Vodka dosing, I need help

Vodka dosing introduces carbon for phosphate eating bacteria correct? I have read articles but trying to summarize. What would happen if I overdosed? Are there long term ill effects? Could I use a dosing pump to dose it? Anything else important I need to know?
TIA
Pan

 

Anyone?

 

This is what I follow and refer to, however it doesn't seem to be responding right now.

www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

 

Thanks, do you dose vodka? Any thoughts?

 

That's the theory. It is more effective for reducing nitrate though. GFO works better for phosphate IME.

An overdose could cause a bacterial bloom. This could deplete the oxygen in your system and kill everything.

Yes, accumulation of bacterial mats and bacterial byproducts can occur over time.

You could, but the amounts dosed will be small and pumps don't tend to be quite that accurate, even good ones. To provide a buffer, you'd probably want to dilute it quite a bit.

Yes, you absolutely need a very good skimmer. Also, you'll want to use GFO. The reason is bacterial byproducts can be toxic themselves and should be removed. Also, these may help remove the bacteria directly, and therefore nutrients. Also, it is best to dose in the day when the lights are on and there is a lot of oxygen. I strongly recommend starting off very slow and working your way up very slowly. Better to under do it, than over do it.

It seems it can feed some nuisance "algae" such as cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates Also, can try different carbon sources, some people report certain ones have different effects, or are less likely to promote nuissance "algae". Vinegar, for example is essentially the same, but you need to increase the dosage by 8x to match the potency of vodka. Sugar is also possible, but many people, including myself have reported issues when using pure sugar. I do not recommend this.

Have you read Genetics and Stoney corals reefkeeping article? The site seems to be down at the moment, but definitely do read it before starting, it will give you more info and recommended starting dosages.

 

If you overdose vodka, the carbon consuming bacteria can multiply so fast that it can deplete oxygen levels enough to kill your fish. It can also cause the lesser problem of out of control cyanobacteria.

I assume you want to dose vodka to reduce nitrates...

It is becoming more popular to use biopellets like WM Ecobak which doses carbon, but instead it is in an insoluble form, so it is not possible to overdose. It takes around 4 weeks to take effect, but once it kicks in, you will see the same effects as vodka dosing, but without the maintenance.

You can begin reading about this here: http://www.3reef.com/forums/warner-marine/official-ecobak-thread-103809.html

 

What is GFO? This is starting to scare me, do you think it would be easier to use biopellets?

 

That was the theory, this isn't true however, as there are plenty of people now reporting overdoses with biopellets as well. IMHO, the problem with vodka is that it's out of sight out of mind. You don't see anything immediate and keep increasing it thinking nothing is happening, until something bad happens. With biopellets, you can see how much is there and know what is recommended for your size tank. This seems to prevent overdoing it to some extent, but people still do overdo it. I think if you respect the potency of vodka and take appropriate precautions it can be reasonably safe as well.

 

I dose in the FOWLR tanks, and the reef.

I ran GFO for a short while, but didn't see any positive or negative effects. The reef was running for nearly a year, though. As with anything else, it's important not to overdo it, and it's not a cure-all. Personally, I haven't seen any of the negative issues that m2434 described, however, I could see problems if it wasn't dosed correctly.

 

Granular Feric Oxide. It is basically granular iron rust, but absorbs phosphate very effectively. It can be found under the name Phospban or Rowephos I personally use Bulk Reef supplies version as it is less expensive and works as well. If your goal is to remove phosphate, you may want to skip the carbon altogether and try GFO first, it is safer than vodka or biopellets.

This RKM article describes GFO I think (if I got the right link, the site is still down so I can't check).
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-11/rhf/index.php