Vodka Dosing, worked for me, how about you?

[Gillguy]

I struggled with phosphates for many years. Brown algae everywhere. The GFO helped control it but it was just a band aid and not a cure. I must have spent more money on GFO than anything else in the tank. I read an article on Vodka dosing and decided, why not. It took just two months and it was like magic. Phosphates and nitrate at zero. I barely clean my rear glass anymore. I reduced the dosage and now I just add 3 cc daily. It's been ten months now and tank is better than ever.

 

[Troylee]

yup best stuff ever!!!!!! i left vodka for pellets and had problems went back to vodka and all is well...1smile1

 

[Gillguy]

Troylee, I don't understand why more reefers don't try it. Vodka dosing has been out there for a while, yet many people are reluctant to do it. However, they will go out and buy the newest thing out hoping it will fix it all. I'm not saying certain products don't work because many of them do but Vodka is not only great for tank, it's great on the wallet.

 

[dakotasreef]

I actually do pellets and vodka. I have a heavily stocked 120. I use about 500 ml of pellets and 5ml of vodka every other day. I have been doing this for 9 months now things have been great.

I also feed more than most probably. But fish are healthe and the sps grows well.

 

[clowns101]

Do you guys who dose vodka have polyps,chalices,LPS corals in your systems other than SPS?I will gladly try to go to Vodka if I can keep other corals than just SPS,I have a passion for chalices,along with polyps and rare softies,so i want to keep them in there aswell...

 

[Aquaph8]

I was dosing just vodka and kept having a lot of cyano problems. Now I dose vodka and vinegar daily and havent had any problems for over a year. I never needed to mess with pellets cause this mix works really well.

 

[Aquaph8]

Do you guys who dose vodka have polyps,chalices,LPS corals in your systems other than SPS?I will gladly try to go to Vodka if I can keep other corals than just SPS,I have a passion for chalices,along with polyps and rare softies,so i want to keep them in there aswell...

I keep all of the above with no problems at all. Going slow and watching your corals for any changes is the key.

 

[Gillguy]

Clowns101, I don't have SPS but I do have many different kinds of LPS, Acans, Chalices, Frogspawn, and Clams. Prior to using vodka, on some days my corals would not fully open especially a week after a water change. I used to do 20% water change every three weeks but had to go with a 5% weekly change in order to remove all the waste and add fresh nutrients. Changing to a weekly water changed helped control some of my phosphate problem but when I began to dose vodka, wow. The water was clearer, my corals would open up every day. I probably could go back to a water change every three weeks but I find it easier doing small water changes instead of a big one.

 

[Troylee]

The only reason I switched from vodka to pellets was to try and rid the daily dosing...:cry: well I paid for it and now back to the basics with a daily shot of vodka tank is looking awesome as it did before....1smile1 btw Austin I have everything in my tank now a days and it works like a charm....

 

[clowns101]

Ok...well...im convinced...how much do i dose on my 125???lol

 

[Reef UP]

Hey Austin same here everything is included in my tank and they all love it, I hate vodka but my tank loves it so that helps keep it cheap haha! Won't ever go back and I was the first in my area to do it as far as I know it about a year down and no problems haven't seen po4 or no3 in my tank for 9 months and I started doing it to a very mature established tank and never thought I'd see 00000's acros the no3/po4 board

 

[Troylee]

Start low like .5ml for the first week then jump to 1ml the second week and start testing no3 and po4 or just watch the tank if things aren't looking better up it a tad the following week..... Worst thing that will happen if you od is cyano not a huge deal....

 

[Aquaph8]

+1, start at .5ml and jump up .5 every week. When you notice your NO3 really coming down hold your dose and when its zero cut that dose in half and thats your maintainance dose. If you want to throw some vinegar in the mix do the same but vinegar is 8 times weaker than vodka as a carbon source. I really noticed a big difference with vinegar added to the mix.

 

[Troylee]

What difference did you notice with vinegar??? I never played with vinegar or sugar just straight vodka myself...

 

[Gillguy]

Here is the article I came across that intrigued me. Within this article is a link called, "Notes from the trenches- Vodka Dosing," which goes into more detail and give you a guide line. Hope it helps.

Melevsreef.com - Dosing Vodka to Lower Nitrate & Phosphate

 

[BigFeesh]

Like liquor store vodka? What do you use ?

 

[Aquaph8]

The cheapest non flavored stuff on the shelf.

 

[Gillguy]

Any 80 proof brand. Preferably the cheapest vodka you can find. I presently have a Winn Dixie brand. 2 liter bottle for $16. At 3 cc a day dosage it will last me almost a year.

 

[Gillguy]

BigFeesh, you'll know the vodka is working not only by looking at the tank, but by looking at your skimmer. Your going to see the skimmer pull out mud.

 

[Aquaph8]

What difference did you notice with vinegar??? I never played with vinegar or sugar just straight vodka myself...

Vinegar added to the mix was the end of my cyano issues. As your dose gets higher its also weaker so you can ramp up the dose slower with vinegar. It also comes in a gallon for cheap and most people use it to clean powerheads anyways so why not have some on hand.