Who's still vodka dosing and how's it going?

revhtree

Owner Administrator
View Badges
Joined
May 8, 2006
Messages
47,603
Reaction score
85,990
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I haven't heard much discussion about vodka dosing lately and was wondering who's still doing it and how is it working out for you?
 

Thatgrimguy

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 16, 2012
Messages
103
Reaction score
8
Location
Gulfport, MS
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have been dosing organic carbon (vinegar) in my tank for about 4 months now. I did it on my last system and loved it. I used to be much more aggressive than I am now because my algae scrubber does most of my dirty work these days. I mostly use vinegar to get max punch out of Kalk. I'm dosing Kalk saturated straight vinegar at a rate of about 30 mils a day into my 210g sps dominant reef.
 

Aquaph8

Love The Fish
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2011
Messages
8,920
Reaction score
400
Location
Tucson, AZ
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm still dosing but I switched to vinegar.
 

swannyson7

Moderator/Acro Aficianado
View Badges
Joined
Jan 17, 2010
Messages
6,715
Reaction score
296
Location
Bantam, Connecticut
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I just tore down my 40B frag tank the other day, but I was vodka dosing on there right up to the day I tore it down, and everything was doing well.
 

lpslover

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
92
Reaction score
10
Location
Utah
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Still liquid carbon dosing my 14 gallon LPS stocked and very heavily fed cube. There isn't a good way to use any kind of solid carbon source with these. The liquid has worked well for me for about 18 months now. I was using Korallen ZeoStart which I'm guessing based on smell was primarily acetic acid. Lately I've been using Red Sea NO3PO4X which based on smell and limited labeling is primarily methanol. Both seem to have worked well. The key I've found is to use the directions only as a starting point and increase and decrease the dosage relative to NO3 and PO4 levels just as you would a DIY mix. The system runs with no nitrate and no to trace amounts of phosphate even if I skip a week on water changes. I've looked into using mixed source DIY mixes, but the cost savings at the tiny amounts I'm dosing are not worth the trouble.
 

BCT182

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Messages
40
Reaction score
11
Location
Sumner, WA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I am dosing 80 proof Tito's but compared to the reef keeping magazine article I am very conservative. My skimmer was really pulling the dark nasties out. My Ecotech Radion burned up and I was without lights for 8 days, so I stopped dosing or doing anything for that matter. Test kits are important, but so is being able to get that "feeling" if something may not be right which I can only get if I can look at the corals closely. I thought I had messed with my skimmer or something because the skimmate went from coffee to tea. As soon as my replacement (warrantied) light came in, I resumed vodka and in three days back to black. Its a 60G bare bottom cube with a 25G sump and I run the full size BRS carbon reactor. I know vodka dosing without ozone can lead to yellow water with no, or not enough carbon. I have not experienced this. Oh and I dose bright well MB-7 at different times of day. No other dosing of any sort. Calcium is currently managed with water changes, but will soon be using 2-part.
 

ritter6788

Coral Fraud Private Eye
View Badges
Joined
Jun 4, 2011
Messages
24,469
Reaction score
2,684
Location
Marshall, TX
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I was thinking about this a few days ago. Vodka was all the rage when I got into the hobby but it seems to have slowed lately. I think the intro of bio pellets may have a little to do with it.
 

BCT182

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 20, 2012
Messages
40
Reaction score
11
Location
Sumner, WA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I think people who were dosing without testing nitrates religiously slowed it down a bit too, and gave it a reputation of being sketchy.
 

MattL22

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Sep 2, 2010
Messages
1,589
Reaction score
37
Location
Longisland
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm dosing vinegar for months now but running into a few issues with it gonna cut my dosse in 1/3
 

BillyC

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 20, 2011
Messages
1,011
Reaction score
25
Location
SLC, UT
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I've been dosing vodka/mb7 for a few months now using sunny's methods and it took 2 months but things have never looked better.
 

iamvictor2k

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 16, 2011
Messages
89
Reaction score
0
Location
smyrna
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
um what does vodka / vinegar do for you and why would i want to do it and how much so on and so forth can somone share a link to previous forum
 

lpslover

Community Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 2, 2012
Messages
92
Reaction score
10
Location
Utah
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Cyano should go away after the nitrates & phosphates fall and the dose stabilizes. It took about a month after that for mine to clear.

Only time I've heard of it not stabilizing is with a deeper old sand bed with a lot of trapped nutrients.
 

reeffirstaid

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
449
Reaction score
83
Location
Maryland
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have been dosing Vodka for almost a year. Personally for me, (I haven't read all the replies) it has been going well. There is science behind vodka dosing and I personally see effects very similar to the use of ozone. Back in the day I had an ozone machine that turned any tubing that wasn't ozone proof yellow and helped the skimmer go wild. I personally think vodka dosing has a similar effect - just without the expensive machine, yellow tubing and annoying testing.
 

steveb

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 24, 2010
Messages
334
Reaction score
163
Location
TX
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
vodka and vinegar here. Everything is fine. But I still need to run some GFO.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

  • Ball valves.

    Votes: 58 49.6%
  • Gate valves.

    Votes: 64 54.7%
  • Check valves.

    Votes: 28 23.9%
  • None.

    Votes: 28 23.9%
  • Other.

    Votes: 9 7.7%
Back
Top