Vodka?

[SWG05]

Not to drink............... it's for your tank. What do you all think about vodka dosing?

 

[Irsug1]

It works, do you have high nitrates?

 

[Tautog]

I've been fighting high No3's, and just removed my deep sand bed. Though it seems everyone is dosing something for high nitrates, I've been told, find the nitrate source, and eliminate it.

 

[ReefToLive1]

Works great, Just by the cheap kind because they all work the same...

 

[Labridaedicted]

Works. Biopellets do the same thing, though, and don't require a daily dosing regimen. Just make sure you have a beefy skimmer for either. Another added benefit of both is the increase in bacterioplankton.

 

[SWG05]

Not having any problems with water promoters.
Natrates 5.0
Nitrites 0
PH 8.3
Phosphates 0.03
Ammonia 0
Temp 78
Salinity 1.026

I had read an artical about dosing with vodka and wondered if anyone had done this and how it worked out for them. How they did it and if it's something that is a temp thing to do or a perminate part of maintenance.

 

[Labridaedicted]

Everyone I know that did vodka dosing did it as a standard part of their dosing, long term. It is something that you have to be careful with, though. Too much can cause more problems than good. I believe the typical dosing is in the ml range. (Unless you like a dose yourself, haha)

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/

Decent article on it, albeit a little old.

 

[SWG05]

Everyone I know that did vodka dosing did it as a standard part of their dosing, long term. It is something that you have to be careful with, though. Too much can cause more problems than good. I believe the typical dosing is in the ml range. (Unless you like a dose yourself, haha)

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/

Decent article on it, albeit a little old.

I'm thinking about trying it. I'm afraid of catching my husband one night, with a straw, drinking from my tank, haha. Really though, thinking about trying this out.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I'm thinking about trying it. I'm afraid of catching my husband one night, with a straw, drinking from my tank, haha. Really though, thinking about trying this out.

Make sure you dose a bottled bacteria along side. Carbon dosing can create bacterial infections without added beneficial bacteria. Most use MB7 or Bio-Spira. Also start off slow as not to shock the system.

 

[Waterjockey]

Not having any problems with water promoters.
Natrates 5.0
Nitrites 0
PH 8.3
Phosphates 0.03
Ammonia 0
Temp 78
Salinity 1.026

I had read an artical about dosing with vodka and wondered if anyone had done this and how it worked out for them. How they did it and if it's something that is a temp thing to do or a perminate part of maintenance.

I have dosed carbon (vodka and or vinegar), for more than a year via dosing pump. It works very well for me (mostly lps reef). Since adding chaeto my dose runs between 10 to 12 ml/day.....or around $5/year.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Do a lot of research first! There are many caveats to carbon dosing. Vodka isn't the only source of carbon you can use, vinegar is another. The amounts are different for both, vinegar lessens the chance of overdosing and having a massive cyano outbreak, likely because it is less concentrated than vodka.

Carbon dosing, IMHO, is the BIGGEST innovation in reef aquariums in the last 30 years, as far as water quality is concerned. The catch is that it requires an extreme amount of patience, monitoring of parameters, and constant attention to the condition of your corals. It is very possible to starve your corals by creating an ultra low nutrient system. I won't get into the arguments for or against a ultra low nutrient systems.

My current tank is a 200 gallon full zeovit tank that is carbon dosed according to Thomas Pohls methodology. This tank has been a real eye opener for me

 

[Rick.45cal]

I also agree that an important part of carbon dosing is to maintain a diversified bacterial colony of known bacteria. Which means that you are also dosing bacteria along side of your carbon source. Not dosing bacteria will also limit the effectiveness of the system as bacterial colonies in closed systems tend to becoming more and more limited as far as diversity of good species (our aquariums will favor a single species many times). Adding a bacteria source keeps the population numbers of the different bacteria species in an equilibrium of sorts. It also helps prevent any losses due to a sudden die off of your bacteria.

 

[SWG05]

I have learned over the years to go very very slow and study study study. Thank you for your input. I'm soaking it all up.

 

[Rick.45cal]

You're on the right path to be successful with it then!

 

[morpheas]

I have been carbon dosing as well although I recently stopped for now. I was in the same situation as you "a lot of people do it, it's beneficial why not?" and started a few months back. It brought my nitrates and phosphates down to 0 and it turned out I had to start dosing KNO3 just to bring some nitrates in because I was starving my corals just like @Rick.45cal said. After stopping the carbon dosing I don't need to dose nitrates and they hover around 1-2. My system, as it is right now, is in a nice balance i.e. the amount of nutrients introduced in the system is the perfect to keep it with the appropriate nitrates/phosphates for coral growth, coloration and health to my liking and satisfaction.

