Vodka dosing WHY

[tim l flowers]

Just wondering y are people are dosing is it to just reduce water changing our are they any other benefit's.And in my 55gl tank and a 10gl ref.What amount and what intervals should i dose in my tank.

[Billybeau1]

Some use vodka dosing to reduce excessive nutrients in their tanks.

I personally think the risks outweigh the benefits but thats just my opinion.

There are many vodka dosing threads on these forums if you care to wade through all of the opinions and stories.

If you have good husbandry practices, I see no need to add this to your tank. :)

[tmz]

Well, Billy I have good husbandry practices and I use it lightly.

The traditional approaches just don't cover phosphate and nitrate well enough in my system. There are over 40 well fed fish and many sps and lps in the 550g. I 'd have to use pounds of gfo to cover phosphate and run a sulfur dentirator full time or maybe lay out a room full of lighted macroalgae refugia. Alternatively, I could have less interesting tanks with few to no fish or very skinny ones. I use heavy skimming, gac ,dsbs ,gfo and occasional use of the denitrator as well as low/ moderate amounts of vodka/vinegar.(24mlvodka and 2 ml vinegar dalily for the 550g).

There is some risk to carbon dosing. I chose it last and then only for nutrient control with close monitoring and testing . While the bacteria production can be beneficial since bacteria serve as food to some corals and can also metabolize some excess trace metals, it could be harmful in excess in terms of pathogens or blooms and of course too much organic carbon staying behind could be a bad thing.

It does work, in my experience. Holding nitrates to around 2ppm when previously they had been upwards of 50ppm. It also holds inorganic phosphate to around 0.5 ppm when previously it hovered around .15ppm with no change in gfo use.

[Billybeau1]

I'm glad it is working for you Tom.

You have a 550 gallon system.

He has a 55 gallon system. BIG DIFFERENCE in husbandry practices, I would say. :D

[tmz]

I agree. Not a cure all and has significant risk if misapplied. It's probably over used but a usefull inexpensive tool nonetheless in the right situations.

BTW I wrote down the wrong phosphate number. It should have been holds phosphate to around .0.05ppm not 0.5 ppm.

I've seen posts with folks with no nutrient issues dosing carbon for better coral color, coral food and so on which make no sense to me. So I do think it's important to temper the enthusiasm about it but it can be a very good thing,in my experience.

[tim l flowers]

So in my 55gl tank.I will not get the same results as a much larger tank.But if i wanted to try what would be a the right amount of vodka to be sufficient.

[wooden_reefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15707364#post15707364 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tim l flowers
Just wondering y are people are dosing is it to just reduce water changing our are they any other benefit's.And in my 55gl tank and a 10gl ref.What amount and what intervals should i dose in my tank.

Alcohol is one carbon source that some denitrification bacteria use. It is the reducing agent in the food chain for the bacteria. It is their food and nitrate is the oxiding agent, like oxygen is to most other animals and nitrification bacteria.

Methenol has been used for denitrification in wastewater treatment for many decades. The purpose is much the same as in aquariums; it is to reduce nitrate for water discharged in lakes and streams.

[tmz]

If you search through the reeefkeeping magazine issues , you will find and infromative article which includes recommended dosing schedules and levels . I don't know our tank well enough to hazard a guess on what the right dose for your system would be.
I would advise you to read alot about it before stating to mess with it . There are numerous threads. Just search vodka.

[spamreefnew]

its something real small like .1ml per 10gallong for 3 days,,then the dose doubles for 3 days,,most systems keep doubling until they reach a dose around 5ml. please dont quote my numbers,its ben a while:)

[HighlandReefer]

Vodka Dosing...Distilled!
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

[BradR]

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