The Vodka Method

[JuniorMC8704]

After reading through numerous books, i am very seriously considering dosing my tank with vodka.

Apparently, through a number of tests, it has been found to be an excellent carbon source, and is supposed to drastically lower nitrate and phosphates within a system. Also, it has been stated, that it improves the performance of your protein skimmer.

Has anyone tried this, or use it currently that can give some incite on this?

 

[Poseidon]

Jr, I know that Jarrod used it in his system, I think he gave up on it. Maybe you want to get in touch with him?

 

[Russellaqua]

I have never tried it but vodka certainly would supply carbon to your system. Chemically, it is CH3CH2OH in water. I'm not sure how or why it would reduce nitrates, phosphates or improve skimmer efficiency. I would also worry about toxicity using it. Ethanol (the um, "active" ingredient in liquor) is highly toxic, especially if the animals in question cannot metabolize it. I'm not sure I believe the vodka story, but talk to someone who's tried it. Maybe it does work after all.

 

[reefpeeper]

Maybe Ur Fish Will Start Doing Tricks Also. Just Kidding

 

[143gadgets]

JR- I tried it and I'm not the person to ask about the day to day changes. I didn't really document it. I Felt that it helped with coral color, but if your levels are already very low I don't think it does that much. I have always had 0 nitrate and phosphate readings. Phosphate is a little more than zero on a colorimeter, but in reasonable level. I did develop a weird algae on the rocks though, which I was not happy about since I love to run a clean tank (BB and I scrap all walls once a week). I hate coraline! I did notice a color improvement among the sps and lps, but not enough to justify the day-to-day dosing. I did run ozone which I have read that your not suppose to because it kills the bacteria.

I was thinking about trying it again, but I'm very happy with my coloration. If you want to start dosing, I would love to see a really good documentation of how it affects your tank and corals. PLEASE take good photos. I see so many people dosing zeo, prodibio, and alcohol and don't have pics to show the improvement in coloration. Makes me wonder if it really works. Of course there are examples of really nice tanks that use it, but it always seems as if the same ones keep popping up.

 

[143gadgets]

Updates Jr?

 

[oceaninabox]

Well, Last night I added a pint of smirnoff to my 30 gal nano then sat down to watch the results. At first everything seemed to act calm cool and collected. Then about 30 minutes into the test, I noticed my snails falling off the side of the glass. I thought, this cant be good. I got up off the couch and went closer to the tank when I noticed that my emerald crabs were fighting with my hermit crabs. It was a down right brawl I tell you. They were knocking over my prized zoa frags and just making a down right wreck of the place. My mystery wrasse was swirling out of control swimming irradicly in the tank and suddenly did a kamakazee dive bomb right into my rose anenome. I did a 50% water change, went and got a new cleanup crew to clean up the mess and by morning everything was pretty much back to normal. No more Vodka for my tanks.....

J/K had to do a funny........

:hammer:

 

[ecotoxlady]

I actually thought this was a joke before I read this thread. What sort of quantity would one dose of vodka and how often? Where did you first hear about this?

 

[bamachamp92]

i dose two glasses every evening about 6:30. oh you meant in a tank sorry lol

 

[Tinker]

I use to dose vodka and sugar in my old reef tank daily and had very good results. I plan to start doing it again once I have more in my new tank. Right now it's pretty empty though.

The way it was explained to me is the vodka and sugar feed two different types of bacteria that both feed on nitrates and phosphates leaving nothing for the algae growing on your rocks and floating around in your water to feed on so it dies off. This makes it easier for your skimmer to remove these particles from your water improving skimming. With out these algae in the water column, light has better penetration to your corals. Getting better light, corals grow better and may even achieve better coloration.

The amount to dose really is based on a tank to tank bases. A low end dosing to start with would be 1 ML vodka and 0.25 mg of sugar per 100 gal of tank water daily. Watch how your tank reacts and test your water parameters for nitrates and phosphates regularly. Give it time and be patient. If you feel you need to adjust the amount higher, increase it in very very small increments at a time until you get the results you were looking for. Again, watch how everything in your tank reacts as you adjust and test, test, test.

Kimberly

 

[Tinker]

LOL oceaninabox,

The very first time I dosed my tank, with in about a minute of doing so, one of my sand sifting crabs shot out of the sand bed and exploded babies every where and several of my hermit crabs started knocking shells together. I was like "oh great, I've turned my tank in to a bunch of horny drunks". :laughing8:

 

[shred5]

I also tried vodka for a few months and whish I would have documented my results. I have to say I had the clearest water ever, even when I used to use ozone.
Your skimmer will produce the nastiest skimate ever. Allot of the stuff in your tank including the glass can become very slimmy.

When you first start dosing you have a bloom that clouds the water. I used to break the dose down to two a day so there was less fluctuation in bacteria levels. I quit doing it because It is such a pain to do everyday and you need to.

The key to vodka or adding sugar is it is a carbon source for bacteria and cause the bacteria levels to rise. But if you have very low nitrogen or phosphate levels already not much will happen because they will become the limiting factor for bacteria growth. This is also similar to zeovit.

