Zach's 75G Build

LOL!

But seriously officer, I wasn't going to drink the vodka, I was using it in my fish tank!

Well, I just got back from a local reefer's house. His tank should be on the cover of a magazine somewhere. It's absolutely amazing. He has some of the nicest SPS corals I've ever seen, the colors are just neon.

Granted, he has nice equipment as well, but he is a firm believer in dosing vodka daily. Supplements with amino acids, feeds phytoplankton, etc. The skimmer does truly go into overdrive. It ends up removing more than what should come out, hence dosing with amino acids and trace elements. As long as you don't get lazy, it is a good method.

 

Started the vodka dosing regimen.

Tested NO3 and PO4; PO4 = 0 - probably a false positive, as fish waste and basically all food introduced will introduce some PO4.

NO3 - somewhere between 20-30.

Dosed .25 ml last night
dosed .25ml tonight

Brightwell aquatics amino acids on order, as well as phyto

Skimmer is performing better than ever, I have never seen so much foam and the skimmate resembles tar.

Fish are showing no signs of stress, and my xenia which as of 3 days ago pulsed only periodically, is going crazy tonight. I will test NO3 again Sunday and dose another .25 ml vodka tomorrow.

 

Becareful my friend, you can easily crash your tank. Start with a low dosage. Good luck.

Luna

 

we both think alike, thats scarrrrrryyyy

 

Thanks

.25 ml is a good starting dose.

.1 ml start per 25 gallons, my total system is 85 gallons minus rock displacement, approx 70 gallons.

Watching carefully for any signs of stress or negative effects on my tank and will be testing params regularly.

First signs of stress or anything abnormal the dosing will stop. NO3 should be reduced by the end of the first week. If there is no sign of change the dose will increase. Watching for any bacteria blooms as well which could suffocate the tank.

 

Instead of dosing Vodka, have you given any thought of installing a refugium? Its a more natural approach than dosing Vodka. Just food for thought.



Luna

 

Yea, I've given it thought. Quite a bit in fact.

Dosing vodka is convenient, as I usually have grey goose, 360, three olives, etc. around the house.

Both are natural when you think about it. While vodka is an alchoholic beverage, and tasty at that (hence the convenience) it's a carbon.

Vodka dosing is replicated in other methods, such as vinegar, sugar ... zeovit, etc. It assists in exporting nutrients, and while a refugium is totally natural, once you get over the fact you're putting a tiny amount of an alchoholic beverage in your tank, if you keep up your schedule and test and monitor regularly, you accomplish the same thing.

Naturally.

The vodka will encourage the growth of bacteria that will break down the NO3 and PO4 - and a refugium will grow algae, etc. - both which consume NO3 and PO4.

Do you see mangroves and chaeto throughout the entire ocean? No. Bacteria accomplishes a lot. While the same bacteria occurs naturally in the ocean, we have to provide some encouragement in our glass boxes.

You just have to be very careful, I am in total agreement there.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

 

I respect your opinion, but if your talking about "convenience", a refugium is the epitome of convenience. You set it and forget it. No need to dose anything or test daily. Not to mention that theres no way of crashing your tank by over dosing a refugium. Im not trying to sell you the idea, just trying to give you better solution to your problem.


Luna

 

I appreciate it

We'll see how this goes. I'm not completely sold yet on the method until I have proven results.

 

im not against it since i do it myself, but just like anything else, once the signs start showing its to late. take your time with this, to much at one time and its over.

luna i respect your opinion but when it comes to sps's there is more to it