Vodka Dosing...

[Budman's Corals]

Just a update..I have been vodka dosing for 2 1/2 weeks,I have tried everything prior to this to get corals to color up and nothing seemed to work,Yesterday & Today i have noticed my corals bringing out there colors, Purple are showing up now,which use to be brown ...I am at Awww over this..My phosphate are .02 which previous were .05 and under.I had everything i thought i needed for sps, lights,water,perfect parameters, prior to the vodka..So...this has to be from the vodka, Im 100% sure...Im running 6-t5 and 2 vho(which i just installed indiglosun bulbs 1 weeks ago),It could have something to do with that also,but not sure, What do you think it could be? Bulbs or Vodka,

Im always happy when im dosed vodka

 

[ReefDVMs]

So how much and how often are you dosing the vodka in your system, how big is your total system?

 

[Budman's Corals]

So how much and how often are you dosing the vodka in your system, how big is your total system?

i got a 120 with a with a 40 g sump,
I started 1st week at .04ml
2nd week at .08ml

now im at 1.3ml

Phosphates went from .04 to .02 now. Im going to stay at this level for a while to see if this is where i need to be. Im really not wanting to get to 0.

 

[Budman's Corals]

this is everyday dose,half in morning half at night... Didn't even see any bloom of such..Im so stoke

 

[Connie]

so, you are doing this along with your gfo/carbon. I'm following along to see how it goes

 

[Budman's Corals]

so, you are doing this along with your gfo/carbon. I'm following along to see how it goes

..

Yeap..and feeding my fish(21 of them) heavy...Which 7 are chromis

but Im so excited to see the colors finally...All i have looked at was brown crap for the last 3 month that i spent 40 a frag on ,they have been growing but growing as brown colors...now im seeing green/purple polyps..go

 

[larangcon]

Hey Budman, we almost have the same set up, I have a 120G with a 40G sump. Like you I have tons of fish. I like that reef look, I mostly have softies my wife like the swaying of the tentacles. Anyway, I started buying chalice and acans then decided to upgrade to SPS. So I go by the appearance of the corals and hardly tested unless something is not opening up. To make a long story short, My Nitrate reached 100 ppm and decided to try out Vodka dosing. It has only been a month and my nitrate went down to 20 ppm. I tried following the progressive chart from RC but after 10 days I decided to double up on the dosage. I kept doubling every 3 days now after 32 days I am at 10 ml in the morning and 10 ml at night. Once I reach 10 ppm I will reduce to only 10 ml once a day. Vodka dosing is awesome, all my corals opened up twice the size as before and my water is super clear. One thing that you need to do is test often. This last 30 days I must have tested my water 28 times, but it is worth it. I been able to keep SPS now with tons of fishes.
I know this is not a new thing, but the newbies need to know...

 

[Budman's Corals]

Hey Budman, we almost have the same set up, I have a 120G with a 40G sump. Like you I have tons of fish. I like that reef look, I mostly have softies my wife like the swaying of the tentacles. Anyway, I started buying chalice and acans then decided to upgrade to SPS. So I go by the appearance of the corals and hardly tested unless something is not opening up. To make a long story short, My Nitrate reached 100 ppm and decided to try out Vodka dosing. It has only been a month and my nitrate went down to 20 ppm. I tried following the progressive chart from RC but after 10 days I decided to double up on the dosage. I kept doubling every 3 days now after 32 days I am at 10 ml in the morning and 10 ml at night. Once I reach 10 ppm I will reduce to only 10 ml once a day. Vodka dosing is awesome, all my corals opened up twice the size as before and my water is super clear. One thing that you need to do is test often. This last 30 days I must have tested my water 28 times, but it is worth it. I been able to keep SPS now with tons of fishes.
I know this is not a new thing, but the newbies need to know...

Awesome,but how the heck did your nitrates get up to 100..I started dosing when mine was around 10

lol

 

[Connie]

I may have to try the vodka. I dosed Microbe Lift Special Blend for the first time today...Whew.....Stinky! I'd hate to have the job of bottling that stuff. The kids came in from school going Ewwww Mama, what is that smell! lol

 

[Budman's Corals]

I may have to try the vodka. I dosed Microbe Lift Special Blend for the first time today...Whew.....Stinky! I'd hate to have the job of bottling that stuff. The kids came in from school going Ewwww Mama, what is that smell! lol

LOL...