I started out adding a little more every couple of days till I got a bateria bloom. I then cut the dosage in 1/2 and dosed that daily.

All and all if someone has high nitrate levels this can really help bring them down.

Dave

 

[ficklefins]

Does the quality of vodka matter? Can the plastic bottle stuff be used or does it have to be good quality spirits?

 

[shred5]

Does the quality of vodka matter? Can the plastic bottle stuff be used or does it have to be good quality spirits?

It does nto matter what it is stored in but the more pure the better, you obviously do nto want flavored vodka ... I either used like Fleishmans, skoal or smirnoff.. pretty much the cheap stuff...


Dave

 

[stinky]

The way it was explained to me is the vodka and sugar feed two different types of bacteria that both feed on nitrates and phosphates leaving nothing for the algae growing on your rocks and floating around in your water to feed on so it dies off.

Hi Tinker, I understand that both vodka and sugar feeds bacteria, which breaks down nitrates. But this is my first time hearing about the breakdown of phosphate. I've got my nitrates under control, but need to target on keeping my phosphate levels even lower.

Could you give me more info on what to dose to keep phosphate levels down??

Thanks.

 

[shred5]

Hi Tinker, I understand that both vodka and sugar feeds bacteria, which breaks down nitrates. But this is my first time hearing about the breakdown of phosphate. I've got my nitrates under control, but need to target on keeping my phosphate levels even lower.

Could you give me more info on what to dose to keep phosphate levels down??

Thanks.

The vodka or sugar method will reduce phosphate. I do not know about them feeding two different types of bacteria because it is just a carbon source.


There are mainly 3 things bacteria need to grow with this method, phosphate, carbon source and nitrate. If one of them is too low the bacteria will not grow at a fast enough rate for this method to work.

Dave

 

[kharn101]

Does anybody else find this thread really funny ...Vodka and fish...hahha great story tinker? What is the dosing that you guys did per gallon...

 

[Tinker]

Hi stinky! Any idea what the source of the phosphate is? What method of filtration are you using? How often do you do water changes? How often do you blow off your rocks and vacuum off the rocks and substrate? Depending on how long your tanks been running and how long you've had a problem with phosphates, it my be necessary to replace your substrate a little at a time and cook your rock to help it remove any phosphates it has absorbed.

First though, if you haven't already, I'd try testing the water you use for top offs and mixing your salt water as well as the salt mix you're using. Is it possible you might be over feeding your tank or over stocked it with fish or coral? Check any additives you maybe using as well. Carbon can leach phosphates in to your tank. Low quality calcium hydroxide (used to make limewater) and low grade calcium carbonate in a calcium reactor can also be a source for phosphates where as a higher grade of these can actually help remove phosphates. The use of Kalkwasser can just about eliminate phosphate. A refugium or sump with macro algae in it can also help bring phosphate levels down. No matter how you treat, it's always best to find the source and fix it when possible.


Dosing vodka and sugar does have it's risks so, before you do decide to try this method make sure you read up on it. There have been both good and bad results with this method. Reading this thread will give you a better idea of the pros and cons of this method. http://www.reefaquariumguide.com/forum/aquarium-chemistry/91398-vodka-our-tanks.html

The amount to dose really is based on a tank to tank bases. A low end dosing to start with would be 1 ML vodka and 0.25 mg of sugar per 100 gal of tank water daily. Watch how your tank reacts.

I started out adding a little more every couple of days till I got a bateria bloom. I then cut the dosage in 1/2 and dosed that daily.

Good Luck,
Kimberly

 

[Tinker]

Hi kharn101!

The amount to dose really is based on a tank to tank bases.

I do actually dose my 1 gal. Pico tank. 0.02 ml vodka and about 6 (give or take 1) granules of sugar daily.

Kimberly

 

[stinky]

Thanks tinker ... GREAT advice!!

My PO4 is undetactable, but I still get some nuisance algae. I get those dark brown algae that covers most of my rocks, making them look "dirty". Not diatom, but some sort of tough dark brown algae. I control my PO4 with media in a fluidised reactor.

NO3 is also undetactable, as I've got a deep sand bed.

My PO4 goal is to reduce ALL nuisance algae, and hopefully, give my PO4 media a much longer life span.

I think my answer is in either dosing vodka or suger, or maybe, just putting in macro algae in my sump.

Any thoughts??

Below is my tank setup:

Tank: 5ft x 2.5ft x 2.5ft, Sump: 4ft x 1.5ft x 1.5ft . . . Lights: 3 x Lumenarc Reflectors with 14K Reeflux MH bulb . . . Filter System: Hydor Performer 2000, Jaubert Deep Sand Bed, Remote Deep Sand Bed . . . Reactors: 2.5ft RM Calcium Reactor, Skimz Fulidized Reactor . . . Controller: IKS system (pH, redox, temperature, water level) . . . Chiller: 1hp outdoor unit . . . Wave Maker: 2 x Seio 1500, 2 x Tunze 6200 w/ Multicontroller . . . Pumps: 1 x 5,000ltr/hr, 2 x 2,500ltr/hr, 5 x 1,000ltr/hr . . . Established Since: 14 Feb 2007