Cyano, Brightwell MB7 and Vodka
 

Last night I added Chemiclean to my take to get rid of Cyano. Hopefully by the end of the week my tank will be back on track.

But I do need to get my PO and NO3 in balance in the future. Is the addition of Vodka and MB7 contradictory to each other? Brightwell MB7 is an additive to help your bacteria but the manufacturer also says it reduces organic carbon. Vodka dosing adds carbon as food for bacteria.

Can I (or should I) apply both treatments at the same time?

You could start with just mb7 but will need to feed it carbon there after. Imo

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1965866

Great thread about the two and using them in conjunction.

Thanks for the link. That answers my questions.

My 48 hour cyano treatment ended yesterday. I did a 15% water change yesterday afternoon and added carbon to the refugium. I will do another 15% water change this afternoon.

As of this morning:

PO = 0.025
NO3 = 0.25 to 0.5

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Part of the driver for vodka dosing is to counteract the effects of tank sitters. A good friend of mine stops in every 2 days to feed the fish. He admits he probably over feeds, and the results show.

So in preparation for travelling this year I needed to get my PO and NO3 under control. I will start vodka dosing later today after my 2nd water change.

Vodka dosing is supposed to be a daily event. Any issues if my tank sitter only does every 2nd day?

Vodka does not have be to dosed daily, however it is best to split your dosage every 2nd day in half and dose it daily. I dose vodka every second day without any issues. Make sure the dosages start off small and ramp it up slowly until you can maintain a desirable nitrate and phosphate level. Then cut down to a maintenance dose, it is important you do so or else the bacteria will strip your water excessively and leave your corals starving.

Could you rephrase this?

Sorry, my wording was a little confusing there. What I mean is: it is best to dose vodka in smaller and more frequent amounts. For example if you dose 2mls of vodka every two days, it would be better to dose 1ml every day as oppose to having it done every two days. The reasoning behind this is because vodka itself is a very potent carbon source (8x that of vinegar) by introducing larger amounts of vodka in a short period can cause short term excessive bacteria growth ultimately stripping the water clean and dropping your oxygen levels quickly. Like I said earlier, I dose every second day like yourself however my maintanence dose is very little compared to what I use to dose (.25ml/40gallons) .I also feed very heavily to take the full benefit of carbon dosing. In other words I don't see a problem on why you can't dose every second day as long as your following the vodka dosing guide on reef central.


Also, from your parameters posted. I don't think those are bad numbers to have, corals need a little bit of nitrate and phosphates to be happy.

Thanks for clarifying.

I have never been happy with the appearance of my tank. The sand is dirty, corals are brown and I always have algae present. I am hoping that vodka and MB7 will perk things up.

How Long Until I See Results?
 

Yesterday I started dosing vodka. After doing a bit more reading I changed my formulation and tomorrow I will shift to a vodka/sugar/vinegar concoction.

I have found before and after photos of tanks ~2 months after dosing. They can be very dramatic. But how long until I start to see some subtle changes?