Thoughts on Vodka dosing for Nitrates..

I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on vodka dosing you tank for nitrate control...I have tried EVERYTHING to get my nitrates to drop from around 30ppm...here are the methods I have done so far...

1. Cut back on my feeding...no result
2. Do regular water changes with RO/DI water (25g a month on a 125g tank)....very little results at first...but next day right back to 30ppm (I have tested the water I am adding and its nitrates are at 0)
3. Blow my rocks off at water changes and every other day with turkey baster...no results
4. I have a 15gallon refugium connected to my sump that has a variety of macro algae that grows well.. no results.
5. I have the biggest AquaC Remora HOB skimmer they sell (with the preskimmer) AND I have a large Skimmer in the sump...both work great..No results.
6. Clean my sponges and everything that may hold nitrates...nothing
7. Took bio-balls out of my trickle sump.....No results
8. I have 4 large power-heads for water movement...
9. Have a reactor FULL of nitrate sponge with slow flow through it..no results

Thats all I can think of right now that I have tried...but I think thats quite a lot...I have started a reef..and I want my corals to live...and I know they are sensitive to nitrates...so I'm like at my wits end on what to do to get my nitrates from 30 to 40ppm down to 0....thinkin about Vodka dosing but wanted to get the opinions of others before I do so... Please help..

 

I don't know a ton about Vodka dosing, but it is my understanding that it is based on similar theories as Zeovit and UltraLith. The vodka is the fuel for bacteria to eat the nitrates. Because of this there are a lot of cautions that go along with dosing. It could become very labour intensive.
But aside from that I personally don't thing a nitrate level of 30ppm is that bad

J

 

What kind of corals do you keep? If it's a softy tank, 30 ppm is no big deal. For many species of LPS, that's no big deal either. However, for the more sensitive LPS species and most species of SPS, that wouldn't be good.

 

Do a control test of your test kit. Test your RO water. Buy a new test kit.

Just a few things to try before doing anything drastic (if you haven't tried them already).

 

Yeh I tried that already

 

You may want to look into a nitrate coil. What kind of fish do you have? How many?

 

I have many types of zoas, xenia, kenya trees, yellow scroll, frogspawn, button polyps, Star polyps, acros, tons of mushrooms (different kinds), Candy Canes, and a BTA

 

With the exception of the BTA and acros, your corals will grow faster at 30 ppm than at 0 ppm.

 

I vodka dose periodically with great results

It really supercharges your skimmer, you just have to test and go slow - I dose .25 ml every other day with good results

You have to be extremely careful - basically the vodka is carbon dosing, it provides fuel for bacteria which will break down the nitrates and phosphates. If you do not have a good skimmer to remove the byproducts doing this is pointless and can essentially crash your tank. If you dose too much, you can cause a bacteria bloom which will suffocate your tank and again, it will crash. Fine line between too much and just right.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

 

cant you just very lightly dose with vodka?