Do I need to dose vodka/sugar?

[reeflover]

Recently I have been having trouble with some excess nutrients. I have been running gfo for about a year now as well as skimming constantly. Water changes were being done ib weekly but I have since stopped because I had a big Dino outbreak a few weeks ago and I heard water changes would just fuel them. So against some people beliefs I did a 36 hr lights out period. It made them go away completely but they came back about a week after having the lights back on. They aren't to bad right now, mainly just in my purple ribbon gorg, tips of some corals, some snails shells and the return nozzles. I am at my wits end with this stuff, I tested my nitrates and they were less then 10, phosphates last time I checked were .05. I am trying some new gfo that I have in the mail right now, po4x4, just to see if the reviews are true, I figured why not. I needed some more anyways...

I have also been noticing a lot of hair like algae growing on the return nozzles only and no where else, and I have been having to scrape the glass daily.

Light schedule:
Blue plus are on from 6am-8pm, white lights (combo) come on from 9am-6pm. I just extended the time because I was light acclimating the corals back from the lights out, so it is back to normal now.

I don't know what to do anymore so I was thinking about trying carbon dosing to help bring down the nutrients and hopefully beat the dinos and algae.

Any suggestions?

 

[MrDJeep123]

Macro-algae is your friend.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Lights out treatment is done for 72 hours.
Carbon Dosing will bring your nutrients into check, and you keep them where you want them to be.
Dinos can be dealt with. Have you started dosing Hydrogen Peroxide?
Dosing as follows- 1ml per gallon of total water.
The Peroxide kills off single cell organisms, along with algae.

 

[mike007]

Vodka dosing does work well but you also need to figure out why you have excess nutrients. Most common cause is from overfeeding ,inadequate skimming and neglected water changes.

 

[reeflover]

No I haven't tried dosing hydrogen peroxide. Are there any negative side effects of dosing that? Do I have to worry about burnt tips? Is it just a one time dose and can it be added all at once? I will start researching!

Thanks!

 

[Reefing Madness]

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/re...gellates-my-experience-h2o2-reefing-tool.html

 

[MrDJeep123]

I will start researching!

Thanks!

Yes, yes you should. I don't understand why dosing things is the first go to method to solve a problem. As one poster said, figure out WHY you have access nutrients. Look around the forums in regards to dosing and you'll see how many issues it causes versus the benefits.
A few tanks ago, I had a bad infestation of bryopsis. I dosed this and dosed that because it was quick and easy. I messed up my water chemistry and destroyed my tank. I will NEVER do it again. My best advice is to tread carefully. There are other methods and far less the cost.

 

[reeflover]

I not looking to jump straight into dosing. I have tried a lot of stuff and with the 9 fish I have in my tank I am feeding 2 cubes twice a day. I also have 4 shrimp that help clean up scraps. Am I feeding too much? I don't know where the nutrients would be coming from other then that, I drain all my food through a strainer and then it goes straight to the tank. I have stopped feeding the corals in attempt to reduce nutrients even more.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Yes, yes you should. I don't understand why dosing things is the first go to method to solve a problem. As one poster said, figure out WHY you have access nutrients. Look around the forums in regards to dosing and you'll see how many issues it causes versus the benefits.
A few tanks ago, I had a bad infestation of bryopsis. I dosed this and dosed that because it was quick and easy. I messed up my water chemistry and destroyed my tank. I will NEVER do it again. My best advice is to tread carefully. There are other methods and far less the cost.

Dosing is the cheapest method of keeping your tanks nutrients in check, period. It cost way less than RO and salt mix, and it doesn't harm the tank, and allows you to feed the fish at will. No harm in keeping fat fish. I've been dosing for a couple years now, nothing wrong with my tank.

 

[reeflover]

Dosing is the cheapest method of keeping your tanks nutrients in check, period. It cost way less than RO and salt mix, and it doesn't harm the tank, and allows you to feed the fish at will. No harm in keeping fat fish. I've been dosing for a couple years now, nothing wrong with my tank.

What are you dosing?

 

[Reefing Madness]

Vodka, 24mls a day. Dripped in 12mls increments, starting in the am, then the second dose is put in, in the evening.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Dosing is the cheapest method of keeping your tanks nutrients in check, period. It cost way less than RO and salt mix, and it doesn't harm the tank, and allows you to feed the fish at will. No harm in keeping fat fish. I've been dosing for a couple years now, nothing wrong with my tank.

I do not think it is in the long run. You have to keep buying vodka when you run out versus the initial cost of let's say macro-algae. They grow and reproduce which is a good thing depending on which you get. Then you may feel compelled to buy a doser, and extra pump, and fancy containers . Are there benefits if done correctly? Most certainly. It doesn't cost much if you have a RO/DI unit and salt you use to mix for the tank anyways. So I don't see that as an extra cost.
I'm not saying OP will jump right and start dosing, but you have to know exactly what you are doing and how much to dose. When you start, you can't stop immediately. If this is something you decide to do, please do A LOT of research and most certainly ask questions.
Just keep in mind there are other methods of nutrient export. Some have more benefits than others. :xd:

Some questions:
How big is your tank?
What foods are you feeding and how often?
What kind of algae is growing?
What fish do you have?
Do you use a protein skimmer? EDIT: Yes you do. Do you dry skim or wet skim?

