Vodka Dosing.

florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3078511
Joe, did you mean algae bloom here or bacteria bloom?
Henry they were referring to an algal bloom. Borneman however in 2004 questioned weather the cloudiness was a bacterial bloom or simply carbonate precipitation. I could not find any Definitive answer. I had no Issue with cloudiness did you?
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
No but as you know I did not follow the dosing scheduleincrease per the published table. I started out with 1 drop from a standard eyedropper per day and have gone to two drops. The reasoning I used was that at room temp there are about 20 drops per mL of water. So I am dosing currently at the day 1-3 level for a 25 gallon tank (about don't get gnats ass perfect on me here). You also know that my goal has not been nitratephosphate reduction (have undetectable amounts even without dosing) but more water clarity - polyp extension - glass cleanliness - and overfeeding to coral desires. I may increase at some point but for now I am okay with what I am getting here.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
understood. I assume the reason to continue dosing is due to the removal of the bio mass. It, I guess does not continue to grow on its own once established like nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. Do you agree ?
 
al mc

al mc

Active Member
So Joe (and Henry), based on my water volume you think it is Ok to jump the dose from about 2.5ml to 10ml literally in a day? If Ok, what do you and henry think I need to monitor for signs of trouble?
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3078687
understood. I assume the reason to continue dosing is due to the removal of the bio mass. It, I guess does not continue to grow on its own once established like nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria. Do you agree ?
If you are referring to the algae in tank as the biomass that has been removed, yes this would be one of the reasons to continue dosing. There, in this case, is no longer a nitrate removal (denitrification) system in tank. It is my understanding that the reason for carbon dosing is to fuel the denitrifying bacteria. In my case I wish to do this not to reduce the nitratephosphate in tank but to have the bio filter established and working in order to allow me to "feed" at an increased rate to fuel growth and color in the coral.
Is this what you were getting at Joe?
Al I think I would agree with Joe here and you could safely jump to 5 mL but I would not go directly to 10. The things to look for are of course the hazing of the water, burning of the tips of any SPS coral. In that case you would go back to the 2.5 level IMO. Joe your thoughts?
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3078964
If you are referring to the algae in tank as the biomass that has been removed, yes this would be one of the reasons to continue dosing. There, in this case, is no longer a nitrate removal (denitrification) system in tank. It is my understanding that the reason for carbon dosing is to fuel the denitrifying bacteria. In my case I wish to do this not to reduce the nitratephosphate in tank but to have the bio filter established and working in order to allow me to "feed" at an increased rate to fuel growth and color in the coral.
Is this what you were getting at Joe?
Henry I think I would agree with Joe here and you could safely jump to 5 mL but I would not go directly to 10. The things to look for are of course the hazing of the water, burning of the tips of any SPS coral. In that case you would go back to the 2.5 level IMO. Joe your thoughts?
Henry I don’t think it is algae. When I refer to biomass I am speaking of the mucus like scum I harvest in my refug. I think by taking this out I remove the bacterial mass-produced by dosing along with the assimilated nitrates. Hence the need to continually does to produce the bacteria.
I agree Henry a jump to 10 ml may be extreme I would go to 5 and observe the outcome. I do think his present dosing is inadequate
 
al mc

al mc

Active Member
Thanks J & H...I have been dosing am/pm so will go to 5ml total daily with a
2.5ml dose starting tonight.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
Originally Posted by florida joe
http:///forum/post/3079019
Henry I don’t think it is algae. When I refer to biomass I am speaking of the mucus like scum I harvest in my refug. I think by taking this out I remove the bacterial mass-produced by dosing along with the assimilated nitrates. Hence the need to continually does to produce the bacteria.
I agree Henry a jump to 10 ml may be extreme I would go to 5 and observe the outcome. I do think his present dosing is inadequate
I see Joe. As my tank is a 29 biocube without a fuge (Chaetomorpha died I believe from the lack of nutrient available) the scum you talk about is probably being absorbed by the filter floss I have on the intake side of the back chambers. This floss is changed daily and is quite dirty so I would suspect you are correct sir, the biomass of denitrifying bacteria, for the most part, is being "filtered out" along with the accumulated nitrates. This also in concert with the increased "nastiness" of the skimmate from the skimmer.
Good discussion here. How long have you been dosing Joe and have you determined your prophylactic dosing amount? Did you see a bloom at all?
 
al mc

al mc

Active Member
Originally Posted by spanko
http:///forum/post/3079276
MORE VODKA!!!

My head is the smallest one on this particular subject.
Since I do not use any mesh type filters in my system do you think I will even see some 'sludge'?
My reason for vodka dosing trials:
1. Reef system: Feed more/better water quality/better water clarity
2. FOWRL system: Fewer water changes
 
al mc

al mc

Active Member
Observation: My wife and daughter have little to do with swf maintenance and are unaware of the vodka dosing project. Both commented independently that the tank water look clearer. Non scientific, but interesting.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Henry I would say 10 months at least. I have it written down somewhere but the old memory is not what it use to be. I did not notice any increase in skimmate BUT there was a distinct increase in a foul odor from what was produced. I dose in the range of 2 to 3 ml daily. Now that I am in a prophylactic state I am not as precise as I was when I was working on bringing my nitrates down. I never saw an algal bloom in my DT. BUT that’s not to say there was not one in my refug. I have a lot going on there and it is quite possible it showed up at that spot. It is not logical that it would only appear there, but then again as Mr. Spock would say it is illogical for your biomass to only show up in your refug yet that is where I collect it
Note. I have sponge filters in the bottom of my overflow boxes. My first indication that something was going on was a drop in my water level in my sump that I did not attribute to evaporation. Upon investigation I noticed a build up of glutinous material on my filters that was causing the drop in water level in the sump. From there I started the build up of biomass floating in my refuge
 
al mc

al mc

Active Member
Henry/Joe,
As your nitrates/phosphates dropped did you lose some or all of your macroalgae?
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
I have lost all of the algae in my tank and sump. In tank though I had a foxface to control a Caulerpa outbreak and a Tailspot blenny. I would say both of them contributed heavily to the demise of algae in tank. The Chaeto that I had in a fuge in the back of the tank slowly just disintegrated where I was harvesting at least once per month because it grew back there.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Note I had some caulerpa die off with the dosing which I attribute to the dosing out competing it for nutrients, that in its self is a testament to how powerful dosing can be. I did not with the die off of caulerpa experience a sexual event associated with it.
from post #129 Al I am happy to see I am not the only one with a memory issue
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Gentlemen this pic is hard to visualize, my apology, but the white and brown copious flotsam is what I harvest from my refug. the brown is Obviously dead caulerpa do to nitrate starvation.
Note no detrimental event do to caulerpa die off
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top