Vodka dosing question

[daplatapus]

SO I've been vodka dosing my system with approximately 150 gal net water volume for about 3 weeks. Up to now I've been dosing in the morning before I leave for work and I'm just finishing the week of 2.2 ml and about to jump up another .5 ml.
My question for those that have done this before: Is there a point where you'd split the dose to twice a day? Or is dosing it all at once better?

[Proteus]

From my understanding just dose once a day. When you find the point of good result back off on dosage a bit

[TimT]

I dose Vodka sugar and vinegar and have it on a dosing channel on my Profi Doser. The dose is split over 12 times a day.

Cheers,
Tim

[michika]

Originally Posted by TimT

I dose Vodka sugar and vinegar and have it on a dosing channel on my Profi Doser. The dose is split over 12 times a day.

Cheers,
Tim

Are they all mixed in as one and then dosed together or are they being dosed as 3 different products? Do you find the splitting into 12 separate dosages gives you additional stability?

[ScubaSteve]

I've been vodka dosing manually for the past two years. Once your nitrates come down, you can start to decrease the amount of vodka you are dosing. Ideally, you want to use as little as possible and not be overdosing (lest your SPS will start to get bitchy).

The problem with vodka dosing (or any carbon dosing method) is that you are creating a bacterial bloom, which can wreak havoc in your tank if things go bad (ie. deplete oxygen). If you dose a bunch of carbon at once you run a higher chance of a big bloom, so ideally breaking it up into a continuous drip or several smaller doses will negate this. That said, unless you have a fancy-shmancy doser, several doses a day is a real PITA.

I used to do 2 or 3 a day at when I first started (when I was up over 2ml/day in a 50 gallon tank,60 gal total) but after decreasing to about 0.8ml/day I just dose it all at once in the morning without issues. For a while I was doing 1.5ml/day all at once without issue, so I think at 2ml/day for you you can still do 1 dose because of your tank volume. If you get up to 3ml/day I'd start breaking it up. You'll start to get a feel for how your tank is reacting to dosing and you can adjust accordingly.

[TimT]

Originally Posted by michika

Are they all mixed in as one and then dosed together

Yes, all three are mixed together as one and dosed that way. I always try to keep the system as stable as possible.

Cheers,
Tim