Help Help VODKA DOSING!

C

Cappelli

Hello,
I have a 175 bow front that I have had to leave for 6 months in the care of someone else. They have done there best and the only thing I have seen different is there is some out of controll red brown alge moving quickly, I have noticed that some of the corals do not look the best it looks like while i was gone my large power head went out and was not noticed. Everything seems to be going down hill it definatly is not over. I have seen the artical on Melevs site and see that this could be a way to correct the tank.


I have the peramiters back to where they should be the tank is established for more than a year, I have great skimmer (euro reef) 55g refugium and 360 lbs of rock , some sps (monti plate) and several other polyps and leathers, I feel experianced enought to give it a try but would like some feed back. Any thoughts would help!!


What kind of vodka? What Proof % ? How much ? What to expect ? Sould this post be in the 911 section?
 
Hi Capelli. At the base of that same article you read on my site, the full-bore article in Reefkeeping Magazine is what you need to read next, and read it at least two times, if not three. Mine is more a recap of my experience, but I used the Reefkeeping article as my guide.

You can use various Proofs. Each chart is designed for the specific Proofs available. I chose to use 80 Proof (40% alcohol). Please use the recommended dosing method outlined in the Reefkeeping article, and you should be fine. Do NOT expect quick results. This one is one that will take time. I dosed for 7 months before the nitrates began to fall, but once they did they fell quickly all the way to 0.

Here's the article I want you to read, please: Notes from the Trenches - Vodka Dosing... Distilled!

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Thanks so much for the qiuck response I have read the artical and will for sure read it a few more times to be prepaired, The tank has literaly 350 + lbs of rock I would think to use the 150g chart, because of the amount of room the rock takes up.
any suggestions? What brand ?
 
I would suggest you make sure your water chemistry is balanced prior to starting any dosing regiment. Sounds like your issue could more likely be caused by inadequate flow, possible infrequent water changes and possible overfeeding. You say your parameters are back in-line, could you please post them for review. List your Ca,Alk, Mg, phosphates, nitrate, nitrite, daily temp swng and daily ph swing. Why do you think vodka dosing will solve all of your problems.....there are safer way's such as using brightwell's biofuel.
 
Ph
temp 79
sal 1.24
nitrates less than 20 very small amount
nitrites 0
alk 6-7 about 3.5 drops on test = 7
calc 440
mag unknown
phosphate 0


What would you suggest to do ? My first Thought was the flow so I purchansed a karolia 4 to replace the bad power head, and now have more flow I think I ould use some more. The rock at the time when I left eas bright purple and very manicured, I am now seeing the brown red light alge all over and some of my leathers and polyps are not thriving as usal. I whould like to get the alge under controll first and the move on. I had seen the vodka artical and thought it was harmless if one properly. and stated in the article would stop hair alge. Please help I am open to any sugestions. Thaks Joc
 
@Cappelli wrote:
Thanks so much for the qiuck response I have read the artical and will for sure read it a few more times to be prepaired said:
As the article pointed out, you can usually take your system volume and eliminate 33% to get an idea of how much net water is in the tank. The sand and rock displace about a third of the water, perhaps more in your case since believe you have 350lbs of LR in your tank.

@Cappelli wrote:
Quick questiin to Marc to I have to use a drip system fro the first few months of dosing? said:
No, you can drip it in via a syringe just like the rest of us did. After many months of that, I made my drip doser to make my life easier, but I was dosing more vodka.

I always buy 80 Proof, and look for the best bargain I can. I've bought four different brands so far. I think the latest one is Skol. 1.75 L for $9.97. Make sure it doesn't have any flavoring added, like peach or cherry, etc. Just pure vodka.

In regards to the other points discussed, you do want lots of flow in your tank. Could you please post a few pictures so we can see what you are working with? Let's see the tank, and the equipment beneath. We'll help you turn this around.

For Cyano, one possible solution is to simply leave the lights off for three days in a row. On the fourth day, turn them on and see a nice clean tank again. Depending on what livestock you currently have in your tank, you might be able to use the Three Days of Darkness as well. Here's a little more info on that topic, including a link you can read:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2009-02/editor/index.php
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Well your alk is a little low, its still near NSW levels, but at that level any swings either up or down will have more of an impact. I would recommend you bump that alkalinity up over 8 over a period of a week. Also find out what the Mg is... Mg is important for tissue growth and repair, so if you have some stressed corals, getting that in line will help them out. Just judging by your other parameters, your Mg might be okay but its better to make sure. As far as your Nitrates go, 20ppm is about as high as I would recommend in a mixed reef. If you have non-monti SPS, it is definitely too high and should be below 5ppm. If you just have softies or LPS, 10-20ppm is fine assuming you don't have an algae problem to go along with it.
 
Marc, can you provide insight on your drip doser you made? How much vodka were you dosing to be able to automate it?
 
I would guess Marc is basing his calculations on a water volume of 250 gallons or there abouts since his web site shows he started with 1ml per day for days 1,2 and 3.
It appears from his last web site update, he is dosing 12.5ml per day for the 250 gallons of water volume calculated.

Data found here


@dp1416 wrote:
 
Yes, that's the article that is coming out in this month's Newsletter too. And it should be net of 255g total.
 
might also look into v.s.v dosing. vodka, sugar vinegar dosing. i just switched over from straight vodka dosing
 
I have read the artical on the 3 day no lights. At the stage of my tank I am sure it would not hurt the only things in the tank are some leathers and polyps and a dying frog spon the monti is still alive and is rough , I will post pics soon and document the outcome. Thanks for all the help
 
I swore I would never have a unkept tank but 6 months away from home gets you this!
If pics are to pig I will resize Just want to see close up.

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If you haven't done so....have your salinity rechecked with a refractometer and have them "calibrate your hydrometer. If using test kit for ph I would have have that verified also....ph test kit's are not the most accurate. You really should have a bit more flow in there so that it is turbulent and flows across the sandbed as well. The leathers and most softies don't like a lot of flow and really hate direct flow aimed at them so direct your powerheads so that everybody's happy. Also wondering which model euro reef skimmer you have.
 
I had the same thoughts as well. I am going to prchase one more power head for near the bottom to realy kick up the flow. Do you feel a karolia 4 is enough I took a sample to DNA just to have a second opinion, at that time the calcium was some what low 330 and has been brought back upto 440, salinity is fine and ph was caorrect as well. This was all just recintly corrected so I will keep a close watch on the numbers and keep posted. Last question do you feel the 3 day lights out is ok?
 
@Cappelli wrote:
I had the same thoughts as well. I am going to prchase one more power head for near the bottom to realy kick up the flow. Do you feel a karolia 4 is enough I took a sample to DNA just to have a second opinion said:
Excellent....

Three to four day's of lights out should not be a problem and will do wonders for some of your issues. Bear in mind that it's not a "cure" but, when used with other methods to lower nitrates/phosphates will get you back on track. As I mentioned before, I would concentrate on getting your water chemistry (ca/alk and mg)stabilized, get additional flow and give your tank/coral's time to recover, you may be pleasently surprised.
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I will give it a shot I will add one more power head and get some turbulane going and turn the lights out for a few days and the give a report with pics. Thanks for caring enough to stay on my post and help me through this.
 
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