Vodka dosing
- Thread starter chanson123
- Start date
I dose vodka, have been for probably 4 years. I worked for Spring44 distillery though, got my fair share of failed inspection vodka :crazycrazy:
Randy Holmes Fairley, mentioned above, has great articles on VSV which is vodka sugar vodka. He has proportions and everything to make the mix.
I went with this site for my knowledge on dosing Vodka: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php
RHF article on dosing Vinegar: http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium
Randy Holmes Fairley, mentioned above, has great articles on VSV which is vodka sugar vodka. He has proportions and everything to make the mix.
I went with this site for my knowledge on dosing Vodka: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php
RHF article on dosing Vinegar: http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index...ar-dosing-methodology-for-the-marine-aquarium
What is the problem that you are trying to solve. It can/will reduce nitrate down to nothing (even dangerously low). It won't do much for phosphate.
You still need to have a very good skimmer to export the stuff that you will be growing with the vodka. I mean, very good skimmer. You will also have to clean the skimmer daily once you get up and going.
I used to dose sugar in my FOWLR quite religiously. It kept my nitrate under 1 and phosphate was under .03. Sugar is pure and cheap and there is no material difference between it, vodka or vinegar... just anecdotes and whatever makes people feel better.
You still need to have a very good skimmer to export the stuff that you will be growing with the vodka. I mean, very good skimmer. You will also have to clean the skimmer daily once you get up and going.
I used to dose sugar in my FOWLR quite religiously. It kept my nitrate under 1 and phosphate was under .03. Sugar is pure and cheap and there is no material difference between it, vodka or vinegar... just anecdotes and whatever makes people feel better.
With sugar are the requirements the same?
My phosphates will reduce with the new ro. And my nitrates as what I want to battle. I will read up with using sugar. I was going to start using vodka, but I am open to other solutions as well. Thanks for the info, anymore you have with using sugar pros and cons?
My phosphates will reduce with the new ro. And my nitrates as what I want to battle. I will read up with using sugar. I was going to start using vodka, but I am open to other solutions as well. Thanks for the info, anymore you have with using sugar pros and cons?
If I was starting carbon dosing today I'd consider the VSV method, vodka/sugar/vinegar. My thought would be adding diversity, which makes sense in my brain...but many have said it doesn't really matter. I'll stick with vodka, at least when the bottle is nearly empty I get a refreshing treat.....although I remind myself that a half full bottle isn't nearly empty!
Check it:
http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/probiotics-diy-organic-carbon-sources
Check it:
http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/probiotics-diy-organic-carbon-sources
It takes quite a few weeks to get the bacteria up to a level where you notice a difference. Also you need to make sure you have a skimmer thats able to pull the gunk out. If your skimmer isn't producing you arnt removing the bacteria the dosing is creating which means the nitrates just stay in your tank and you wont see a change.
Over the summer I was dosing vodka, manually. Then I would go away for a camping tip and I couldn't dose, so I quit. I decided that I wanted to dose again after doing a lot of research. This time I went with vinegar to start. I have a lot of vinegar in the house, and not a lot of vodka. Initially I was happy, but I continued to do some research. I then got a slave setup for my Jebao dosing pump and another container and set it on autopilot while I was doing my research. I came across people who were dosing VSV. Adding vodka, sugar, and vinegar. There are some that are afraid that a single carbon source will lead to a single strain of bacteria. There is also considerable debate over what carbon source aids a cyano outbreak. So, I mixed up some VSV, following the recipe that was most prevalent and dosed according to the vodka dosing schedule. Then I came across VSVVc. Now I have added sodium ascorbate (vitamin c) to my dosing container. I am pulling very dark skimmate. The skimmer is well controlled, but doing it's job. I have this dosing four times a day because I do see a hit in my ORP each time it doses. ORP rebounds in between each dose, so I feel that I have the schedule set right at this moment. As the dose increases, I will breakout the dosing schedules in to more timers per day as opposed to just increasing quantity.
This link has a recipe that I used. http://glassbox-design.com/2008/achieved-through-observation-and-experimentation/
This forum link has some discussion, as well as some variations on recipe http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1752024
This forum link has some discussion, as well as some variations on recipe http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1752024
