Vodka Dosing....
- Thread starter sethsolomon
- Start date
This is the article, startup guide when I started years ago: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php
In my opinion best advice I can give go slow and test a lot. The bacteria use nitrate to phosphate in a ratio of about 16 to 1 (of memory serves) so you will still need gfo phosguard or some other phosphate absorbing media if your levels are high. The ultra low nutrient water will also slow the growth of toadstools and other softies that absorb nutrients directly from the column. And I have noticed an increase in sensitivity to temperature fluctuations, especially the hotter side, so of you have sps or other sensitive corals keep a close eye on it.
Good luck!! Vodka dosing was one of the best things I ever did to my tank.
In my opinion best advice I can give go slow and test a lot. The bacteria use nitrate to phosphate in a ratio of about 16 to 1 (of memory serves) so you will still need gfo phosguard or some other phosphate absorbing media if your levels are high. The ultra low nutrient water will also slow the growth of toadstools and other softies that absorb nutrients directly from the column. And I have noticed an increase in sensitivity to temperature fluctuations, especially the hotter side, so of you have sps or other sensitive corals keep a close eye on it.
Good luck!! Vodka dosing was one of the best things I ever did to my tank.
here are some great links to read about vodka dosing:
http://www.melevsreef.com/vodka_dosing.html
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/
That being said, my opinion is that vodka dosing should be done mildly and only on a fully established system. Your system is too new and you are trying to rush things...first you wanted an algae scrubber, now you want to dose carbon...i think if you want to get rid of your GHA, cut back on your feeding a ton, manually remove the gha with water changes, and be patient....no need to spend money on vodka not worth drinking...save your money, but great vodka, and some lemons....have lemon drops while your watching your tank mature.
http://www.melevsreef.com/vodka_dosing.html
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/
That being said, my opinion is that vodka dosing should be done mildly and only on a fully established system. Your system is too new and you are trying to rush things...first you wanted an algae scrubber, now you want to dose carbon...i think if you want to get rid of your GHA, cut back on your feeding a ton, manually remove the gha with water changes, and be patient....no need to spend money on vodka not worth drinking...save your money, but great vodka, and some lemons....have lemon drops while your watching your tank mature.
What problem are you trying to solve? I think that you could introduce more problems that you will solve. If it just hair algae, then get something to eat it. If you starve the algae, you will stave the coral.
I would not even attempt to do this until your system is at least 9-12 months old with a fully established cycle, including the anoxic bacteria.
Every really nice, mature system that I have seen will have some small amount of algae or cyano that can get away if they don't have enough consumers.
I would not even attempt to do this until your system is at least 9-12 months old with a fully established cycle, including the anoxic bacteria.
Every really nice, mature system that I have seen will have some small amount of algae or cyano that can get away if they don't have enough consumers.
So I have been fighting the hair algae for the past 2 months. The tank is 5 months old. The algae scrubber was working well until it decided to start squirting water all over the floor. So turned it off. Now the algae is blooming again.
Cleaner crew:
15 trochus
25 astrae cone snails
50 ceriths
10 ish blue leg hermits
2 emerald crabs
1 conch (my sand is prime thanks to him)
Every week I do water changes and I clean up all the GHA. The past month has been like this. So I think its time for something more to be added to combat it. I have a GFO reactor but I have never used it. What would GFO entail? Pro's? Cons?
Thanks,
Seth
Cleaner crew:
15 trochus
25 astrae cone snails
50 ceriths
10 ish blue leg hermits
2 emerald crabs
1 conch (my sand is prime thanks to him)
Every week I do water changes and I clean up all the GHA. The past month has been like this. So I think its time for something more to be added to combat it. I have a GFO reactor but I have never used it. What would GFO entail? Pro's? Cons?
Thanks,
Seth
Your tank is only 5 months old and going through its natural progression of nuisance's. Vodka dosing will cause more problems then it will solve. From what I can see your system is mostly softies and LPS. Those types of corals are dependent on the same nutrients that are feeding the algae. Stripping the "food" from the water column to starve the hair algae will also starve your corals. The best thing you can do is be diligent with your husbandry, reef tanks require the most work the first year of their life in order to be successful for years to come. Manual removal, scrubbing rocks, water changes, current bulbs and natural predators are your best weapons to overcome the nuisances during your tank cycle (yes your tank is still cycling months later). Also keep in mind your tank is a battleground for reef space. As your corals grow in and you add more livestock there will be less space for nuisances to keep hold.
