Carbon dosing is more or less adding a form of Nitrifying Bacteria or a good source for them to increase their numbers. The specific bacteria being produced are the type that off has nitrogen and phosphorus. Vinegar and vodka are the more stable forms of DIY carbon dosing, sugar is the least stable and can crash your tank easier from my understanding from the little bit of research I did previously. Vodka is great because it doesn't use much but that also makes it easier to overdose the tank and crash your nutrients in smaller tanks. In my experience, vinegar was easy. I was dosing 10 ml daily spread out through the day instead of all at once. I didn't see any bacterial blooms and my nitrates came down effectively. However, I lost a lot of Acros and suspected AEFW. I stopped dosing vinegar because my nitrates were where I wanted them and I saw an immediate turn around on my surviving Acros. I also added activated charcoal at the same time I stopped dosing the vinegar so it could have been coral warfare causing it and not the vinegar. Either way, for me the corals all looked healthier in my tank at 100 nitrate than at 50 so I'll probably not try that again.
BUT it works. Nitrates came down, LPS were fluffier and hungrier, and I can't guarantee that the Acro decline was due to carbon dosing especially since all my other SPS started showing significant growth.
Another thing to consider, vinegar dosing (and potentially vodka dosing) lowers alkalinity somewhat so be prepared to increase alkalinity dosing as necessary.
