Aquaph8
Love The Fish
Carbon dosing with emphasis on Vodka/Vinegar
I had a little interest in Vodka/vinegar dosing from a couple people so heres a little write up of how I got started and basic info. I know that Vodka/Vinegar dosing has taken a back seat since the introduction of biopellets into the hobby but I still prefer the control of doing it this way. Keep in mind that Im no scientist or writer for that matter. I claim no responsiblity for anything bad that may happen to your tank or its inhabitants. Your actions are completly your own. Anybody with experience carbon dosing that wants to add anything please do so. It would be great to get someone with experience with biopellets to add some info too.
Why dose Vodka/Vinegar
Vodka/Vinegar(Carbon) dosing has been reported to fuel increased bacteria populations. These bacteria in turn consume NO3 and Po4 in a reef tank. These increased populations of bacteria are then skimmed out via protein skimming resulting in increased skimmate and lower NO3 and PO4. The lower nitrates and phosphates can also be a great way to fight certain types of algae in your tank.
Another reason to dose, is that as No3 and Po4 come down, your feeding levels can be increased. This works great for tanks with fish that require multiple feeding or for people who just like to keep their fish on the plump side :bigsmile:.
Read before you dose:
1. Make sure you have test kits for NO3(nitrates) and PO4(phosphates). Its very important you know what these levels are before you attempt any form of carbon dosing.
2. Only dose carbon if you have a strong skimmer. The increase in bacteria also uses oxygen and a strong skimmer is needed to increase oxygenation. The use of activated carbon can also help and is encouraged.
3. Carbon dosing is not recommended for people with established deep sand beds. Negative effects have been reported.
4. Your Alk should be maintained at 7-8 dkh during vodka dosing. Any higher than 8 people have reported burnt tips on their SPS.
5. Some have reported bleaching in sps. If your corals start looking light, stop dosing right away.
How to dose: (Vodka) For Vinegar use 8 times the dosage
1. Starting dose is 0.1ml per 25 gallons of tank water. This is total system gallons including sumps and after displacement of rocks and sand. Keep this dose for one week. (so if your dosing 100 gallons your dose would be 0.4 ml.
2. You dose will increase 0.5 ml each following week. (so your dose for 100 gallons would be 0.9 for week 2.)
3.Test your NO3 and PO4 often and when your levels start to drop hold your dose where its at. Continue this dose.
4. When your tests read 0 cut that dose in half and this is your maintenance dosage you will continue to dose daily.
Other tips:
- Ive noticed that dosing Vinegar with my usual vodka dosage has helped to keep any cyano bateria caused by the vodka in check. Some have also expressed postive results from bacterial products like Microbe Lift's special blend and KZ's coral snow.
-Vinegar is also 8 times weaker than Vodka for anyone that wants to increase there levels at a slow rate. There is nothing wrong with taking it slower, infact I incourage it.
-Some people choose to dose bacterial supplements with their carbon source. Some examples include Brightwells Micro Bacter 7, Probido and im sure theres a hundred others.
-Repeat- An alk of 8dkh or lower is recommended do to many experiencing burnt tips on thier SPS.
-Some have also reported bacterial blooms and hardening of the sand to be side effects. Taking things slowly and stiring/vacuuming of the sand seem to help.
-Remember that observation is your best test kit. In time you should be able to tell when something isnt right with your tank. Take it slow and be patient, vodka dosing is not meant to show results over night. For some people it can take many months. I currently only dose a small ammount of Vodka and vinegar on a somewhat new tank but Ive seen some people dose up to multiple hundreds of ml to their tank to keep their NO3 and PO4 at 0. Just keep in mind they did it over years at a slow rate. Everybody's tank has different needs and carbon dosing is not for everybody. Feel free to ask any questions and Ill do my best to answer them all. Also any feedback is appreciated cause I dont do many write up threads. Im sure I left some of my observations out and ill add to this thread as they come up. Enjoy
I had a little interest in Vodka/vinegar dosing from a couple people so heres a little write up of how I got started and basic info. I know that Vodka/Vinegar dosing has taken a back seat since the introduction of biopellets into the hobby but I still prefer the control of doing it this way. Keep in mind that Im no scientist or writer for that matter. I claim no responsiblity for anything bad that may happen to your tank or its inhabitants. Your actions are completly your own. Anybody with experience carbon dosing that wants to add anything please do so. It would be great to get someone with experience with biopellets to add some info too.
Why dose Vodka/Vinegar
Vodka/Vinegar(Carbon) dosing has been reported to fuel increased bacteria populations. These bacteria in turn consume NO3 and Po4 in a reef tank. These increased populations of bacteria are then skimmed out via protein skimming resulting in increased skimmate and lower NO3 and PO4. The lower nitrates and phosphates can also be a great way to fight certain types of algae in your tank.
Another reason to dose, is that as No3 and Po4 come down, your feeding levels can be increased. This works great for tanks with fish that require multiple feeding or for people who just like to keep their fish on the plump side :bigsmile:.
Read before you dose:
1. Make sure you have test kits for NO3(nitrates) and PO4(phosphates). Its very important you know what these levels are before you attempt any form of carbon dosing.
2. Only dose carbon if you have a strong skimmer. The increase in bacteria also uses oxygen and a strong skimmer is needed to increase oxygenation. The use of activated carbon can also help and is encouraged.
3. Carbon dosing is not recommended for people with established deep sand beds. Negative effects have been reported.
4. Your Alk should be maintained at 7-8 dkh during vodka dosing. Any higher than 8 people have reported burnt tips on their SPS.
5. Some have reported bleaching in sps. If your corals start looking light, stop dosing right away.
How to dose: (Vodka) For Vinegar use 8 times the dosage
1. Starting dose is 0.1ml per 25 gallons of tank water. This is total system gallons including sumps and after displacement of rocks and sand. Keep this dose for one week. (so if your dosing 100 gallons your dose would be 0.4 ml.
2. You dose will increase 0.5 ml each following week. (so your dose for 100 gallons would be 0.9 for week 2.)
3.Test your NO3 and PO4 often and when your levels start to drop hold your dose where its at. Continue this dose.
4. When your tests read 0 cut that dose in half and this is your maintenance dosage you will continue to dose daily.
Other tips:
- Ive noticed that dosing Vinegar with my usual vodka dosage has helped to keep any cyano bateria caused by the vodka in check. Some have also expressed postive results from bacterial products like Microbe Lift's special blend and KZ's coral snow.
-Vinegar is also 8 times weaker than Vodka for anyone that wants to increase there levels at a slow rate. There is nothing wrong with taking it slower, infact I incourage it.
-Some people choose to dose bacterial supplements with their carbon source. Some examples include Brightwells Micro Bacter 7, Probido and im sure theres a hundred others.
-Repeat- An alk of 8dkh or lower is recommended do to many experiencing burnt tips on thier SPS.
-Some have also reported bacterial blooms and hardening of the sand to be side effects. Taking things slowly and stiring/vacuuming of the sand seem to help.
-Remember that observation is your best test kit. In time you should be able to tell when something isnt right with your tank. Take it slow and be patient, vodka dosing is not meant to show results over night. For some people it can take many months. I currently only dose a small ammount of Vodka and vinegar on a somewhat new tank but Ive seen some people dose up to multiple hundreds of ml to their tank to keep their NO3 and PO4 at 0. Just keep in mind they did it over years at a slow rate. Everybody's tank has different needs and carbon dosing is not for everybody. Feel free to ask any questions and Ill do my best to answer them all. Also any feedback is appreciated cause I dont do many write up threads. Im sure I left some of my observations out and ill add to this thread as they come up. Enjoy
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