I didn't vodka/vinegar/carbon dose on my previous 125 until over a year after it was setup. The reason I did so was not to battle nuisances but to keep my NO3 down since I fed a lot and had a heavily stocked system. Even then I never bottomed out my nutrients (kept NO3 around 5). When I upgraded my system to a 225 gallon I continued to carbon dose and was fighting cyano. I then decided to bottom out my NO3 by increasing my carbon dosing and it was the stupidest thing I ever did. I bleached out most of my corals and lost some of my prized colonies. I am still in the process of recovering my tank.
Point is if you plan on vodka dosing to combat hair algae you will have to bottom out your nutrients to kill it, problem is you will be starving your corals in the process. The lesson I learned from carbon dosing is that it should be used to maintain low NO3 levels, not completely strip it from your system. With good husbandry and patience it will subside
I didn't vodka/vinegar/carbon dose on my previous 125 until over a year after it was setup. The reason I did so was not to battle nuisances but to keep my NO3 down since I fed a lot and had a heavily stocked system. Even then I never bottomed out my nutrients (kept NO3 around 5). When I upgraded my system to a 225 gallon I continued to carbon dose and was fighting cyano. I then decided to bottom out my NO3 by increasing my carbon dosing and it was the stupidest thing I ever did. I bleached out most of my corals and lost some of my prized colonies. I am still in the process of recovering my tank.
Point is if you plan on vodka dosing to combat hair algae you will have to bottom out your nutrients to kill it, problem is you will be starving your corals in the process. The lesson I learned from carbon dosing is that it should be used to maintain low NO3 levels, not completely strip it from your system. With good husbandry and patience it will subside
Not even close to the case . I only have about 6 types of LPS, lots of zoas, and about 30 different varieties of sps.
My frustration with this is I have had 4 other tanks before and never had a problem with hair algae. After moving here to colorado they problem started showing up.
Just really frustrating.
. I only have about 6 types of LPS, lots of zoas, and about 30 different varieties of sps.My frustration with this is I have had 4 other tanks before and never had a problem with hair algae. After moving here to colorado they problem started showing up.
Just really frustrating.
Get a few mexican turbo snails. All of those snails will eat hair once the "easy" algae is gone and the mexican turbos will eat a LOT of everything.
Your tanks is not done cycling yet. I strongly suggest that you don't do anything to disrupt the cycle to artificially removing an nitrate or phosphate. If you have aragonite sand, a good skimmer and good husbandry then your tank will be fine - it just takes time.
I used carbon (sugar, not vodka) in my FOWLR and it really helped keep my N and P down to where coralline would grow and presumably the fish healthier. I have never have, and likely will never, use it in a reef tank... especially a newer one.
I know that I am a dogmatic dinosaur, but the same principles that made reef tanks awesome 10-15 years ago still work today and nobody heard of vodka back then.
Your tanks is not done cycling yet. I strongly suggest that you don't do anything to disrupt the cycle to artificially removing an nitrate or phosphate. If you have aragonite sand, a good skimmer and good husbandry then your tank will be fine - it just takes time.
I used carbon (sugar, not vodka) in my FOWLR and it really helped keep my N and P down to where coralline would grow and presumably the fish healthier. I have never have, and likely will never, use it in a reef tank... especially a newer one.
I know that I am a dogmatic dinosaur, but the same principles that made reef tanks awesome 10-15 years ago still work today and nobody heard of vodka back then.
I just saw your cleaner list. 25 astreas is not very many. You could easily add 50-100 more to eat the film and hair. You can get them for like $40 through Reeftopia, or the like... and they come really small so that they can get in the hard to reach places.
Also, concerning snail, they sometimes like to wander to the glass and stay there. Sometimes I have to move their lazy azzes back to the rocks.
Emerald crabs will also crush hair algae.
Also, concerning snail, they sometimes like to wander to the glass and stay there. Sometimes I have to move their lazy azzes back to the rocks.
Emerald crabs will also crush hair algae.
I had a huge bout with GHA a while back, tried everything and finally with alot of diligents and time to fully remove it, but all I did was pick it away every night, and small water changes every other day, and BAM, gone. Ive since added a GFO reactor to keep it at bay and I no longer have any issues with GHA or any other algeas at that. I dont even have to clean my glass all that much anymore.
