Vodka Dosing.

posiden

posiden

Active Member
Spanko,
Do you turn off your skimmer when you dose the microbactor 7? The directions say to but, I don't know why. Maybe to give the little guys time to settel in somewhere. I didn't turn off the skimmer on my ten gallon when I dosed it, but in my 29 I did cause the instructions say to. The skimmer in the ten didn't go nuts or anything, it just stayed the same.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
I don't use the Brightwell product. Can tell you that when I dose with the Prodibio product all filters, skimmers are off for about a half an hour. Same with the vodka and Amino Acids. Skimmer is a filter and would probably remove some of it. I do leave the MP10 on in the tank though. Do I have some scientific reason for it.......no.
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3175078
I don't use the Brightwell product. Can tell you that when I dose with the Prodibio product all filters, skimmers are off for about a half an hour. Same with the vodka and Amino Acids. Skimmer is a filter and would probably remove some of it. I do leave the MP10 on in the tank though. Do I have some scientific reason for it.......no.
Ok, Thank you. I shut down my skimmer, I wonder if I need to have it off for 4 hours? Seems like a long time. I never thought about turning it off for the addition of of the aminos or vodka. Makes sense to me on the aminos and the microbactor, the vodka IDK.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Yeah I am not sure of the physics involve in whether or not a skimmer bubble would attract vodka or not. But I dose the vodka and amino at the same time so no biggy.
On another note I have been doing some reading on photo saturation of zooxanthellae and am thinking of doing lights out trials one day a month. I have already reduced my MH photo-period to 7 hours per day. Just throwing that out there as something else I am playing around with. I may start another thread on it here to see what kind of info anyone has on this site.
 
posiden

posiden

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3175095
Yeah I am not sure of the physics involve in whether or not a skimmer bubble would attract vodka or not. But I dose the vodka and amino at the same time so no biggy.
On another note I have been doing some reading on photo saturation of zooxanthellae and am thinking of doing lights out trials one day a month. I have already reduced my MH photo-period to 7 hours per day. Just throwing that out there as something else I am playing around with. I may start another thread on it here to see what kind of info anyone has on this site.

That would be interesting to follow. If you do it, please shoot me the link. In case I don't see it.
 
reefkprz

reefkprz

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3175095
Yeah I am not sure of the physics involve in whether or not a skimmer bubble would attract vodka or not. But I dose the vodka and amino at the same time so no biggy.
On another note I have been doing some reading on photo saturation of zooxanthellae and am thinking of doing lights out trials one day a month. I have already reduced my MH photo-period to 7 hours per day. Just throwing that out there as something else I am playing around with. I may start another thread on it here to see what kind of info anyone has on this site.
I do something similar, about once a month I lift my lights up about 16 inches and leave them raised for the day. I dont reduce my photoperiod though. I run 2x250w halide and 2x110w VHO 14 hours a day. same lighting schedule I have used for about (3-4 years maybe not sure) a while.
I leave my skimmer runnign when I dose vodka,I dose it in the return pump section of my sump (after the skimmer) I havent yet read anywhere that turning off your skimmer is needed for vodaka dosing to be effective.
 
al mc

al mc

Active Member
5 months of vodka dosing. Adding 16ml per day (in one shot) to the sump each morning in my Reef and 12ml/day in my FOWLR set up. Nitrates run 5-10. When they get to 10 I do a 20% water change. This has cut my water change frequency from every 10 days before dosing to every 4-6 weeks currently despite doubling target feeding of inverts.
No surprise...I harvest very little chaeto anymore with the lowered nitrate/phosphates.
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
Spanko and others who are dosing....I am looking to begin dosing my tank...I've work everything out, but I am looking for confirmation on my numbers.
I have 180 with a 20 gallon sump. So between that water and the water in my pipes and my skimmer I figure I have a gross volume of 205...subtract 30%(is 30% enough, too much or too little??) I'm left with a Net Water Volume of 145 Gallons.
So I calculated my starting dosage to be .58ml for day 1-3 and then 1.16 for day 4-7.
How am I looking so far??
 
al mc

al mc

Active Member
Originally Posted by 9supratt4
http:///forum/post/3187320
Spanko and others who are dosing....I am looking to begin dosing my tank...I've work everything out, but I am looking for confirmation on my numbers.
I have 180 with a 20 gallon sump. So between that water and the water in my pipes and my skimmer I figure I have a gross volume of 205...subtract 30%(is 30% enough, too much or too little??) I'm left with a Net Water Volume of 145 Gallons.
So I calculated my starting dosage to be .58ml for day 1-3 and then 1.16 for day 4-7.
How am I looking so far??
Your numbers look fine to me. If your experience is similar to mine I would expect to see better water clarity in 3-4 days and a thicker, probably darker skimmate in 7-10 days. Good luck.
 
bluetang66

bluetang66

Member
This is a great read, That being said I'm in my 9 month of vodka dosing. I knew early on that i had a marginal skimmer so I've kept my dose on the small side. I built up to 1.5 mm and didn't try to increase anymore because all i was after was the crystal clear water that alot of people talked about. I think that you need to decide what you want to get out of dosing and if it is worth the risk to you then go for it, it's worked for me. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
I've thought about, thought about, and thought about vodka dosing. I'm looking to get better colors...better polyp extension...and better growth from my SPS.
I still have not been able to find anyone personally who had a bad experience with dosing. I know there are risks, but if taken slowly, the risks should be minimal. I'll be starting to dose soon!!
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
I can't find any instructions anywhere stating what to do if cyano begins to grow while dosing. I started dosind 22 days ago...so far not much to talk about, except the fact that I don't have to clean the glass as often as I used to. But, someone mentioned to wtach out for cyano growth due to the dosing since the dosing would be feeding the cyano. What are you supposed to do if you get cyano growth?
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Carbon dosing during a cyano outbreak could cure it of could cause it to go crazy. Cyano can use carbon sources like vodka and sugar. Are you adding any bacteria to out compete it? Look into some Microbacter7 by Brightwell Aquatics. Dose about 1/2 the recommended dose. Keep up with the vodka.
The other alternative is to stop the vodka until you get the cyano taken care of.
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3204031
Carbon dosing during a cyano outbreak could cure it of could cause it to go crazy. Cyano can use carbon sources like vodka and sugar. Are you adding any bacteria to out compete it? Look into some Microbacter7 by Brightwell Aquatics. Dose about 1/2 the recommended dose. Keep up with the vodka.
The other alternative is to stop the vodka until you get the cyano taken care of.
So it can cure it or make it go crazy...Yikes!! I guess there's no way to know until it happens LOL.
I am not adding anything, but vodka, but I will look into the MB7. Do you have to continue with the MB7 during the entire time of dosing vodka, or just until the maintenance level is reached?
 
dutch06

dutch06

Member
Originally Posted by 9supratt4
http:///forum/post/3204078
I am not adding anything, but vodka, but I will look into the MB7. Do you have to continue with the MB7 during the entire time of dosing vodka, or just until the maintenance level is reached?
It's a continuous dosage. Most people will split the dosage into drops though and make it daily vs. weekly for the stability. I'm currently using 3 drops of MB7 a day. Hope this helps.
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
I've been dosing vodka for 44 days and I am up to 4mL on 145 net gallons. Is there a way to tell the difference between burnt tips of my corals and just regular white tips from new growth?
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
If you post up a picture we can help. Are the white tips new since you started dosing? Burnt tips aren't actually from the vodka but from an alkalinity level higher than natural seawater (7-8 dKH) while dosing.
 
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