So vodka dosing again

[W8lifts]

SO I have a Question!!!
I bought live rock and I am curing it and thought of an Idea.What if I put very small amount of vodka in the tub while my live rock is curing..Wow it cleaned the water in two days and the smell was gone in an hour. By no means is the live rock cured already just FYI. So I was wondering if anybody cured live rock with the vodka method? and YES I am using a RODI unit 4 stage just in case the water patrol askes. AND Yes I am using a protein Skimmer and Powerheads and a Heater.....So any thoughts!!!Just an experiment because I found really no information on curing live rock with vodka only the traditional method...Thought I would try it while I still can. It will either work or be a complete disaster... I like the odds!!! :dance:

[sporto0]

Well, i am dosing Vodka right now, but not in my tank if you catch my drift! That won't help the decay at all, it will just help the water you have in the tub. The rock is cured when all die off has occurred & is done decaying.

[W8lifts]

Like I said I I the live rock is not cured yet as posted

[W8lifts]

And please explain how vodka helps the water. I beleive it helps the bacteria directly

[sporto0]

Well the idea behind curing rock is not necessarily to have a full live bacteria colony on it before you put it in the display, it is just to ensure you don't spike your ammonia in your display by putting rock with decaying matter in it. I am no chemist, but i believe vodka dosing has something to do with nutrient reduction & phosphate control & not bacteria growth.

[W8lifts]

But why not kill two birds with one stone? Keep phosphate from being absorbed in the live rock and also feeding the bacteria with dead stuff....

[W8lifts]

Well cooking live rock while Vodka dosing worked like a champ will be doing it from now on...

[Sourdough_in_FL]

Over the past few weeks, I have read mountains on both vodka dosing and cooking rocks as alternatives to get rid of my phosphate problem (I adopted a VERY neglected tank). I had the same 'eureka' moment you did. Here's why I think both together works:

The point of vodka is to add carbon to a system laden with N & P. This sends the bacteria who feed on the N & P into overdrive and causes a bloom. The bacteria "eat"/absorb the N & P and, as they die off, take it out of the system when they get skimmed/siphoned out.

The point of cooking is to give your rock the chance to shed not only the bio-crud it has accumulated (waste + algae) but also to leech its stored N & P into the surrounding water.

SOOOO . . .

as an experiment (I do love experiments) I am going to try taking my N & P laden tank water, vodka dosing for a week or two to see if I can encourage the bloom and test to see how the N & P are dropping, and then using some of that as the baths for the cooking while continuing the vodka dosing. I read about someone actually recycling their tank water this way (though I think that's a little overboard and dangerous, plus you lose all the trace elements).

This should slam the N & P in the water down to minimal by creating the bacteria bloom (and then either being skimmed or siphoned out) and do the same for the live rock. Plus, I don't have to buy hundreds of dollars of salt and RO/DI water if it works). I bet it takes a bunch of time off of the cooking cycle too.

Thoughts from your experience?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If you end up with bacterial mats growing on the rock, that is probably not optimal. Remember the bacteria need to grow somewhere, and more often than not the bacteria mostly grow on surfaces of some sort rather than being fully suspended.

[Sourdough_in_FL]

I would think the 'cooking' and rinsing would take care of any bacteria mats.

[red clay]

So Randy, should we be dosing to increase the bacteria or should we find some other means of PO4 and NO3 reduction?

Clay

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I think adding it during rock cooking is experimental. It might be fine, and might be a plus, but I just do not know what effects added organics will have.

I would think the 'cooking' and rinsing would take care of any bacteria mats.

The rinsing might, although some folks get slimy bacteria. The cooking, however, is causing the bacteria. :)

[gmate]

For those of us not so educated on vodka dosing I'll just leave this here...

http://i1219.photobucket.com/albums/dd423/BubbaBoBobBrain1979/Table2-80Proof.jpg

[AJ1080]

Im going to have to try this with all the base rock I have in my garage. Are you guys using the skimmer in the container you are using to cook the rock?

[machodik]

Dear All,

Is there any conflict if you are dosing Vodka and at the same time maintaining a Nitrate reactor with Deniballs (for the anaerobic bacteria to take up those nitrate for releasing nitrogen later on)?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

No, there's no strong reason to not use both if you want to do so. :)

[red clay]

gmate, is this chart good for only curing live rock? if not, I am way off schedule....

[machodik]

sorry for asking this premitive questions;

Do we need to cure live rocks? I have recently surf the forum and it seems that live rocks carries some phosphate? if so, then is it possible that those live rocks I bought may be the reason of increasing my P04 in my tanks that I have been trying to battled off this lately?

will much appreciarte to have your enlightment about this questions.

cheers,

MD

[W8lifts]

This was an old post I started awhile ago....But yes the rock you added can increase PO4 due to the rock leaching PO4. This is why I tried cooking the live rock and vodka dosing at the same time as an experiment. It worked for me like a champ but I was dosing 50% more than what you should dose. In return I also had a nice bacteria colony and tested it by adding dead fish to the tank and my water was still testing 0. So I combined two stages into one stage.

[machodik]

This was an old post I started awhile ago....But yes the rock you added can increase PO4 due to the rock leaching PO4. This is why I tried cooking the live rock and vodka dosing at the same time as an experiment. It worked for me like a champ but I was dosing 50% more than what you should dose. In return I also had a nice bacteria colony and tested it by adding dead fish to the tank and my water was still testing 0. So I combined two stages into one stage.

Huhhhhh!
I already have placed all the dry rock and Live Rock in my main tanks for almost a year now. so it is too late for me to cooked or dose those rocks again.

I am now using a nitrate reactor with Deniballs and at the same time dosing with VODKA (4.4ml/day) and also treating with Seachem Phosguard (250gms.) in a reactor.

Its been bit late to know that dry rock carries PO4!!!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

is this chart good for only curing live rock? if not, I am way off schedule....

The schedule above comes from a pretty conservative (slow increase) dosing regimen. :)