when dosing vodka why is a white bacteria bloom bad?

[jayb12]

just a quick question, when dosing vodka why is it bad if infact you overdosed and you see white bacteria blooms on the glass?

i have not over dosed but was curious why its bad? other then its un sightly are they not the bennificial bacteria you are trying to cultivate?

[HighlandReefer]

I have seen white bacterial growth on my glass from dosing vinegar in the past. As long as it is not a nuisance, I don't believe it is a problem. When you clean this growth and skim it out, you are exporting the nitrate and phosphate.

The major concern, with overdosing comes from the bacterial blooms robbing the oxygen from the water and possible effects of too high a levels on coral.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree, O2 reduction is the main concern, just like in a power failure. :)

[jayb12]

i thought so, so basically its not the bacteria you care about rather then the health and breathing rate of the fish

[HighlandReefer]

In general, I believe the bacterial blooms that turn the water white or hazy are where the real concerns are regarding oxygen deprivation, as long as you have good water circulation at the surface. The concerns about the effects on coral from overdosing may not be detected as easily and what those levels are can vary with different carbon sources.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Other concerns that relate to possible things like increased bacterial infections (if real), may be no more likely with a bloom than with ordinary dosing without a bloom.

[reefgeezer]

I've had white film and even stringy bacterial films. Neither was bad, just ugly. I cut the dose when I get the strings. The white film will stop eventually. Just wipe it off. If the water clouds, cut the dose and make sure you have good gas exchange as that is a excessive bacterial bloom.

[jayb12]

i have a big overflow on my 250 and something along the lines of 40x turnover rate so im pretty confident my gas exchange is sufficiant. i hope.

thanks for the help guys, i started dosing after stopping for about 2 months, i was at 12 ml/ day and thats where i picked up, everything seems to be fine thus far a week into it.

[reefgeezer]

If you stopped, be careful starting at the same dosage. You may want to start at a low rate and work up to where you were.

[jayb12]

If you stopped, be careful starting at the same dosage. You may want to start at a low rate and work up to where you were.

i have been watching for signs if im over dosing and havent seen any yet.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Dosing only during the day is also a good way to reduce O2 concerns. :)

[jayb12]

Dosing only during the day is also a good way to reduce O2 concerns. :)

thanks for the tip! i have been dosing before i goto work in the morning and then again when i get home

[StrategicReef]

I think the white strings doesn't hurt anything even O2 wise. you may want to dial back the dosage a little. I couldn't get my corals to have much colors so I started to cut back on it.

To me they are like the macroalgae that is helping export nutrient except, they don't need light and use up O2.

[racingrich]

I just had a major bloom after using vodka over a year. Should I stop 100% it is on the back glass and power cords and a bit in the sump. If you try to take it out it just falls apart.
Thanks Rich

[tmz]

I'd cutback rather than stop if you have been using it for a year. How much are you dosing?

[racingrich]

I add 15mil every day and i have been doing this for about 2 1/2 years. I have about 150 gal. of total water and tried less in the past and the tank was not so clean.

[racingrich]

Any more ideas how much to cut back and when
Thanks Rich

[tmz]

I dose about 60% of that for the last 3yrs. Each system is different though.

[racingrich]

I am just trying to find out what to do after the problem
thanks

[HighlandReefer]

If you have been dosing the same amount for a long period of time and now suddenly develop a bacterial bloom, I would think you have somehow changed the nutrients being introduced into your tank. This could be adding more food or perhaps adding some other food type supplement. Amino acids and vitamins can act as a carbon source, so if you started dosign them, this would increase your total Carbon dosed.

[racingrich]

I did try some new food but thats about all I did. I did have a bunch of aiptasia and got a butterfly fish that got rid of all of them and the bloom happened right after.Should I still dose and if so cut back how much? Also the stuff in my skimmer is so dark black

[racingrich]

any idea if I should stop dosing or cut back

[HighlandReefer]

I would cut the dose in half to start with. You need to get these bacteria out of your tank. You can use a filter bag which will help. Make sure you have good surface water flow to maintain oxygen as the can be robbed from the water by the bacterial bloom.

[tmz]

Sometimes when I clean out my canister filter which I use for granulated activated carbon, there are a lot of gooey bacteria in there. For a few days after cleaning them out the PO4 goes up from .03 to .05ppm and a little bit of stringy bacteria show up in one of the frag tanks. It doesn't last long. So if you cleaned something perhaps you knocked down a bacterial population somewhere giving an opportunity to another in a less desireable place. If you don't have too much you can suck up those strings with a turkey baster. If they are on the galss or other acessible surfaces just wiping them off and netting floaters with a brine shrimp net works too.

[radiata]

I agree, O2 reduction is the main concern, just like in a power failure. :)

Randy's observation is "right on". Many years ago I was dosing vodka and had an equipment malfunction. (Vodka causes tubing to become a little slippery.) I managed to siphon a liter of vodka into my system (probably 300 gallons at the time). When I got up in the morning my tank water was almost milk white. I did a whole lot of water changes. The only fish I lost was a Marine Betta - a victim of 02 reduction as they tend to remain inactive in caves and are not swimming free in the water.