Who's still vodka dosing and how's it going?

revhtree · Mar 16, 2012

I haven't heard much discussion about vodka dosing lately and was wondering who's still doing it and how is it working out for you?

REEFKEEPER10 · Mar 16, 2012

tagging along.

Thatgrimguy · Mar 16, 2012

I have been dosing organic carbon (vinegar) in my tank for about 4 months now. I did it on my last system and loved it. I used to be much more aggressive than I am now because my algae scrubber does most of my dirty work these days. I mostly use vinegar to get max punch out of Kalk. I'm dosing Kalk saturated straight vinegar at a rate of about 30 mils a day into my 210g sps dominant reef.

Aquaph8 · Mar 16, 2012

I'm still dosing but I switched to vinegar.

swannyson7 · Mar 16, 2012

I just tore down my 40B frag tank the other day, but I was vodka dosing on there right up to the day I tore it down, and everything was doing well.

lpslover · Mar 18, 2012

Still liquid carbon dosing my 14 gallon LPS stocked and very heavily fed cube. There isn't a good way to use any kind of solid carbon source with these. The liquid has worked well for me for about 18 months now. I was using Korallen ZeoStart which I'm guessing based on smell was primarily acetic acid. Lately I've been using Red Sea NO3PO4X which based on smell and limited labeling is primarily methanol. Both seem to have worked well. The key I've found is to use the directions only as a starting point and increase and decrease the dosage relative to NO3 and PO4 levels just as you would a DIY mix. The system runs with no nitrate and no to trace amounts of phosphate even if I skip a week on water changes. I've looked into using mixed source DIY mixes, but the cost savings at the tiny amounts I'm dosing are not worth the trouble.

BCT182 · Mar 18, 2012

I am dosing 80 proof Tito's but compared to the reef keeping magazine article I am very conservative. My skimmer was really pulling the dark nasties out. My Ecotech Radion burned up and I was without lights for 8 days, so I stopped dosing or doing anything for that matter. Test kits are important, but so is being able to get that "feeling" if something may not be right which I can only get if I can look at the corals closely. I thought I had messed with my skimmer or something because the skimmate went from coffee to tea. As soon as my replacement (warrantied) light came in, I resumed vodka and in three days back to black. Its a 60G bare bottom cube with a 25G sump and I run the full size BRS carbon reactor. I know vodka dosing without ozone can lead to yellow water with no, or not enough carbon. I have not experienced this. Oh and I dose bright well MB-7 at different times of day. No other dosing of any sort. Calcium is currently managed with water changes, but will soon be using 2-part.

ritter6788 · Mar 18, 2012

I was thinking about this a few days ago. Vodka was all the rage when I got into the hobby but it seems to have slowed lately. I think the intro of bio pellets may have a little to do with it.

BCT182 · Mar 18, 2012

I think people who were dosing without testing nitrates religiously slowed it down a bit too, and gave it a reputation of being sketchy.

BCT182 · Mar 18, 2012

Wether your drinking it, or dosing it, moderation it key.

MattL22 · Mar 18, 2012

I'm dosing vinegar for months now but running into a few issues with it gonna cut my dosse in 1/3

kellerexpress · Mar 18, 2012

Vinegar here as well, everything is doing great

BillyC · Mar 18, 2012

I've been dosing vodka/mb7 for a few months now using sunny's methods and it took 2 months but things have never looked better.

iamvictor2k · Mar 18, 2012

um what does vodka / vinegar do for you and why would i want to do it and how much so on and so forth can somone share a link to previous forum

BillyC · Mar 19, 2012

Vodka Dosing by 'Genetics' and 'Stony_Corals' - Reefkeeping.com

SDguy · Mar 19, 2012

I still do.

ryeguyy84 · Mar 20, 2012

I stopped, might have over done it and had some STN plus the cyano was annoying.

lpslover · Mar 21, 2012

Cyano should go away after the nitrates & phosphates fall and the dose stabilizes. It took about a month after that for mine to clear.

Only time I've heard of it not stabilizing is with a deeper old sand bed with a lot of trapped nutrients.

reeffirstaid · Mar 21, 2012

I have been dosing Vodka for almost a year. Personally for me, (I haven't read all the replies) it has been going well. There is science behind vodka dosing and I personally see effects very similar to the use of ozone. Back in the day I had an ozone machine that turned any tubing that wasn't ozone proof yellow and helped the skimmer go wild. I personally think vodka dosing has a similar effect - just without the expensive machine, yellow tubing and annoying testing.