Vodka dosing

[Reefcube]

Should I dose with vodka? I only check my ph and orp and salinity in my tank. Just herd it was a good idea. I have a 60 gallon cube reef tank. Any input would be good and how much should I dose my tank with?

 

[PDR]

I assume you are having nutrient issues? Would you mind posting your parameters?

 

[madweazl]

Unless you're having issues with nitrates, no.

 

[Juano908]

Should I dose with vodka? I only check my ph and orp and salinity in my tank. Just herd it was a good idea. I have a 60 gallon cube reef tank. Any input would be good and how much should I dose my tank with?

Vodka is a carbon source and it is use to reduce Nitrates, other benefit of Vodka dosing is the water clarity.

When dosing vodka you need to run your protein skimmer 24/7.

Before you start dosing vodka you need to check your Nitrate level.

 

[pga7602]

If those are the only three parameters you test, then no. Vodka dosing has to be closely monitored by testing for nitrates... Almost daily to start.

 

[Bpb]

You’ll test your NO3 weekly for the first 6 months or so while dialing in your dose. As mentioned. Vodka is a nitrate reduction tool. Nothing more.

 

[FishyDP]

I see this post is about a month old, but I wanted to chime in because I've been vodka dosing for the first time, for the past 3 weeks. I was having a significant brown hair and bubble algae outbreak. My nitrates were close to 40 ppm, and I wasn't seeing a significant enough nitrate reduction via waterchanges. After 2-3 days of dosing vodka my water clarity improved by about 50%. After about 2 weeks my algae issue improved by about 60%. After 3 weeks my algae issue is 80% resolved. I was literally seeing algae just float off my LR due to nutrient starvation, I believe. Besides vodka dosing I did start feeding a bit less as well, so that may have helped. My nitrates dropped well below 20, and still dropping. I stopped dosing vodka because I felt like it was almost working too well. I read to be careful not to overdose, which could really deprive your system of nutrients. This was on a 125g softy/lps system. Long story short, it worked well for me.