[tmz]

Dave,

Those bacteria create a lot of biomass relative to ammonia oxidizers for example.

FWIW, I've bolus dosed vodka and vinegar: 40ml of vodka( equivalent to 320 ml vinegar in organic carbon content ) and 80 ml vinegar split into two doses per day for over 4 years. The system water volume is 650 gallons.
Nitrates were reduced to less than 5ppm at the start up via a sulfur denitrator which was taken off line when carbon dosing was implemented fully.. They ultimately fell to <0.2 and have been there for years ; PO4 hangs at< .03ppm even without gfo.

There were periods of time when the visible bacterial mass was more than it has been for the last few years( it's not much at all now). It clogged reactor sponges and sometimes trailed off power head outputs.. Now there is very little of that. I don't know why it grew like that or why it stopped. Perhaps , the bacteria have spread out more over the substantial surface area in the system( live rock cryptic and ambient light refugia, sand , etc). Sponge growth is much higher than before dosing; so maybe the sponges are eating it or maybe corals like zoanthids are consuming some of it.Maybe other micro fuana are growing and using the bacteria . I know fish ,particularly my Fox face eat it if there is a bit of it in the water column. I have upgraded skimming along the way a bit as well
I never got green glass though. Did have some patchy cyano during the early months . I speculate that the competitive balances among organisms in the tank for nutrients are upset by the new heavy consumers, ie the facultative heterotrophic bacteria encouraged by organic carbon dosing which may give one existing organism an edge over the other for the more limited overall supply of phosphorus and nitrogen or the increased supply of acetate, at least in the early stages.For example phytoplankton and diatoms might be reduced and cyano might increased in the short run.
I think when organic carbon is added ,the activity of the organisms it encourages directly and indirectly changes the make up of organics in the tank and it can take a while for things to settle out. Wish I had a better explanation. There is still a lot to learn about this technique and organics in the reef and aquariums are very complex with much unknown. It's best to go slowly with amping it up ,imo . The tank may handle more later on than it can in the early months.