Vodka Dosing

[PHILYD1]

I have been reading about Vodka dosing and wanted to know if anyone doses vodka and there results.. if so how much and how often

 

[Celestin]

You might want to read the following:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

 

[Jkedra]

+1

 

[marrone]

You can also do a search on MR and you'll find plenty of thread on vodka dosing.

 

[PHILYD1]

I have read pretty much everything out there about vodka dosing, i was really looking for anyone with any personal experience with vodka dosing and the long term results

 

[marrone]

If you do a search on MR you'll find plenty of people who have done it and their results

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/search.php?searchid=2357732

 

[cdamiano]

I have been dosing for a few years now and have had good results with it. I started out by following the article referenced above. Now I only dose every few days. My suggestions are to start out with a lower than recommended dosage and then slowly ramp it up over time. Once you notice your nitrates are at the desired level, then cut back a little until you find what maintenance dose you need to keep nitrates in check.

 

[James]

As an alternative you could look into vitamin C dosing. I was looking into vodka dosing but found that vitamin C is much more forgiving and achieves the same results.

 

[Mattl22]

I had luck with it the first time I tried it I started again on a very low dose and my tank had a cyano outbreak
Start at low dose if u see cyano cut back


Sent from my iPhone using Reefs

 

[greg 45]

Why is vit c more forgiving
you have to measure both out
before dosing

 

[PHILYD1]

Thanks chris

 

[Jkedra]

I dont know if you guys are familiar with sugar dosing? Its most common during the nitrogen cycle...just so the bacteria can feed off of it and also reproduce at a much faster rate.

 

[James]

Why is vit c more forgiving
you have to measure both out
before dosing

Yes you have to measure both out, with sodium absorbate you can miss doses, mess up the measurement a bit and the tank won't crash (this is not to say it is a good idea) but from what I understand with vodka this can cause more serious damage to your tank. Both are adding carbon which in turn creates bacteria blooms which need to be skimmed out but after reading this thread in its entirety

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1252294

I decided to go with vitamin c and am very happy with the results. Just my opinion, there are tons of people who successfully dose with vodka but I felt and feel more comfortable with the vit. c. THat thread I linked is the best source of info I have found on it (got it from a link on MR and my boy smoq). I will stick to dosing vodka and scotch for myself and vitamin c for my reef. HTH

James

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

... i put 1 teaspoon of sugar in my 125 and in 10 minutes like 5 mushrooms shriveled up and died.

I dont know if you guys are familiar with sugar dosing? Its most common during the nitrogen cycle...just so the bacteria can feed off of it and also reproduce at a much faster rate.

 

[James]

Anthony, you really should be focused on maintaining you tank and keeping stuff alive and thriving, not worrying about carbon dosing. Seriously kid.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

a professional told me to do it to lower phosphates or something so i tried it and then i never did it again after that. and it was 2 months ago.

Anthony, you really should be focused on maintaining you tank and keeping stuff alive and thriving, not worrying about carbon dosing. Seriously kid.

 

[James]

Not at all interested with getting into it with you but I would seriously question that "professional." Recommending something like that for a new tank and a new reefer is downright irresponsible. By the way it is carbon source dosing in case any of you decide to throw a chunk of charcoal in your tanks. Don't. And yes I am serious judging by the clear lack of meaningful research that is going on with some members of this site.

Yes, I realize this is more or less what activated carbon is but hopefully you get my point.

 

[Anthony.Luciano710]

ohh ok well then i was a "new reefer" i didnt know better. he just said put a teaspoon of sugar and it will speed up the bacteria to get rid of phosphates and nitrates.

Not at all interested with getting into it with you but I would seriously question that "professional." Recommending something like that for a new tank and a new reefer is downright irresponsible.

 

[prattreef]

I'm not calling out the OP here who has legit questions and seems to have done lots of research, but I get VERY concerned when I see a thread like this in the Beginners Forum. Carbon source dosing is not a beginners topic and should not be a beginners concern. I just hate to see inexperienced hobbyists mislead into thinking that these approaches are necessary or even advisable for those who have little experience. Cut your teeth on the basics folks. Learn how to do water changes. Learn to look at your animals and their habits. Have some success with you system and then begin to explore more advanced techniques.

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

I'm not calling out the OP here who has legit questions and seems to have done lots of research, but I get VERY concerned when I see a thread like this in the Beginners Forum. Carbon source dosing is not a beginners topic and should not be a beginners concern. I just hate to see inexperienced hobbyists mislead into thinking that these approaches are necessary or even advisable for those who have little experience. Cut your teeth on the basics folks. Learn how to do water changes. Learn to look at your animals and their habits. Have some success with you system and then begin to explore more advanced techniques.

+1 well said Randy.
I have been reading up on dosing as well and I am considering trying it myself. I was going to start a thread but I figured why not just add to this one. I see James says Vitamin C. Does anyone else feel it's the best method? I heard about the sugar as well as vinegar. Has anyone tried all of them or a few? What was your personal results?