Is it worse then the skimmer smell

 

[Dtech07]

I've been dosing VVS (Vodka, Vinegar, Sugar) for 3 years and have always maintained a .007-.003 for both No3&Po4. Melev's Reef has a great write up and so does ReefGuide. Word of wisdom Start low and Go slow and record your daily dose and increases. If you see ANY white slime (white out) decrease the dosage by a third but maintain dosing. I have mine on a 1.1ml pump because I dose 2.2 split, 1.1 in the morning and 1.1 at night separated by 12hrs.

 

[Budman's Corals]

I've been dosing VVS (Vodka, Vinegar, Sugar) for 3 years and have always maintained a .007-.003 for both No3&Po4. Melev's Reef has a great write up and so does ReefGuide. Word of wisdom Start low and Go slow and record your daily dose and increases. If you see ANY white slime (white out) decrease the dosage by a third but maintain dosing. I have mine on a 1.1ml pump because I dose 2.2 split, 1.1 in the morning and 1.1 at night separated by 12hrs.

Your referring to white slime on glass,Mine did that,thats when i cut back.

 

[Dtech07]

No I had the white slime also I'm talking about when EVERYTHING slims. The rocks, corals, sandbed, power heads. That's why it's called a White Out. It's when you rush and say you at .5ml today and tomorrow you jump to 1ml it's such a increase of organic carbon which produces to much positive bacteria (keeping it simple) that nothing in the tank is ready for the new condition so it slimes heavily for protection even though its good bacteria. And it takes 3-5 days for it to balance out meaning massive water changes and removing snot every 4-5hrs. The film on the glass is a good sign that one bacteria is losing to another but I wouldn't increase my dosing till the glass is clear for several days 2-4 at a time. This will ensure a gradual decline and not shock your system.

 

[Budman's Corals]

No I had the white slime also I'm talking about when EVERYTHING slims. The rocks, corals, sandbed, power heads. That's why it's called a White Out. It's when you rush and say you at .5ml today and tomorrow you jump to 1ml it's such a increase of organic carbon which produces to much positive bacteria (keeping it simple) that nothing in the tank is ready for the new condition so it slimes heavily for protection even though its good bacteria. And it takes 3-5 days for it to balance out meaning massive water changes and removing snot every 4-5hrs. The film on the glass is a good sign that one bacteria is losing to another but I wouldn't increase my dosing till the glass is clear for several days 2-4 at a time. This will ensure a gradual decline and not shock your system.

Well i cut mine back just a tad bit and been holding that for some while now..and my phosphates stay below .05 which im very happy with

 

[UNCFAN]

Budman - Do you run GFO & Carbon as well?

 

[navila06]

I just recently stopped vodka dosing last week, I am going to start the no3 po4 X treatment in a few days.

 

[Budman's Corals]

Budman - Do you run GFO & Carbon as well?

Yeap ..never stopped...I feed my fish 2 times a day Mixed frozen morning and pellets in afternoon along with seaweed everyday for the tangs...every other day i throw in a Silver for the trigger

 

[larangcon]

Budman, like I said, I rarely test for nitrate and with tons of fishes and heavy feedings it can get high. Mine was blood red on the Salifert test kit and the first sign to me was when a friend gave me a frag of the green slimer it did not take more than a couple of hours to died in front of my eyes like a forest fire, just lit up and turned white. like I said test often and know when to cut down on the Vodka, so far all corals are fine. Place some more SPS and got the colors right away. I have not gone below 10 as of today and the corals are much happier now. Just bought more corals this week and came out fine except the ones that did not make the trip when delivered. The only draw back now is constant testing until the nitrate is down to zero.
Then I would know the normal dosage.

 

[larangcon]

I forgot to mention about using MB7 and amino acids to complement the Vodka or it will not work, you might end of crashing your tank without these supplements.

 

[Dtech07]

I just recently stopped vodka dosing last week, I am going to start the no3 po4 X treatment in a few days.

Start a thread on your progress I'm interested in your results.