Vodka dosing and kalkwasser

[Lee belk]

Hi would vodka and limewater cause any negative interactions in a fish and coral tank

 

[Montiman]

I have used multiple forms of carbon dosing with kalkwasser and never had a problem. Is there something specific issue you are worrying about?

 

[Lee belk]

I have used multiple forms of carbon dosing with kalkwasser and never had a problem. Is there something specific issue you are worrying about?

No I'm just making sure before combining them thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Should be fine.

You aren't asking about mixing them in the same container, are you?

 

[SDK]

Should be fine.

You aren't asking about mixing them in the same container, are you?

Is that an issue?

I currently auto dose kalk and TM All For Reef with a two channel doser and have been manually dialing in my nitrates with vodka.

I was literally just yesterday wondering if I could add the correct proportion of vodka to either of those two reservoirs once I get the maintenance dose calculated.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Is that an issue?

I currently auto dose kalk and TM All For Reef with a two channel doser and have been manually dialing in my nitrates with vodka.

I was literally just yesterday wondering if I could add the correct proportion of vodka to either of those two reservoirs once I get the maintenance dose calculated.

If you used a lot of vodka in limewater, you can reduce the amount of calcium hydroxide that will dissolve. It's probably not significant for the amounts of vodka you'd want to add.

 

[SDK]

If you used a lot of vodka in limewater, you can reduce the amount of calcium hydroxide that will dissolve. It's probably not significant for the amounts of vodka you'd want to add.

Thank you and it would be a small amount. My other potential concern was a carbon source causing bacterial growth in the dosing container and/or lines.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you and it would be a small amount. My other potential concern was a carbon source causing bacterial growth in the dosing container and/or lines.

Bacteria cannot grow in saturated limewater due to the very high pH

 

[Lee belk]

Should be fine.

You aren't asking about mixing them in the same container, are you?

No I have high nitrates so im wanting to use the vodka to reduce them and then maintain them would I be right increasing my po4 its undetectable on salifert I used rowaphos I wasn't expecting it to work so well haha I have minimal algae issues Diatoms on the other hand is making my life hard at the moment

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

No I have high nitrates so im wanting to use the vodka to reduce them and then maintain them would I be right increasing my po4 its undetectable on salifert I used rowaphos I wasn't expecting it to work so well haha I have minimal algae issues Diatoms on the other hand is making my life hard at the moment

Diatoms are usually best dealt with by cutting off the supply of silicate from top off water.

 

[Lee belk]

Diatoms are usually best dealt with by cutting off the supply of silicate from top off water.

I’ve replace all my cartridges to my ro unit could it be that it’s only been cycled a couple of month I had to sterilise it with bleach because of velvet maybe it could be because of the rock decaying it was matured before I used bleach to kill everything off

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

In a new tank, there are often natural in tank sources of silicate that are sufficient to boost diatoms for a while. Just waiting it out may be the best plan.

Be sure the RO/DI water is 0 ppm TDS. You can also measure it for silicate, since silicate is one of the easier ions to get through an RO/DI.

 

[Koigula]

I use Avast limewater at fairly consistent conductivity output (77-80% saturation) and NP Bactobalance at about 5 mls a day. I prefer carbon source blend and too lazy/expensive to make my own. I got good results so far and alkalinity demand is increasing. I use 2.8 liters kalk day now. I will take this process to end and trade Avast for corals in future.

Automated carbon dosing is deceivingly simple. Just about every that can go wong with hobby grade automation will. I even spilled stuff with a Bettis bottle . I set it up so If system fail I never add more than a 10X dose to tank. I refill a tall thin glass bottle with ~60 mls each week.

I have spilled 75-100cc of NP Bactobalance manually. I did two 25% water changes and Nitrates went from 10.5 to 3.8 (Hanna HR) in 48 hrs and phosphates when from 0.13 ppm to 0.06 ppm in 48hr. This became my design study for a 150 gallon SPS dominant tank. I will not do that again hopefully!! Since I was in healthy shape going into this spill it was OK.

I do like the idea of going to your favorite supermarket for vodka and pickling lime if needed. I use usp pure lime powder and mixed carbon source hoping for better results. Making lime is a nasty process I have done in past. I would definately not buy crude lime powder.

 

[Lee belk]

In a new tank, there are often natural in tank sources of silicate that are sufficient to boost diatoms for a while. Just waiting it out may be the best plan.

Be sure the RO/DI water is 0 ppm TDS. You can also measure it for silicate, since silicate is one of the easier ions to get through an RO/DI.

Would vodka screw up kh tests ive recently been testing my mag kh and cal levels every day to find how much they are depleting ibe realised today my kh has dropped from 8 to 7.7 its been at 8 for a few 3-4 days maybe I should of dosed the vodka after testing

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Would vodka screw up kh tests ive recently been testing my mag kh and cal levels every day to find how much they are depleting ibe realised today my kh has dropped from 8 to 7.7 its been at 8 for a few 3-4 days maybe I should of dosed the vodka after testing

No the tiny about of vodka in a reef tank after dosing won't impact any test kits.

 

[chema]

Thank you and it would be a small amount. My other potential concern was a carbon source causing bacterial growth in the dosing container and/or lines.

Pure alcohol is a carbon source and we do use it as a disinfectant

 

[Lee belk]

No the tiny about of vodka in a reef tank after dosing won't impact any test kits.

Ok ill take it as a drop in alk then thank you