 

[reeflover]

Thanks for everyone's help! Is a standard 75 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump, I feel 2 cubes of frozen mysis in the morning and 2 at night, occasionally I will throw in some live black worms as well in the morning in addition to the mysis. Corals are not being fed at the moment other then light and mysis that they are able to catch. I have bubble algae on the rocks, green hair algae on the return nozzles and a 1x1 inch ball that is on one rock, and dinos growing on tips of corals, a lot growing on the gorgonia and on the return nozzles as well.
Fish:
Single clown
1 purple fire fish
1 tailspot blenny
1 copperbanded butterfly
1 Randall goby shrimp pair
2 BG chromises
1 royal grama
1 scooter blenny
1 leopard wrasse
(Sorry that's 10 fish, not 9 as stated before!)

I skim fairly dry, the area available to remove my skimmer cup under my tank is very limited an I have to tip it quite a bit to remove it. If I skim wet I would have a very hard time removing it.

 

[MrDJeep123]

Thanks for everyone's help! Is a standard 75 gallon tank with a 30 gallon sump, I feel 2 cubes of frozen mysis in the morning and 2 at night, occasionally I will throw in some live black worms as well in the morning in addition to the mysis. Corals are not being fed at the moment other then light and mysis that they are able to catch. I have bubble algae on the rocks, green hair algae on the return nozzles and a 1x1 inch ball that is on one rock, and dinos growing on tips of corals, a lot growing on the gorgonia and on the return nozzles as well.
Fish:
Single clown
1 purple fire fish
1 tailspot blenny
1 copperbanded butterfly
1 Randall goby shrimp pair
2 BG chromises
1 royal grama
1 scooter blenny
1 leopard wrasse
(Sorry that's 10 fish, not 9 as stated before!)

I skim fairly dry, the area available to remove my skimmer cup under my tank is very limited an I have to tip it quite a bit to remove it. If I skim wet I would have a very hard time removing it.

Anything in your sump area?
Cut back to TWO feedings a day. Feed a cube in the morning and perhaps the worms at night. You could do half the cube in the morning and the rest at night. A little goes a long way. Essentially the goal is to cut back on how much you feed per feeding.
Cut down your photoperiod. Shave off at least 2 hours. Have them come on later and turn off earlier or turn on 2 hours later. What is your current photoperiod? You said you went to 6 to 8. What is it now?

 

[reeflover]

It is currently 6am-8pm in my sump I have some chateau that I just pruned a TON that growing under an led module from rapid led as well as quite a bit of lr.

 

[MrDJeep123]

It is currently 6am-8pm in my sump I have some chateau that I just pruned a TON that growing under an led module from rapid led as well as quite a bit of lr.

I'm going to assume you mean caluerpa and that was a typo.
Another thing that you can look into is an algae scrubber. Simple to make, and cheap. Also a great way to reduce nutrients.

 

[reeflover]

Nope I meant chateau macro algae, I have thought about an algae scrubber but I don't have the room under my stand for it...

 

[MrDJeep123]

Nope I meant chateau macro algae, I have thought about an algae scrubber but I don't have the room under my stand for it...

Chaeto?

 

[Reefing Madness]

I do not think it is in the long run. You have to keep buying vodka when you run out versus the initial cost of let's say macro-algae. They grow and reproduce which is a good thing depending on which you get. Then you may feel compelled to buy a doser, and extra pump, and fancy containers . Are there benefits if done correctly? Most certainly. It doesn't cost much if you have a RO/DI unit and salt you use to mix for the tank anyways. So I don't see that as an extra cost.
I'm not saying OP will jump right and start dosing, but you have to know exactly what you are doing and how much to dose. When you start, you can't stop immediately. If this is something you decide to do, please do A LOT of research and most certainly ask questions.
Just keep in mind there are other methods of nutrient export. Some have more benefits than others. :xd:

Mixing RO/DI with salt costs, every time you use the filters you run life on them, you have to replace them way more than I do.
Buying salt to use to mix for your tank costs, way more than I do.

I buy a bottle of Vodka, no need for a doser, just squirt it in the tank, I did that for the longest time, before I did a make shift drip line, using rubber hose and a turkey baster end, inexpensive. The Vodka will last me a few months.

Are there other ways of nutrient export, absolutely, but if you don't have the room for a Sump, then no, if you don't have room for a ATS, if you don't want to spend a fortune on salt.
I don't have a sump anymore, I Vodka Dose, and last year I changed my water twice. Again, I have pics of my tank posted, I've nothing to hide.

 

[TwistedTiger]

Nope I meant chateau macro algae, I have thought about an algae scrubber but I don't have the room under my stand for it...

You have a house in your sump? Chaeto....chaetomorpha