Vodka Dosing.

al mc

al mc

Active Member
Joe and Henry, et. al.,
Originally I was thinking of using an IV pump to dose the vodka but the amounts were so small it was impossible make it work (microdrip lines are 60 drops/ml so if I am dosing 15ml vodka daily would result in a microdrop every 30 seconds roughly). I saw the recent thread on dosing pumps again and it got me thinking......Could I dilute the vodka with RO/DI water to a point that I could make a dosing pump work? I am fortunate to have access to rebuilt
'human' pumps....
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Alcohol is lighter than water, you would need a way to keep it mixed.
Joe why did you stop dosing in the first place?
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3233053
Alcohol is lighter than water, you would need a way to keep it mixed.
Joe why did you stop dosing in the first place?
Henry although I was sure in my own mind that the dosing brought my nitrates down and added to the vibrancy of my corals the only proof positive way would be to eliminate the dosing and monitor. This eliminated I believe any other unaccounted for reasons that I was attributing to dosing
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3230070
You are on the way then.
Your water column is clearer and the appearance of algae on the glass is becomming less. Is this also correct?
Seems like the first thing most people notice is the clarity of the water.
spent 3 hours cleaning the tank friday night/saturday morning. the water is quite clear (as it normally looks) but my goodness, the bonded filter material was completely clogged. my skimmate is no different than before.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/3233564
spent 3 hours cleaning the tank friday night/saturday morning. the water is quite clear (as it normally looks) but my goodness, the bonded filter material was completely clogged. my skimmate is no different than before.
I saw the most mass accumulation at first on my pre filters.in my overflow boxes. I also never had an over abundance of skimmate in my protein skimmer. as i continued dosing i would take out large amounts of mass floating in my refug. I attribute that to the dosing out competing my caulerpa and as the caulerpa would die off the nutrients released were taken up by the bio mass
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Ren, I use the Polyester Fiber Fill from the fabric store, the cottony stuff that they use to stuff pillows with and change it daily. It is Yuck every day, but I do now feed the tank very heavily.
I never saw an increase in the darkness of the color of the skimmate until my algae died off and I started feeding more. I attribute this to the uptake of the nutrient by the algae while it lived, then when it died the skimmer started grabbing it.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
no way i'd be able to change it daily, i'm having enough hard time dosing daily...btw, up to 3ml this morning
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
as long as you are not inpeading your flow to much you can clean every other day or so. 3ml oh my oh my (sorry Ren i could not help myself
)
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
This is a picture of my pre filter this is after three days of dosing. I must believe that there is a residual effect when you start to dose once again (I was dosing for over one year when I decided to stop)

quite a dramatic change from the part that was in the water and the one out
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
so...my bonded filter is still getting really really nasty, but i don't really see a decrease in the slimey or hairlike algae i have, and i've actually ahd to increase my glass scraping. i'm up to 4.5ml, just figured i'd see something by now.
and now, people are saying that vodka dosing isn't all what it's cracked up to be and we should be dosing vinegar...
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
and now, people are saying that vodka dosing isn't all what it's cracked up to be and we should be dosing vinegar..
don't believe this. how long has it been since you started and again i must say you will eventually go over 5ml a dose (as i suggested at the start
)
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3223546
this is just me but i would start with 4ml a day

Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3224633
four not point four is my suggestion .4 is way to low iMO

Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3224652
First i can only go by my first hand experience. and what i have read. you will not see a nitrate change for at least 35 days. then it will drop off rapidly. over the next week and then stabilize at around 5 mg/l At a reef conference that i attended Julian Sprung stated that after trial and error a starting dosage of 10 ml for 250 g is the way to go. I used 6ml for my 110. I think you will be fine with 4 ml

Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3241714
don't believe this. how long has it been since you started and again i must say you will eventually go over 5ml a dose (as i suggested at the start
)
since beginning of february, and you suggested 4ml to start :)
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by renogaw
http:///forum/post/3241815
since beginning of february, and you suggested 4ml to start :)
you are just about at the starting point IMO to see a reduction in nitrates which will slowly starve your algae and i stand corrected on the dosage BUT how much did you start dosing
. and remember the algae will be a slow and steady proses
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
From the RK article.
"Carbon Sources - Reduction in nitrates and phosphates can be accomplished with ethanol and vinegar with great efficiency. Other molecules that may aid in nutrient reduction are sugar, acetone, methanol, and isopropanol. We have not experimented with sugar though there are many threads on -- about this topic. The latter three have been called into question about the possible effects on health of the owner as well as the wellbeing of the aquarium inhabitants. For these reasons, we chose to describe ethanol addition as a means to decrease both nitrates and phosphate levels."
No experience with vinegar here but vodka is working for many and that is what I will stick with.
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
yea, and it tastes better when you accidentally spill some...in a cup that just happened to have some orange juice in it.. erm...
 
renogaw

renogaw

Active Member
the slimy nastiness in my overflow has reduced, but there's still the sliminess stuff in the sump choking my chaeto. i need to scrape, but i've needed to scrape for a few weeks now
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
and we have polyp extension...
ren states
Yes! Yes!
Henry reply's I must ask oh never mind i think i already know
 
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