Vodka Dosing Question

[yacn]

My nitrates were 160+ on my 150 gallon DT with 40 gallon sump. My tank is 11 years old and suffering from old tank syndrome and poor husbandry over the past couple of years.

I began vodka dosing in January and stopped this past weekend. I used the 150 gallon chart attached and lowered the amount so I can use even numbers.
ie. .5ml, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5ml, etc. I was up to 8.5ml when I quit dosing.

Throughout the dosing I have done 25% monthly water changes to clean up as much detritus as possible in the DT and sump.

Approximately 2 months ago I began bio pellets in a 2 little fishies 150 phosban reactor. I wanted to utilize this so I wouldn't have to dose vodka every day in the future as I don't own any auto dosing equipment.

My nitrates were off the chart at 160+ until a week and half ago. They went down to 80. I did a major water change 40% this past Saturday, and stopped vodka dosing on Sunday. My nitrates were 40 last night.

I'm hoping the bio pellets and more water changes will help me get my nitrates in line.

My question is.....is it dangerous to stop dosing vodka cold turkey like I did or will the bio pellets take over where I left off? Concerned about the bacteria the vodka dosing created all of sudden dying and crashing my tank.

 

[BoneXriffic]

I quit dosing abrubtley with no apparent ill affect. So i imagine it is fine. Best way to combat these notrates imo is using a power head to clean in and around rocks, then doing chunky water changes

 

[yacn]

That's what I've been doing. My wife was really concerned about blowing rocks with power head. I would hit spots in the substrate just below the rocks and fill my tank with detritus so dark you couldn't see anything. She thinks it's really bad for the fish breathing in all that crap....which it probably is....but my nitrates are far worse....so I have to do something.

For years I never vacuumed the substrate. Now I'm making up for it....I've never allow this to happen again!

 

[BoneXriffic]

Could try holding a siphon in front of powerhead to try and catch bulk of detrius you blow up maybe.

 

[Wilsoni]

Concerned about the bacteria the vodka dosing created all of sudden dying and crashing my tank.

Have you experienced any ill effects which lead you to believe the vodka will crash your tank? Any bacteria blooms? I would say what you're doing seems to be working... I personally would wean off the vodka opposed to ending it immediately if you want to discontinue carbon dosing.

Didn't you know that alcohol withdrawals can be fatal? ;)

 

[yacn]

LOL

I have seen some bacterial blooms. Not too bad....a slight brownish substance on substrate. Not thick at all or covering things like a blanket....just enough growth to change my white substrate brown in certain areas....and not on all substrate....just where the light hits it for some reason.

My initial plan was to ween off the vodka. But was hoping the bio pellets would suffice. I am planning on doing more water changes and perhaps more frequently until I get the nitrates much much lower.

BoneXriffic I appreciate the idea of the syphon. I don't think I can do that. I have vinyl tube attached to power head to allow me to get in between rocks, etc and hold power head with one hand and vinyl tube with other hand. My wife plugs in the power head using extension cord so I can turn on and off to move around tank. I'm up on ladder too. When I do this I place filter socks on return lines and actually have python siphon in DT going to an additional filter sock located in sump to try and collect as much detritus as possible before doing water change.

 

[Wilsoni]

Slightly off topic but GO BLUE!!! Haha I miss Ann Arbor and the campus life...

 

[yacn]

I'm a BUCKEYE fan living in MI......LOL.....the family I married into are all GO BLUE alumni and fans!!

hoping CAVS win a championship for Cleveland....they deserve and need a winner!

 

[Wilsoni]

Have you been to a game at The Big House yet?

 

[yacn]

Lots and lots of games at the big house. In laws had season tickets!! Gave them up a few years ago because the prices got outrageous.

 

[Bunnee911]

Consider a reset of your reef. @brandon429

 

[BoneXriffic]

NO MORE HELPING THE BUCK EYE!. lol i will make a um vs osu thread later in the year to get us read haha. Seems to be alot of both sides on r2r.

Also. Its much easier on my 30 to clean detrius lol. Your getting it though.... lots of salt i imagine.

P.s. no crying when harbaugh forces urban to fake another heart attack

 

[yacn]

I've morphed into a big 10 fan. If OSU isn't undefeated and working toward national championship but another big 10 team is then I root for that team to win the title. BUT if OSU is undefeated going against another big 10 team that's undefeated then I root for my buckeyes. It will be good to see Michigan back up in the mix again! Lot's of memories watching Howard, Grbac, Diebolt, Powers back in 91....those are Ohio boys BTW. We made the trip and watched them win the Rose Bowl....great time!

 

[brandon429]

Bunnee that was awesome link, a system reset is the only fix and there is no other. its also the most unappealing fix, because its a full reversal of what causes OTS, being hands off. our whole hobby is built around what can I do to the water, to make up for waste in the bed. add more of X is the answer

but if you do a whole tank reset, you've really handled the correct biology that's for sure, you'll get the results you want no other method can give. done correctly, we emerge with scrapes and bruises and a cussing for any methodology that's as hands off for a future repeat... done incorrectly, the whole tank recycles and dies (this is the temptation to leave it alone, and increase X)

OTS is a real crossroads in reefing. Id select the tank rework, and we just get it done.

 

[brandon429]

http://reef2reef.com/threads/75-gallon-rebuild-and-algae-battle.248397/page-2#post-2931960


This is the best method known in reefing to handle the issues for both these threads. anything shy of that is second rate. there is no risk to your biosystem, preserving the system for a skip cycle upon rebuild is the ability of todays skip cycle threads. but the work is hard that's for sure, it has to be done in certain order

OTS reversal is easy to attain its directly there above.