OK! Time for a Drink! Vodka?

ok so if i overfeed my corals i can add vodka to keep nitrates down plus it will also feed the corals more?how often could i do this to help the coral growth?or should i just not fix whats not broken?

 

If it ain't broke don't fix it.

For me its an interest cause I like to tinker. I think that feeding our corals what they need is a portion of the hobby that we have very little experiance in. I do it because I have always thought of my system as an experiment.

If you want to experiment in try to feed your corals more than go ahead. But remember like everything there are possible problems that could arise.

 

You do it daily, from an hour before lights out to sometime shortly after. It will work at any point though. Scotts right -do it if you like to tinker, but the reason that I tell people that if their nitrates are low, don't bother is that it just adds another thing that can go wrong.

I dose Kalk, which is mostly a no brainer, but I have also overdosed inadvertently. I have done the same with carbon dosing. Both nearly ended my tank, although the carbon was far easier. And different corals react differently. My one colony Caulestrea furcata (candy coral) LOVED it, even the overdose, but a second colony almost died. My acros were fine as well, except one, other LPS didn't like it. But overall it was a huge hassel. Your o2 levels deplete because as I posted before, with all the available carbon, the bacteria now use up the O2 which has now become limiting. And believe me, if it's limiting for bacteria, it's not the type of environment where you'd like to keep an O2 loving creature like say a fish! So things CAN go wrong with it, but it only happens when you screw up (I added tablespoons instead of teaspoons DOH!). This event will also lower your pH, which is really the tough part of carbon dosing (more on this later)

Unsure about coral growth, but you do get some weird things go on with coloration. Your corals do use nitrogen -ALL of them, even the SPS. In fact some corals use more than others, and the corals that are more dependent on it, have to make other physiological changes to cope with the rapid decrease. Some can't do it if it's too fast, which is why I suggest starting slow. One of the changes that may take place is that zooxanthallae in the coral may take advantage of the fact that OTHER zooxanthallae (mainly browns and greens usually)were dependent on the NO3. So you may see lightening, or even bleaching if you are dosing too heavily. (See Zeovit.com forums, I believe there is a thread there speaking on this same effect)

Another concern, although not really a big one, is that if there was a coral that was battling a bacterial infection, it will lose the battle and RTN. But IME that is rare indeed, and if you're on top of it, fragging or dipping will save it. I have never seen this, but a few people that i have talked to have suspected it.

So basically overall, if you like to tinker. Go ahead, If you're a fairly adept reefkeeper, you won't have a problem with this. If you have nitrates @ or >20ppm, try something else first. If you have have a RDSB, Fuge, and have altered your feeding or sandbed, then this may be for you. And I know that there are plenty on this site that fit that bill.

 

Yeah! I thought the food we supply contains enough carbohydrates, so one doesn't have to add an additional source - like ethanol! :-/

 

Psychostick - The Beer Song

 

I think that you're confused about a couple points:

1. The sugar being carbohydrate has nothing to do with feeding your corals. The corals cannot uptake this, and it's use is not as a source of carbohydrate for corals.

2. The sugar, or alcohol (Carbon Source) feeds bacteria, which as they bloom feed corals as they are much more abundant.

 

But there is one Caveat that I know of. And its the dreaded brown out. Something about how the bac can interfer with the zooxanthelle can cause a brown or green out. It has happened. But never to me.

All in all I have been doing it daily for over a year now with no adverse effects.

 

Well, I don't drink nor do I keep alcohol in the house therefore I cannot experiment with Vodka...LOL

Here is a discussion on the topic....

The Old Becomes New, Yet Again: Sandbeds and Vodka - Part II by Eric Borneman - Reefkeeping.com

 

I don't use Vodka either. I tend to use sugar. I think its a better fuel source.

 

Tangster. Sorry but that was a completely uneducated response. Really. Did you even read all of that great information. Its your choice what you do with your system. However its inapprorite for you to call others "Dumb" who's choice is to find a way to keep our corals in a more natural enviroment.

I suppose people who run ZEOvit are "Dumb"? Are you calling the guys in Italy that use the Pappone method "Dumb"? Are you calling Borneman "Dumb" ? Are you calling Dr Randy Holmes-Farley "Dumb"? Are you calling Iwan Lasser "Dumb"?

Can you post pics of your setup? I would think that is the best around if your that critical of some of the best sps setups that I have ever seen.

I love positive critiquing! But calling a methodology and the science surrounding it "Dumb" won't cut the mustard. I think Global Warming is bunk, but I don't call it "Dumb". Have a bit of respect.