VODKA Dosing

[spawn]

Just wondering if anyone is still vodka dosing in the old fashioned liquid form, & what has your experience with it been? Good, bad, advice, & any before & after pics. Thanks.

[Lance]

Originally Posted by spawn

Just wondering if anyone is still vodka dosing in the old fashioned liquid form, & what has your experience with it been? Good, bad, advice, & any before & after pics. Thanks.

I had been vodka dosing for several months and was starting to see a little bit of improvement with nitrate levels, but then the bio pellets became available and seemed like a lot less hassle than the vodka. I switched to the pellets and never looked back.

[tlo]

I used to vodka dose with good results. I switched to biopellets about 6 months ago and have nothing but problems so I am thinking of going back to vodka.

[spawn]

This is why I'm asking the questions. I have an RSM 250 so space is very limited for hooking up a reactor, & I've been told not easily achieved in my set-up. & the possibility of issues with the pellets. I'm on day 3 of .2ml vodka per day. Until recently, No3 never been an issue but likely over feeding coral & amino's led to 20ppm. Corals seem to be okay but don't want this again. 1 question I have is do I stop changing water for a while or longer term . I read one guy saying he hadn't done a water change in like 8 mons. ??? WTF.

[viperfish]

Originally Posted by tlo

I used to vodka dose with good results. I switched to biopellets about 6 months ago and have nothing but problems so I am thinking of going back to vodka.

Same here I never dosed vodka before I started biopellets but a friend was doing it and I was impressed with his results. I'm in week 3 of dosing my 150 and I am up to 2.2 ml per day. I still have the biopellets running because I wanted an overlap between pellets and vodka. I have been running pellets since January and for the last month I seem to have hit a plateau where it is as if I wasn't running pellets at all. After 3 weeks of vodka I am noticing an improvement in my tank once again. I know manually dosing is a pain but I'm dosing Zeo supplements every night anyway, and I have the Wife all set up to dose when I'm out of town. Best thing about vodka is you can't beat the price!

[chris88]

I run a sps tank with vinegar dosing which is the same thing and it has removed my need for major water changes because my parameters are all zeros. The only reason I do water changes at all is to replenish trace elements which I do supplement but it can't hurt to do some water changes to help out.

When you start to notice a bio film on your glass or rocks it's basically when you have reached your saturation point and you should tone down your dosage. You will know it is a bioflim because it will have tiny, and i tiny air bubbles coming from it and it will not be green like algae or red like cyno. It is not harmful but it is a sign that you have gone a bit too far. Hope this helps. Oh and I forgot keep your alk (dkh) 7-8 and no higher or some of your sps male pale out on you. Also, keep your skimmer running top notch by cleaning it weekly. Carbon dosing is essential useless without a high function skimmer.

[Bloodasp]

I'm up to 8 ml a day and sticking to that amount. Haven't noticed much difference but then I was dosing since my tank was 2 months old last year.

[viperfish]

Originally Posted by Bloodasp

I'm up to 8 ml a day and sticking to that amount. Haven't noticed much difference but then I was dosing since my tank was 2 months old last year.

What is your tank volume?

[Bloodasp]

70 gal w/ a 25 gal sump.

[viperfish]

Originally Posted by Bloodasp

70 gal w/ a 25 gal sump.

I was just curious, my tank is 150 Gal and I am following the Advanced Aquarist dosing guidelines but you have to sort of determine yourself the right amount to level off at.