Vodka Dosing + Hair Algae

kkgaskin90 · Mar 30, 2016

Started vodka dosing last year with great success. No algae issues... Low dosage... It was great. I stopped to treat with Prazi and things went downhill. When I started back over a month later I was getting hair algae outbreaks and have been battling it ever since. I clean the rocks... It comes back. I'm up to 12 ml/day and still the algae takes over every week. I got a sea hare and it can't even keep up (it also might be dying... It was great the first week but now not so much :/). I've been trying to wait it out, but will it ever get better? What can I do?
Using Salifert tests my Nitrates are at 0.2 and Phosphates 0, but the algae is consuming them so... Idk :/ I'm at a loss. 75g mixed reef + 20g sump with refugium. Coral Box D700.

Bob O · Mar 30, 2016

I believe that when you have been dosing carbon and stop that nitrates spike. Did you test for nitrates right before you started dosing again?

kkgaskin90 · Mar 30, 2016

Yes. They went up to 20 during the time I stopped dosing.

JimWelsh · Mar 30, 2016

Just keep on dosing vodka, and keep upping the dose weekly as per the usual directions, and your nitrates will eventually plummet, and starve out the GHA.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 31, 2016

Do you have any creatures that consume algae? That can really help, regardless of the nutrient levels. :)

KDockery0906 · Mar 31, 2016

Urchins are awesome as long as your frags are glued down

kkgaskin90 · Mar 31, 2016

I have an urchin, sea hare, and minimal CUC. I ordered some more snails last night though

Bob O · Mar 31, 2016

My LFS basically rents out sea hares. They sell for $40 and if you bring back in 1 week $30 store credit, 2 weeks equals $20 credit and so on down the line. I can't keep them alive in my 65g as they starve so this works well for me. One medium size cleans my tank in 4 to 5 days. They are an awesome algae eating machine !

kkgaskin90 · Mar 31, 2016

It did fantastic the first week... But I've got a ton of algae (as you can see) and haven't seen it eat in quite some time :/

Salty1962 · Mar 31, 2016

My Lawnmower Blenny has taken out a huge chunk of mine. I hope now my levels will catch up and keep it down.

Justin D · Mar 31, 2016

kkgaskin90 said:
Started vodka dosing last year with great success. No algae issues... Low dosage... It was great. I stopped to treat with Prazi and things went downhill. When I started back over a month later I was getting hair algae outbreaks and have been battling it ever since. I clean the rocks... It comes back. I'm up to 12 ml/day and still the algae takes over every week. I got a sea hare and it can't even keep up (it also might be dying... It was great the first week but now not so much :/). I've been trying to wait it out, but will it ever get better? What can I do?
Using Salifert tests my Nitrates are at 0.2 and Phosphates 0, but the algae is consuming them so... Idk :/ I'm at a loss. 75g mixed reef + 20g sump with refugium. Coral Box D700.

How often to do water changes how much do you change how old are your light bulbs are you running a skimmer

kkgaskin90 · Apr 1, 2016

I don't do water changes, as I'm vodka dosing. ReefBreeder LEDs (1 year old). Skimmer listed above-Coral Box D700

Bob O · Apr 1, 2016

If not doing water changes I will assume your dosing more than vodka? What are you dosing?

kkgaskin90 · Apr 1, 2016

Cal + alk

Bob O · Apr 1, 2016

I would continue with your dosing and run gfo to keep phosphates at zero. Keep an eye on your other parameters and be patient it will/should clear up.

Justin D · Apr 3, 2016

Bob O said:
If not ng water changes I will assume your dosing I have a 350 gallon aquarium and I do a 120 gallon water change every other weekend my aquarium had been running for two-and-a-half years and I never had algae problems

kkgaskin90 · Apr 8, 2016

Sea Hare died and royally angered the tank. As a side effect, though, lots of the algae died off. I added a CUC today (mine has been dwindling... It was way past time). I'm hoping to re-evaluate once the tank has recovered from this mess. Slime everywhere.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 8, 2016

Sorry to hear that. :(

Good luck!

kkgaskin90 · Nov 29, 2016

Has anyone had issues with vodka dosing and needing to clean equipment much more frequently? My Gyre is getting "gunky" every other week or so and having to be dismantled and cleaned. I'm getting so frustrated. It is white-ish buildup, not algae. It was suggested that it was bacteria build up caused by carbon dosing.
I also recently had massive losses due to ALK and CAL spikes. I was unaware you can't use ReefGrow supplements in a doser.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Nov 29, 2016

kkgaskin90 said:
Has anyone had issues with vodka dosing and needing to clean equipment much more frequently? My Gyre is getting "gunky" every other week or so and having to be dismantled and cleaned. I'm getting so frustrated. It is white-ish buildup, not algae. It was suggested that it was bacteria build up caused by carbon dosing.
I also recently had massive losses due to ALK and CAL spikes. I was unaware you can't use ReefGrow supplements in a doser.

It would be bacteria and it has to grow somewhere.

Where are you dosing in relation to the pump intake?