    amnonia 0
    nitrate 40
    phos: 0
    PH 8.0
    Calcium: 380
    Mag 1350
    Salt: Petco


    well I'm at about 2.5 ml dose daily. I have had to buffer PH alot through out this time. lack of oxygen probly culprit. calcium was really low 300 ppm. I have been kalkwasser and calcium kent lately. my nitrates were as high as 80 at some points during vodka dosing. I did have quite of few dead snails though. I also observed yellowish algae on substrate and slight whiteish film (not much) on some decor inside tank. both from what I read is normal. I did have a nice cyano/brown film algae outbreak around week 3 but after that no problems. i did do a 10% WC a few days ago to suck up substrate yellowish goo. I dont see any negative effects on corals, and I do have a nice outbreak of pink coralline on back glass now. (probly why my calcium was getting used up faster than normal.) Im guessing my final dosing volume will be around 3.0ml to 3.5 ml before my nitrates drop near zero. and I will than cut dose in half for my regular maintence scehdule. Skim mate is still dark green and foamy. sticky too. I have increased my feeding of pyhtoplankton to 4-5 times a week. I feed brine everyday. as slight overfeeding is recommended with this vodka dosing.

    My goal is to get my nitrates around 5-10ppm as most of my corals are softies and alittle nitrate is good for them.

    I hope to reach my goal in next couple weeks. I'll keep everyone posted.

    P.S.: anyone else doing this for a while please feel free to chime in with your results too..
     
  5. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    Also like to add that since starting vodka dosing I have removed all but maybe 15% of my existing bioballs from my sump and added a few pounds of LR rumble and base rock down there.. I'll probly replace the remaing 15% bioballs with my LR in a couple weeks..

    I also removed my phospate remover media a few weeks back. As some levels of phosphate are good for vodka dosing.. only have a bag of carbon in my sump.
     
  6. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    I also like to add, I did have 3 foam filters with my wet/dry. round filter at overflow, blue filter in drip tray, and big foam block inside sump. I did remove all filters except for drip tray blue filter since starting vodka dosing. Just trying to elminate any nitrate factories. I do clean the drip tray filter every 1-2 days.

    ;D
     
  7. veedubshafer

    veedubshafer Banned

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    I would consider Bankers Club. It's cheap and always gets the job done LOL.
     
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  9. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    yeah any cheap 80 proof plain vodka will do.. I got my 100ml bottle for like $3 bucks.. at my max dose it should last me 5+ weeks.. once I run out probly go check out my options at the local liquor store. I'll probly start using little white vingear too every once in a while once my nitrates get lower..
     
  10. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    after you have established a constant strand of bacteria feeding off of the ethanol, DO NOT switch your carbon source!
    if you add vinegar to make a more "diverse" bacterial population you will have to do it slowly, just like when you started with vodka, while also keeping the vodka level steady to feed the existing ethanol based population
     
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  11. RNO CORALS

    RNO CORALS Bristle Worm

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    If your system is over 10 years old, Im not sure you need your bio-balls anymore. I would get rid of the completly. There are huge nitrate traps.
     
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  12. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    Ok, thanks that makes sense. Ive been using a little vinegar with my kalkwasser mix prior to adding water then dripping. I'll stay on my same regiment.

    k+