If you're not facing a problem that needs to be solved, carbon dosing might be a solution looking for a problem.

If I were you, I would monitor my NO3 and PO4 over a period of a month with twice or so weekly checks and get a good feel of where they are and how the fluctuate within the week, between water changes etc. If they are a bit high for your liking then, like you said, start slowly to dose. If they're within a range you consider acceptable then by all means don't. Carbon dosing, when used right and for the right reasons is a great tool, when misused it can cause bacterial blooms and could tip the balance of your ecosystem causing other headaches you otherwise might not have had.

 

[SWG05]

I have been carbon dosing as well although I recently stopped for now. I was in the same situation as you "a lot of people do it, it's beneficial why not?" and started a few months back. It brought my nitrates and phosphates down to 0 and it turned out I had to start dosing KNO3 just to bring some nitrates in because I was starving my corals just like @Rick.45cal said. After stopping the carbon dosing I don't need to dose nitrates and they hover around 1-2. My system, as it is right now, is in a nice balance i.e. the amount of nutrients introduced in the system is the perfect to keep it with the appropriate nitrates/phosphates for coral growth, coloration and health to my liking and satisfaction.

If you're not facing a problem that needs to be solved, carbon dosing might be a solution looking for a problem.

If I were you, I would monitor my NO3 and PO4 over a period of a month with twice or so weekly checks and get a good feel of where they are and how the fluctuate within the week, between water changes etc. If they are a bit high for your liking then, like you said, start slowly to dose. If they're within a range you consider acceptable then by all means don't. Carbon dosing, when used right and for the right reasons is a great tool, when misused it can cause bacterial blooms and could tip the balance of your ecosystem causing other headaches you otherwise might not have had.

Thanks for the advice. That makes perfect since. Don't fix what's not broke. I definitely don't want to make a problem for myself. I will continue to monitor things. But I'm still going to reasurch things as much as possible in case I ever do need to use it.

 

[germs101]

Dosing carbon will decrease phosphates? My nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia are a constant 0, but I recently noticed my ro unit was producing phosphates. I've just changed my filters, but my display is over 200 gallons of total water volume. I really don't want to do a 50 percent water change to remove it from my display. If I dose carbon for awhile, will it remove the phosphates?

 

[reeferfoxx]

Dosing carbon will decrease phosphates? My nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia are a constant 0, but I recently noticed my ro unit was producing phosphates. I've just changed my filters, but my display is over 200 gallons of total water volume. I really don't want to do a 50 percent water change to remove it from my display. If I dose carbon for awhile, will it remove the phosphates?

A tank that size, vodka would get expensive. I would just get a GFO reactor depending on the amount of phosphates.

 

[morpheas]

Dosing carbon will decrease phosphates? My nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia are a constant 0, but I recently noticed my ro unit was producing phosphates. I've just changed my filters, but my display is over 200 gallons of total water volume. I really don't want to do a 50 percent water change to remove it from my display. If I dose carbon for awhile, will it remove the phosphates?

It's not very effective with phosphates not as much as nitrates that's for sure. If it's a one time thing you can use either gfo like mentioned or if you don't want to mess with a reactor and the such lanthanum chloride is an excellent solution. Either will remove it very effectively.

 

[Waterjockey]

Dosing carbon will decrease phosphates? My nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia are a constant 0, but I recently noticed my ro unit was producing phosphates. I've just changed my filters, but my display is over 200 gallons of total water volume. I really don't want to do a 50 percent water change to remove it from my display. If I dose carbon for awhile, will it remove the phosphates?

Not very effectively on its own. Carbon dosing is primarily a nitrate control methodology.....with the assumption the system is "carbon limited". Dosing carbon will allow bacteria to consume nitrates (and a much smaller proportion of phosphates), until the next limiting factor....usually nitrate.
Some (myself included), have then dosed nitrates as well, till phosphate becomes the limiting nutrient.
It can be balanced this way, but takes a lot of dilligence and testing. I was testing for nitrates 2x a day and phosphate every day while setting it up with automatic dosing of carbon and nitrate.
Not something I would reccomend to anyone who isn't already experienced in carbon dosing, and you really need to do your research to appreciate the possible pitfalls and fully appreciate the nutrient limiting theory. I no longer do this....it's more time investment in managing the system than I am willing to do on a continious basis. I dose carbon, utilize macro algae, and use other methods to export phosphates when necessary