Vodka dosing. results have led to some questions

[ZoWhat]

I've been Vodka dosing for 3-4 weeks..... NO3 and PO4 dropping to trace amounts. Been noticing the green algae that forms on the glass window is like 1/4th what it was....which is great.

QUESTION: I have noticed fine-haired algae growing on LRs. Not very tall hair algae but it has grown. I assume the carbon-dosing is feeding this fine-algae (?)..... Normal reaction? Will it eventually go away?

Advice?

 

[bobman]

You say fine haired algae are you sure its not small amounts of cayno? Vodka will not feed algae it breed bacteria that consumes nitrates and some trace amounts of phosphates so ideally it is competing with algae for the same nutrients. Cayno on the other hand is a common side effect to vodka if you went a little to aggressive when ramping up the vodka. But yes if it is cayno it should go away as long as you dont aggressively keep ramping up the vodka. But if the nitrates are coming down then there is no need to increase the dose. Hold till you get to the desired level and then cut the daily dose in half and the cayno should fade away.

 

[ZoWhat]

Not ramping up...

For a 210g total water volume, I'm dosing about 3ml of 80proof vodka a day

 

[bobman]

Sounds about right but yeah vodka breeds bacteria and cayno is a bacteria. One of the down side to carbon dosing is you dont get to pick and choose what bacteria you get. It should go away if it is cayno and not some type of algae